Love Is Blind fans were left in surprise after season 9 star Kacie McIntosh allegedly planned to keep her engagement ring despite breaking up with Patrick Suzuki — but who is in the right?
“Kacie was like, ‘I wanna see you first thing [when] we get back.’ I was like, ‘OK, yeah, We’re still engaged,’” Patrick told his costars after returning to Denver. “[I haven’t] seen her one-on-one, dude. I get back to Denver, she texts me, all these things, like she doesn’t wanna do the show anymore and it was too much for her.’”
According to Patrick, the hair and makeup artist “wasn’t ready” to reunite before calling off their engagement for good.
“She’s like, ‘Just tell everyone we’re broken up for now, and that we need to talk still,’” Patrick claimed. “This is one day after we get back. I was like, ‘OK, sure, I’ll just tell the guys we’re broken up.’ I asked for the ring back and she stopped talking to me.”
Love Is Blind’s Patrick and Kacie Disagree Over Post-Split Meet Up
The construction manager continued, “I asked for the ring back, and she was, like, ‘No, you act like you’re the only one that’s hurt. I’m gonna keep the ring.’ That was her last text, and we’ve never talked since.”
Kacie has since denied all of Patrick’s claims, while faithful Love Is Blind viewers debate who was actually entitled to retain ownership of the diamond ring.
So, Us Weekly did our due diligence and investigated where the onscreen baubles come from, who pays for them — and what happens to the rocks in the event of a breakup. Keep scrolling for more:
Netflix Provides the Rings
According to Love Is Blind creator Chris Coelen, the show’s production company offers each contestant a diamond to propose with should they meet The One. (The show is produced by Kinetic Content.)
“If they want to propose and want to have a ring to give, we provide — up to a certain level — a ring for them to do that with,” Coelen told Variety in 2022. “If they choose to do that, we actually give choices. There are 10 or 12 different styles and colors. It’s up to them, they don’t have to. There’s no pressure to do that.”
Who Designs the Rings?
Kinetic has entrusted a singular company to provide all of the ring options. For seasons 4 and 5, the rings were provided by Bridal Rings Co.
“Whatever they choose, we pay for. Whatever we pay for, they keep, regardless of engagement ending,” a spokesperson for Kinetic told Popsugar in 2025. And even though you might recognize similar elements on some designs — like diamond carat size, band embellishment, and setting — no two styles are exactly the same.”
How the Men Pick Out the Bands
“Once they decided to get engaged, they were given a couple of choices should they want to take us up on that. That was, again, their choice,” Coelen told Entertainment Tonight in 2020. “Since they were in the [pods] and weren’t able to go out into the ‘real world’ at that point, they couldn’t have been able to go [to a shop].”
He continued, “We wouldn’t have allowed them to at that point. It’s obviously such a gigantic moment in people’s lives that we wanted it to be as authentic to them as it possibly could be.”
Season 4 alum Micah Lussier later revealed in an October 2025 video shared via TikTok that all of the men get to choose a ring from a box of provided options.
“I think they, kind of, get picked up so everyone doesn’t have the same ring,” Micah recalled. “Once the first person goes, I think it dwindles down. The guy has full decision-making on that, but it is something you talk about in the pods a lot.”
There’s a Possibility to ‘Upgrade’ for an Additional Cost
According to Micah, Love Is Blind stars do have an option to “upgrade the ring.”
“You can actually spend money ‘cause it’s free and get a nicer diamond,” she said in her social media video. “To my knowledge, no one’s actually done that, and I don’t blame them ‘cause if it doesn’t work out, what was the point?”
It’s Also Possible to Bring Your Own Ring
As fans remember, Kyle Abrams brought his mother’s heirloom ring to gift then-fiancée Shaina Hurley during season 2. Shaina ultimately broke up with Kyle days later over differing religious beliefs and gave back the bauble.
What Happens to a Gifted Ring If a Couple Breaks Up?
The Love Is Blind stars do not have to give back the bauble if they decide to end the engagement.
“We supply them with the rings, and at that point, those rings are theirs,” Coelen told Entertainment Weekly in 2025. “They never have to give them back if things don’t work out. They’re their rings. If they want to say that they paid for them, then that’s up to them. They can say whatever they want. If they want to upgrade their rings, they’re welcome to do that. “We have nothing to do with that. We give them the rings, they do what they want.”
Natalie Lee, who was briefly engaged to Shayne Jansen during season 2, did keep her bling when she said “no” at the altar.
“I got to keep it all,” she said on a 2023 episode of her “Out of the Pods” podcast, referring to both her ring and wedding dress. “I emailed my executive producer [weeks later], like, ‘What do I do with this ring?’ She’s like, ‘Keep it.’”
Costar Deepti Vempati noted during the episode that she ended up “drunkenly” throwing her ring off of a boat docked on Lake Michigan. (Deepti also ended her engagement to Shake Chatterjee at the altar.)
“I was like, ‘F this,’ no, I’m just kidding,” she added.
