'Love Is Blind's Kenny Is Engaged! His Ex Kelly's Reaction Is Adorable
Kenny Barnes finally got his happily ever after, y'all! After Kelly Chase said "I don't" at the altar during the season finale of Love Is Blind, the two went their separate ways, and Barnes later found love outside of the dating pods. During the LIB reunion special in March 2020, he revealed he was in a new relationship, and on Aug. 18, he announced even more exciting news. Yes, that's right, friends — Kenny Barnes is engaged, and his ex Kelly Chase's reaction proved there's no bad blood between the two.
On Aug. 18, Barnes posted a photo of himself and his now-fiancée on Instagram, writing, "Alexandra and I are excited to announce our engagement! To all of our friends, family and acquaintances, thank you for the continued love and support — we appreciate everyone and cannot wait to celebrate this next step together." Soon after, Chase congratulated the newly engaged couple with the most supportive response. She took to her IG Stories to share a smiley selfie along with the caption, "Seeing the news that @kennybarnes11 is engaged!! Y'all, go show him some love on his announcement post. Happy for him and Alex!!" Yay for amicable exes!
According to Barnes, he and his fiancée, Alexandra Garrison, were introduced by Barnes' younger sister, Anna, and spent the first three months of their relationship dating long-distance. "Alexandra and Anna had been friends for nearly three years while living in Charlotte and when I came to town to help move Anna, I met Alexandra at the brewery, Wooden Robot," Barnes told People. He also revealed he'd been single for a year after production wrapped on Season 1 of Love Is Blind before dating Garrison.
And apparently, he'd never had any intention of tying the knot with Barnes. "We were adamant about we're not going to get married," he told People back in March 2020 when the reunion special aired. "And really, the engagement was just to extend the experiment. And we were both committed to that." What they were not on the same page about: what came after the show ended.
"I thought that we were going to continue dating, because that was communicated between us," Chase explained to People in March 2020. "And then it was our last filming day, and he had a conversation with me like, 'Hey, I think I am not emotionally available right now. I need to take some time apart from you.' I felt very rejected, like, 'That wasn't the plan. What the heck?'"
Things clearly worked out in the end for Barnes, and judging from Chase's IG Story, she's genuinely happy for him. Take notes, everyone — this is what supportive exes look like.
