Ohio State Wellness Coordinator Erica Butler (left) moderated a discussion with “Love Is Blind” stars Lauren Speed-Hamilton (center) and Cameron Hamilton (right) on Wednesday. Credit: Lauren Spirk | Lantern Reporter
Love may be blind, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy.
Lauren Speed-Hamilton and Cameron Hamilton — a couple who met and married via Netflix’s hit reality dating show “Love Is Blind,” which challenges single individuals to establish romantic connections without seeing one another — spoke about their unconventional journey to love at the Ohio Union Wednesday. Their Q&A was organized through the Ohio Union Activities Board Graduate and Professional Students’ “Wellness Wednesday” series, Associate Director of Campus Events Tonya Dawson said.
“Through Wellness Wednesday, we talk about a variety of topics,” Dawson said. “One thing that came up from students was having a conversation around healthy relationships.”
Dawson said many college-aged individuals may struggle with forming meaningful social bonds, whether they are romantic or platonic. This struggle to build healthy relationships reminded Dawson of “Love Is Blind,” seeing as the show’s contestants are placed in isolated rooms called “pods” and only able to communicate via speakers.
“So, when hearing that being an interest for students, it naturally made me think of Lauren and Cam, because it made me think of the pods,” Dawson said.
When the two took the stage, Erica Butler — a wellness coordinator specializing in sexual health and violence prevention at Ohio State’s Student Wellness Center — kicked off the conversation by asking about their time on “Love Is Blind.”
“I figured we’d start off kind of talking about the show a little bit for those of you that may not know, just talking about the timeline,” Butler said at the event. “Let’s run through that and the order of things on ‘Love Is Blind.’ How long was it total?”
Ohio State Wellness Coordinator Erica Butler (center) poses with Lauren Speed-Hamilton (left) and Cameron Hamilton (right) from season one of the Netflix reality dating show “Love Is Blind.” Credit: Lauren Spirk | Lantern Reporter
The pair said they got engaged after just nine days of getting to know each other; following the engagement, they spent one week in Mexico for a “proposal-moon” — the “Love Is Blind” version of a honeymoon — and were eventually married in the season one finale.
“We were filming like 16 hours a day,” Hamilton said. “Really, I think the biggest thing for me was I felt like Lauren was like a sense of peace.”
Five years later, the duo is still going strong, having recently renewed their vows in November 2023.
“Saying those vows, ‘For richer or poorer, through sickness and health,’ it sounds like some nice words to say,” Hamilton said. “Then, after being married for five years, you’ve actually gone through it, it means so much more because of that.”
Butler continued the conversation by asking the pair about how they prepared for a potential marriage without knowing or seeing the other person. For Speed-Hamilton, it was all about knowing herself.
“Cam said a word that was so important to me in my journey and that is ‘self-work,’” Speed-Hamilton said. “Before going on the show, I just had a moment with myself and I was like, ‘What do I really want from a long-term partner? What are the things I’m not willing to adjust?’ Just having that moment to yourself.”
As the questions continued, both Speed-Hamilton and Hamilton said personal fulfillment is a fundamental piece of positive relationships.
“I think it’s important for people to be happy as [individuals] in order to have a happy relationship,” Speed-Hamilton said. “Bitterness and jealousy can come into play and that’s not what you want, you want to be each other’s [cheerleaders].”
When it came to additional tips for sustaining healthy relationships, Hamilton and Speed-Hamilton mentioned being “strong enough to be vulnerable” and not being afraid to set boundaries.
The event concluded with a more intimate student Q&A and a brief photo opportunity with the couple.
