No weddings as dating show finale ends with three failed engagements

The ninth season finale of the televised dating experiment concluded with an unprecedented outcome: none of the engaged couples exchanged vows on their scheduled wedding days. The episode, released Oct. 22, chronicled a series of breakups that began long before the altar and culminated in three fiancés publicly refusing to marry on the day set for their weddings.

Six couples left the pods engaged earlier in the season. The first decoupling came when Kacie McIntosh ended her brief engagement to Patrick Suzuki shortly after meeting him face to face. Annie Lancaster and Nick Amato split during the lead-up to the weddings. Madison Maidenberg and Joe Ferrucci also called off their engagement and departed the show before the final ceremonies. That left three pairs to reach the wedding episode: Ali Lima and Anton Yarosh, Kalybriah Haskin and Edmond Harvey, and Megan Walerius and Jordan Keltner. None completed the experiment at the altar.

At Anton and Ali’s ceremony, Anton said yes but Ali paused and told him, “I can’t be your wife,” explaining that the person she had fallen for in the pods felt different in day-to-day life. At Kalybriah and Edmond’s altar, Edmond affirmed his...