Note: This article contains spoilers for the first six episodes of Love Is Blind season 8.
Netflix released the first six episodes of Love Is Blind season 8 on Valentine's Day and things are already off to an interesting and dramatic start for the Minneapolis-based singles that entered the pods.
One of the singles has opened up in an interview with PEOPLE about the fact that he was in the middle of some of the drama from the first batch of episodes released on Netflix. According to Alex, a 29-year-old commercial real estate broker, he doesn't regret a thing about how he handled the situation and feels that Mason, a 33-year-old cinematographer, was treated unfairly by one of the women in the pods.
Alex defending his friend caused a breakup in the pods
During the first batch of episodes released by Netflix for this season of Love Is Blind, Alex and Madison proved early that love in the pods can move pretty quickly. The pair decided to make things pod-official and became boyfriend and girlfriend, leading to Madison, a 28-year-old artist, breaking things off with the other man she had a connection with, Mason.
When Madison found out that Mason had been using all the lines that he used on her on her fellow Love Is Blind contestant Meg, Madison wasn't happy and took a moment to vent to her now-boyfriend, Alex, about Mason's bad behavior. Unfortunately, Alex chose to defend Mason instead of siding with his pod girlfriend -- and he says he still doesn't regret that choice.
During his interview with PEOPLE, Alex told the publication that if he could do things over, he would do the exact same thing and choose to defend Mason again. He said, "I think it happened how it was supposed to happen. We were just on different pages, and I'm glad that it came out early on, before we took it too far and proposed and moved on to the next level."
According to Alex, he feels like Mason was being "targeted" and not treated fairly and he's someone who likes to give people the benefit of the doubt whenever he can. Unfortunately for him, trying to see both sides of Madison and Mason's conflict got him broken up with.
"Every time, I'm going to stick up for people and have empathy. I have a very open mind. I understand why people act the way they do, and we all have a reason for acting the way we do, and we're all trying to be the best people we can be," Alex told the publication. He went on to say that he feels like everyone needs to approach situations with more empathy and said he doesn't think people should be speaking negatively about other people.
Meanwhile, Madison shared her perspective with PEOPLE and said she felt like Alex's determination to see all sides of every situation and approach conversations with empathy felt like it was bordering on "toxic positivity."
Despite apprecating his upbeat attitude, she said that Alex's decision to defend Mason made her feel like he was invalidating her feelings of being hurt by what Mason did and that, like Alex, she didn't think things would have worked out for them in the long run anyway.
Alex and Madison weren't the first Love Is Blind couple to break up while still in the pods
Even though there have been a number of Love Is Blind breakups that have happened after the couples left the pods, Alex and Madison were far from the first couple to call it quits before they even got engaged.
During season 5 of Love Is Blind, Uche and Aaliyah had one of the most dramatic breakups that the Netflix dating series has seen. When Aaliyah found out that Uche had previously had a relationship with fellow contestant Lydia, things got complicated and Aaliyah's friendship with Lydia made her feel uneasy about continuing a relationship with Uche.
The two never made it to the next step because before Uche could propose to Aaliyah, her hesitation because of his past with Lydia lead to her leaving the pods early and calling their relationship off.
Episodes 1-6 of Love Is Blind season 8 are now streaming on Netflix. Episodes 7-9 will release on February 21, episodes 10 and 11 will release on February 28, and episode 12 will release on March 7.