Monica Danús Is Done Keeping The Peace

Monica Danús isn’t just the chill, happy-go-lucky girl you saw on Love Is Blind Season 8. While that lighthearted side is a part of her, she’s learned there are some moments when it’s important to call things out. Like when a close friend tells you she’s started dating your ex-fiancé, but then denies it publicly. “I’ve lived my whole life keeping the peace all the time,” the 28-year-old digital marketer says. “There’s a time and place for that, but I’ve learned to use my voice when something feels off.”

She’s referring to her former fiancé Joey Leveille dating her castmate Sara Carton. After rumors that the two Minnesota natives were seeing each other began shortly after the reunion on March 9, Sara denied the relationship rumors in an interview, saying she and Joey simply have a “really great friendship.” Monica says this pissed her off. “I’m so sick of the lies. Just own up to it at this point.”

Despite Sara’s protestations and Joey’s silence (he has yet to publicly address the speculation), Monica claims the two are indeed an item. She says she got the upsetting update right from the source after filming the reunion in late February. “I texted Sara, ‘I’m hearing a lot of things about you and Joey. Is there anything you need to tell me?’ And she called me and said, ‘Nothing’s official, but we are seeing each other.” She said they didn’t want to make anything official until any online hate dies down.” (Elite Daily did not immediately hear back from Sara or Joey after reaching out for comment about Monica’s claims.)

“When I was venting to her about Joey and she was saying she had my back, she was actually with him.”

Monica says the timeline of this new romance was particularly hurtful. “She told me this started a month ago, so that’s at least two months ago now. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was longer,” Monica says. “All this time when I was venting to her about Joey and she was saying she had my back, she was actually with him.”

Up until this revelation, she had considered Sara a close friend, someone she recently confided in and commiserated with when Season 8 began airing. “It’s a betrayal, and it’s very hurtful,” Monica says. “It’s no surprise from Joey — I don’t think very highly of him, and I don’t want him in my life. But I’m hurt that Sara would do this to me.”

She’s also upset many other cast members were informed about Joey and Sara’s romance before she had any clue about it.

“If you’re going to do something hurtful like this, there are consequences.”

“It’s just a lot of really not OK behavior,” Monica says. “I’m at the point where people need to be held accountable. You want to keep it quiet and try to go on with your life? No. If you’re going to do something hurtful like this, there are consequences.”

Embracing her new unfiltered honesty, Monica tells Elite Daily what viewers didn’t see on Netflix.

Elite Daily: Let’s start with the pods. Sara mentioned there was a “love square” involving you, her, Joey, and Ben up until right before the engagements. Since we didn’t see it air, what was your connection with Ben like?

Monica Danús: Ben and I connected early on. He was my No. 1 for a while, and Joey was No. 2. I remember going back and forth and having a big struggle within myself. After I ultimately chose Joey, I was crying to Ben, like, “I’m so sorry, Ben. My connection is stronger with somebody else. I really hope you have another connection here.” He let it slip that Joey was also dating Sara, which I had no idea about.

Then I started freaking out. I was like, “Oh, my gosh, what if he picks Sara?” So I was upfront with Joey, and told him, “Hey, I know you are seeing somebody else, and I want you to explore that, because if you choose me, I want you to fully choose me.”

ED: Why did you decide to pursue things with Joey over Ben?

MD: In the final cut, you saw my dates with Joey that were super fun and goofy, which was a big part of my choice. But we also had a lot of hard and emotional conversations, and we connected deeply about our families, our backgrounds, and the hardships we had been through. With Ben, it was just super fun and nothing deeper.

ED: You’ve said you can see some warning signs in Joey now that you’re watching the show that you missed while you were with him. What are some of those red flags?

MD: Watching it back forced me to see what I wasn’t seeing at the moment. I realized Joey never got emotionally deep with me. I thought we got there in the pods, which was why I chose him, but when we got into the real world, it became very surface-level. Whenever I tried to get more intimate and more emotional, he didn’t match that.

I knew it was a struggle at the moment, but I gave him the benefit of the doubt. I would reason it away by thinking, “Well, this is a stressful environment. There are cameras on us and people watching.” But in retrospect, I should have listened to my gut. Watching it back, I’m like, “Girl, come on. Push him more. Ask him more. He needs to give you more, and he’s not.”

If he said yes first, I would have said yes.

ED: Your sister, Nicolle, was kind of that voice for you. Do you feel differently about her objections to Joey now than you did at the moment?

MD: At the time, it was really difficult to hear because I wanted my relationship to be perfect. So hearing what she had to say shook me a little bit. Was her delivery great? No, it was very blunt. But the sentiment behind it was basically like “Pause, take a second. Really think this through because this is a big decision.”

In retrospect, I still don’t agree with how she handled it, and we’ve had many conversations about that. But she was not wrong in her initial thoughts. She maybe knew something that I didn’t.

ED: On your wedding day, you said your decision might have been different if Joey had assured you he was 100% in. Do you think you would have married him if he said the right thing to reassure you on that day?

MD: I think so. I was so into it, and I was craving more from him. I was waiting for that switch in him to give me permission to be like, “Oh, my gosh, I am in love with you, too. I want this.” If he had given that to me, I would have said yes. And if he said yes first, I would have said yes.

Knowing who he truly is now, that’s so scary to think about. I would not have been happy. So I’m very thankful that things happened the way they did.

ED: What did you think of him riding his longboard down the aisle?

MD: I thought it was a joke. He brought it up with our wedding planner, and she was kind of taken aback. I had no idea he really did that until after it happened. My friends and family told me after the ceremony, and I was like, “Wait, he actually did that? I thought he was joking.”

ED: Fans have discovered a video of Joey auditioning for The Bachelor back in 2015. Have you seen it?

MD: I sure have. It was incredibly hard to watch. I saw it months ago, after we had stopped talking completely. If I had known about that before all of this, maybe I would’ve at least asked questions and tried to dig into his intentions a little bit more.

ED: Knowing what you know now, does it surprise you that Joey auditioned for other reality shows?

MD: Not at all. No surprise there.

ED: At the reunion, you brought up Joey DMing Madison Errichiello, and there was a lot of back and forth over what really happened between them. What do you think went down?

MD: Joey is a very touchy and flirty person. I’ve had conversations with Madison, and she’s said absolutely nothing happened. Joey is not her type — I know that. I think he was trying to test the waters there, and he didn’t realize that I would fact-check his story, because Madison and I were never super close. I think he was surprised that I asked Madison about it.

ED: What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned from doing Love Is Blind?

MD: Find your strength. If something feels off, question it. You need to use your voice.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.