With Tyler’s kids controversy, the biggest ‘Love Is Blind’ drama is happening off-screen again. That’s still a win for Netflix.

As viewers learn at the end of episode nine of “Love Is Blind” season seven, released on October 9, Tyler waited until after the pods, after getting engaged, and after the couples’ getaway in Mexico to tell Ashley that he’d fathered three kids. On the show, he tells her the children were born via sperm donation and that he doesn’t have a relationship with them.

The initial conversation between Tyler and Ashley doesn’t take place on screen. All we get on “Love Is Blind” is a conversation in the aftermath, in which an upset Ashley tells Tyler that his withholding this information until after they got engaged makes her concerned about having trust and communication in their relationship.

“This is something I should have known before agreeing to say yes,” Ashley tells Tyler.

But viewers of Rikkii’s TikToks got a version of events that appears even grimmer than what’s unfolding on the show. The TikToker says she spoke to a woman named Lovetta Thomas (on Instagram, identified as @love2geaux), who said in posts on Instagram and Facebook that Tyler had fathered three children with her daughter, Bri Thomas.

Lovetta Thomas’ posts, which were viewed by Business Insider before being deleted, featured photos of a man who looks like Tyler with her daughter, Bri Thomas, and three young children.

In comments on the deleted post, Lovetta Thomas wrote that Tyler had been an involved father in her grandkids’ lives for years and that their twins had been conceived naturally while Tyler and Bri lived together. Lovetta Thomas said Tyler only distanced himself from the kids after going on “Love Is Blind.”

Then, in a series of videos shared on Instagram Saturday, Bri Thomas broke her silence regarding her history with Tyler, sharing many details that appear to directly contradict aspects of what Tyler has told Ashley so far on “Love Is Blind” (namely, Tyler’s on-screen claim that he doesn’t think the kids know what he looks like).

Bri said that Tyler, whom she described as her one-time best friend, agreed to help her have a child with her then-wife. After she and her wife separated and their co-parenting relationship devolved, Tyler stepped in to help raise the child. Then, while living together as co-parents, Bri and Tyler conceived twin girls together, who she said have Tyler’s last name.

Bri, who identifies as a lesbian, said in the videos that she and Tyler were never officially together and dated other people, and she supported his decision to go on “Love Is Blind.” Bri said they even discussed the idea that she and the kids would attend his wedding if he made it to the altar. She said the last time Tyler saw their children was September 30, 2023, when he came to her house the day before he left for filming.

“I lost my best friend. My children have been disowned and disrespected by their father,” she said in one video.

Neither Bri Thomas nor Lovetta Thomas responded to a request for comment from BI.

Tyler has encouraged viewers to ‘be patient’ and wait for his response

This isn’t the first time the biggest drama on “Love Is Blind” has happened offscreen and been revealed via social media.

Season four featured a messy array of antics from Jackie and Marshall, whose breakup led to leaked text messages in which Jackie insinuated Marshall was gay. Season five was so dramatic that Renee and Carter’s journey was entirely cut from the edit — and resulted in a lawsuit that’s currently in arbitration.

And season six, released in February 2024, featured not one but two men who were accused of mischaracterizing their relationship status before going on the show: Fan-favorite Trevor had a girlfriend throughout filming, and Jeramey had a whole other ex-fiancée before going on the show.

Despite the lawsuit and despite getting scooped by TikTok, the offscreen chatter is good for Netflix. After all, feeding the rumor mill (and the TikTok explainer economy) keeps the show in the cultural conversation.

According to Netflix’s own statistics, more than 30 million subscribers tuned into the first season of “Love Is Blind” within the first four weeks of its premiere. That success has only grown over the years as the off-screen drama gets messier, with season six becoming the most-watched season in the franchise’s history.

Tyler and Ashley are one of the three remaining couples left standing ahead of the wedding episodes airing October 23, when viewers will find out if they actually tied the knot.

But whether they actually seal the deal or break up at the altar, the speculative narratives online all but guarantee that Netflix will get eyeballs on its reunion episode airing October 30.

For viewers who have been following along online and waiting to hear Tyler’s side of the story, that’s must-see TV.