Is Bartise Still Single After Love Is Blind?

Bartise Bowden and Nancy Rodriguez’s Love Is Blind Season 3 journey came to an end during the show’s Nov. 9 finale — not with an “I do,” but an “I do not.” After weeks of challenging conversations and moving past potential pod connections (including Raven Ross and Andrew Liu), Bartise and Nancy seemed like they might be open to getting married. But ultimately, Bartise tells Bustle, the timing wasn’t right. “There was so much going on ... The last two weeks of our relationship were so good,” he says. “But the first two weeks in Dallas weren’t the best. So I was just like, how do I make this equation make sense to make an informed decision that can impact the rest of my life?”

Bartise adds that emotional moments from the big day, like Nancy’s gift for him, a sentimental goodie bag filled with mementos of their time together, made it a “very hard” decision.

While Bartise suggested that he and Nancy might still have a future together, even if that didn’t mean marriage right away, Nancy resisted the idea — and to this day, Bartise says, they have not rekindled their connection from the pods. “She made it very clear that day that she wanted nothing to do with me after as far as a romantic relationship,” he explains.

If he’s not with Nancy, is Bartise single after Love Is Blind? Or is he pursuing someone new? For now, Bartise’s Instagram doesn’t provide any clues about a potential relationship. Given the fact that Raven and SK Alagbada are dating and “taking it one day at a time right now,” as SK tells Bustle, it seems unlikely that Bartise and Raven will revisit their pod connection anytime soon, either.

During the Love Is Blind reunion, Bartise did discuss one fling in the days after his wedding with Nancy. “Yes, something eventually happened on July 4 on a boat. A boat party,” he said. “OK, and there was a lot of drinking, a lot of coping that I’m doing. If I don’t cope the right way, to be honest, I don’t think my sex life is anybody’s business here.”

Despite not ending up with his Love Is Blind fiancé, Bartise seems to remember his time with Nancy fondly. In one Instagram post, he described having breakfast with Nancy in Malibu as “one of [his] favorite things” from the show, describing their time together as “simple and sweet.” He also praised Nancy in his conversation with Bustle — specifically, how she broached the topic of reproductive healthcare during their time in Dallas. “I want to commend Nancy and commend myself,” he says. “I’m proud of how we were able to be extremely honest and vulnerable in that situation, knowing millions of people are going to see this conversation and that politically polarizing topic.” He added that while they had differing viewpoints, it wasn’t “the crux of the decision-making process.”