“Allowing someone to have a phone call is, of course, the right thing to do,” creator Chris Coelen tells EW.

Love Is Blind creator explains why contestant broke the no phone rule to call his family (exclusive)

"Allowing someone to have a phone call is, of course, the right thing to do," creator Chris Coelen tells EW.

By Sydney Bucksbaum

Sydney Bucksbaum

Sydney Bucksbaum is a staff writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2019 and is a published author. Her work has previously appeared in *TV Guide Magazine*, E! News/E! Online, *The Hollywood Reporter*, Mashable, Bustle, IGN, DCComics.com, Inverse, *The Daily Northwestern*, and more.

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February 13, 2026 11:20 a.m. ET

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Devonta Anderson in 'Love Is Blind' season 10. Credit:

Adam Rose/Netflix

**This article contains spoilers about *Love Is Blind* season 10, episodes 1-6.**

There have been a lot of firsts on *Love Is Blind* this season. This is the first time seven couples have been documented after the pods — and the first time one couple went off on their own private trip. The show had its first medical emergency. And a contestant was allowed to break the no phone rule during filming in the pods for the first time ever.

In season 10's first batch of episodes, one of the cast members, Devonta Anderson, revealed to his date, Brittany Wicker, that he had been pulled by producers earlier because his grandfather passed away during filming. He then was allowed to call his family to discuss the serious matter and whether he should leave the show. He ultimately stayed and returned to the pods to continue dating — and get engaged to — Brittany.

*Love Is Blind* creator Chris Coelen tells * *exclusively that it was a no-brainer to let Devonta break the no phone rule during filming in the pods.

Devonta Anderson and Brittany Wicker on 'Love Is Blind' season 10.

Courtesy of Netflix

"Being in the experiment is a choice that the participants make — they participate in this because they want to, and it goes without saying, obviously, they're free to go if they choose to," Coelen tells EW. "It's really cool to be there and be focused on finding someone who could be the love of your life. It's really cool to be away from your devices and your distractions for the period of time that people are in the pods and then for the getaways."

However, the producers give contestants a way for their families to reach them in the event of an emergency.

"What we always say is give your family members or any loved ones this contact information, and if anybody ever needs to get in touch with you for any reason, please do get in touch," Coelen says. "And so if someone reaches out and they have some kind of important message that they want to relay, like in this case that his grandfather had died, we will always relay that to the person. And then we will give them the opportunity of if they want to leave, they can leave. In this case, to talk and find out what was happening."

Devonta Anderson and Brittany Wicker on 'Love Is Blind' season 10.

Courtesy of Netflix

The creator explains that the no phone rule is in place solely to protect the parameters of the experiment.

"As producers, for the integrity of what everybody's going through, you're just trying to safeguard against people looking up one another on Instagram or Googling them or whatever, trying to find out information about them that doesn't really dovetail with the experiment," Coelen adds. "But allowing someone to have a phone call is, of course, the right thing to do. And obviously, if Devonta wanted to leave, he would've, but he chose to stay because he felt like he was finding it fulfilling, but also he says that it's what his grandfather would want him to do."

Devonta Anderson and Brittany Wicker on 'Love Is Blind' season 10.

Courtesy of Netflix

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Coelen reveals that cameras weren't filming Devonta during any of his conversations with producers or his family outside of the pods. The show just used footage of Devonta telling Brittany about it to explain what was happening to viewers.**

During a pod date, Devonta let Brittany know that he got to speak to his brother and grandmother, who told him that his grandfather would have wanted him to stay and finish the show. He ultimately chose to stay, and by the end of the pod portion, Devonta and Brittany got engaged and jetted off to Cabo for the next stage of the series. However, Devonta's grief still weighed on him heavily, and Brittany ended the first batch of episodes leaving their hotel room in tears over how "disconnected" they were as a couple.

'Love Is Blind' creator says season 10 engaged couple broke up 'the next day' (exclusive)

Here's everyone who got engaged in the pods on 'Love Is Blind' season 10

Coelen says that producers never pressured Devonta about leaving to be with his family, or staying to finish the experiment. He adds that the choice to stay was 100 percent Devonta's, and, as a result, so is whatever happens next in his engagement with Brittany.

"This is about providing an environment where they make their own choices," Coelen says. "If they tell us they want to stay, we give them that opportunity. If they say they want to leave, we give them that opportunity. Whether someone else wants to judge them or not.... The conversation with Devonta and Brittany, I think Brittany felt frustrated, rightly or wrongly."

As for whether Devonta and Brittany's relationship issues are because of his grief, or something else entirely, Coelen says to keep watching.

"One other great thing about the show is that everyone gets to make up their own mind as to what's exactly going on," he says. "We just document what's going on, and then we show that on the show. And I think different people will read into what is happening with Brittany and Devonta in different ways. I think there'll probably be two very distinct camps of people about what they think is happening in the Devonta and Brittany's relationship. Sometimes I think it's so clear what is happening, and then half of the audience feels like they see something completely different. It is fascinating."

*Love Is Blind* season 10 releases episodes 7-9 on Wednesday, Feb. 18, with episodes 10-11 the following week on Feb. 25, and the finale on March 4 on Netflix.

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