Love Is Blind's Leo and Brittany Reveal What Really Happened After Cameras Stopped Rolling — and Why They Split (Exclusive)

Warning: this story contains spoilers from episodes 1-6 of Love Is Blind season 7.

Brittany Wisniewski and Leo Braudy did not get their fairytale ending on Love Is Blind, but there's no bad blood between the exes.

Fans watched in the first batch of season 7 episodes as the two formed a connection in the pods and got engaged. But after their first reveal — an awkward meeting where Brittany was clearly unsure of her feelings and unable to say "I love you" to Leo, while he was overwhelmingly sure of his devotion — it was confirmed that producers stopped following the pair. They ultimately jetted off to Miami for a vacation, but later called off their engagement and split.

The brief revelation likely left viewers on the edge of their seats as they wondered what happened between the pair that led to their breakup. Now, Brittany and Leo are setting the record straight in separate interviews with PEOPLE. Here's what they had to say about their relationship.

PEOPLE: What was it about the other person that made you feel confident about getting engaged in the pods?

LEO BRAUDY: How incredibly easy the conversation was and how comfortable I felt with her. She really balanced me out. It was this place of real comfort, which I think is really what a relationship is. You want to feel like that other person is home, and she felt like a home.

BRITTANY WISNIEWSKI: He's a very intellectual guy. He really checked off everything I had on my manifestation list for a husband. He's emotionally intelligent. We just got along on a spiritual level, on, really, all aspects, obviously, except for physical because we didn't know about that. But it was an energy. I always walked into a pod and I would hear his voice and just be so excited.

Brittany, was Leo's job and financial status a consideration in your decision? And Leo, why was that so important to mention during your conversations in the pods?

LB: It's funny, we really didn't talk about it that much. It was, I guess, only important in the sense that I was trying to just be authentic about who I was, but a lot of the talk about that was in the context of family. And for me, continuing on my family's business is something I am proud of. So whoever I would be with would be, it's more than a marriage. Business is a real part of what someone would be involved in, so it was relevant conversations. I really didn't feel like I spoke about it that much, but maybe I spoke about it more than I thought I did.

BW: Leo and I did not really talk about finances that much, to be honest, until this one day. You have certain topics you're encouraged to talk about every day, and it was finance day and that's really when I got the taste [that] he might be pretty financially stable, which of course is great in a relationship. But other than that, that wasn't a main topic of discussion at all.

What was going through your mind on reveal day? Did you sense a disconnect?

LB: I was overjoyed to see her, but there was absolutely some awkwardness. I think a lot of the reveals are awkward. Ours may have been particularly awkward. It was weird because we were finding comfort in each other, but I could also tell that as much as I was into her, I think she was not quite as into me. And everything is playing out in real-time. There's so much going on at once. So it was comfortable awkwardness, which is a very paradoxical thing, but that was kind of how it felt.

BW: I think I felt every single human emotion possible in that 20 minutes and I was completely overwhelmed. I wasn't surprised with how he looked — I pictured two versions of him and he was one of the versions exactly to a tee that I pictured, so I wasn't really thrown off by that. But I was thrown off by how I felt when he proposed, because immediately I was like, "I don't think this is right." It was an energy thing. I just didn't feel the things that you would think that you would feel when you're getting proposed to, despite having such a strong connection. I don't think it was [a physical disconnect], to be totally honest. I do think he's a very attractive guy and he has such a very strong magnetic presence in person when you're next to him, which I adore, but it was just an intuition. I can't explain it. It was solely just, "This isn't my husband and now I've got to figure this out."

After the reveal, producers announced they wouldn't be following your story any longer. How did you react to that news?

LB: Oh, I was crushed. Who doesn't want to go to Cabo with all these new friends you've made and your fiancée, and then also all of the other women that you're interested in seeing what they look like? I'd seen the show. It looks so fun and amazing and special, so I was totally crushed.

BW: I was definitely disappointed because you build such a strong relationship with everyone on the show, all the girls, so of course not filming and being with them and having fun was something to be sad about. But I knew we were the weakest link. Let's just be honest, I was the only one that didn't say, "I love you" back to the person I was engaged to, so I was not surprised.

What happened in Miami after cameras stopped rolling?

LB: We had a really wonderful time in Miami, and at the end of it, although we had an amazing time, we just decided that we didn't see ourselves really proceeding with a full engagement leading to marriage and we're just better off as friends.

BW: Honestly, the first few days, we had so much fun. You have freedom, you're just out and about, you have your phone, and you're just talking about all the good times that you just had. And then things start to get real. You feel a little settled in and you just know when you're in someone's presence, little quirks that maybe get on your nerves and vice versa. The physical connection just simply wasn't there, honestly.

Why did you ultimately decide to call it quits?

LB: It was sort of a process that we were thinking through the whole time. In the beginning of the trip, you're on this high because you've never seen this person. There's so much to talk about. You're free. And then as things settle down, you're kind of like, 'Okay, we're here. You're wearing my ring on your finger. Let's talk about this.' We had a lot of conversations throughout the trip, and mutually came to the conclusion that we just didn't see it turning into marriage.

BW: The chemistry just wasn't there. We had a talk in the beginning about how this could work and then time went on during the trip and the chemistry just wasn't there and we mutually felt that. We're very good communicators, so it was not a big ordeal. It was a very clean, respectful realization. Leo, like I said, checked off a lot of the boxes of what I wanted in a man. He's just not my person.

What's the biggest thing you've learned from your time on Love Is Blind?

LB: I think I've understood that it's really important to be vulnerable, and that I was really torn between two options on the show. And I think that sometimes in life, you have to follow your heart, and I think that I got really stuck in a lot of indecision and it led to a lot of stress. I'm certainly never going to be in the situation where I'm as torn as I was. That, I know, because it was really not fun.

BW: The whole process of being on the show in every way, shape, and form was just such a catalyst for personal growth. I mean, I learned better communication. That's number one, for sure, because I will say I was not the best communicator, especially for my emotions and translating that in relationships until now. I can write a nice letter. I wrote a lot of letters in my pod days, so that was definitely the biggest thing I learned, and confidence. It's just such a catalyst in growth in every way.

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Episodes 1-6 of Love Is Blind season 7 are now streaming on Netflix, and episodes 7-9 will drop on Wednesday, Oct. 9.