Love Is Blind Season 11 Reunion: John Shannon Admits Texting a Stripper Who Was Also an Escort, and Why Sarah Williams Left Him (Video)

By Nico Grey · Published Nov 9, 2026, 8:27 PM (BKK)

The night before her wedding, Sarah Williams got her friends on FaceTime and told them how it would end: “This ends with him cheating on me.” A year and a half later, on the Love Is Blind Season 11 reunion couch, her husband told Netflix viewers about the stripper. ^[1][2]

John Shannon and Sarah Williams were the only Boston couple to say “I do.” They aren’t together anymore. On the reunion, which dropped on Netflix on Sunday, Nov. 8, John took the blame, held back the details for as long as he could, and then gave them up once Nick Lachey asked him straight out. After that his father stood up in the audience to defend him, and the room fell apart. ^[1][2][3]

WHY DID JOHN AND SARAH SPLIT ON LOVE IS BLIND?

“It’s my fault,” John said at the start of the reunion. “We had a wonderful year of marriage, shared a lot of memories. But about six months ago I made a mistake, and it was a major breach of trust.” ^[1]

The mistake started with a boys’ night out. Netflix’s Tudum says it was Rob’s birthday. John said he behaved “unhusbandly” and sent three “inappropriate” texts to “one of the people we met out that night.” He also said: “I crossed a line, a boundary that she had set down, and I don’t blame her at all.” ^[1][2]

Sarah said the texts weren’t the only reason she left. “The year was hard for me,” she said. “I struggled with how John spoke to me in the marriage … I was constantly hearing negative things about myself from the person that’s supposed to love you.” She said John had called her “dumb” and said he “didn’t want to be married to me.” The texts, in her words, were “the last thing. It was, like, this slap in the face that I needed.” ^[1][2][3]

Related: another reality-TV marriage just ended in court: Jen Affleck files for divorce from Zac Affleck.

DID JOHN CHEAT ON SARAH? WHAT HE SAID ABOUT THE STRIPPER

Nick Lachey asked him the question the finale teaser had promised: “I’ll ask you point blank, did you cheat on your wife?” ^[7]

“I guess so,” John answered, per USA Today. “It was a woman we met out bar-hopping. I got her number.” ^[2]

The Lacheys kept pressing, and Nick wanted to know how three texts to a stranger could get so graphic. Then John said it: “She was a stripper. Yeah, it was a stripper. That’s the truth. That’s who we met, and, you know, she gave me her number, and I texted her later. She was also an escort. Nothing happened with it. Sarah knows this.” ^[3]

Asked whether they slept together, he said: “No.” He said he had kept quiet because “I have a career. I just didn’t want to announce it on TV.” He also admitted that he appreciates “attention from women more than I should.” ^[2][3]

Even so, Sarah said on the couch that she forgives him. She also said he has started therapy and that she sees “positive change in him.” ^[1][3]

JOHN’S DAD AND SCOTT DEFEND HIM, AND THE AUDIENCE ERUPTS

Next the Lacheys turned to John’s father, David, who was sitting in the audience. “He’s probably gonna kill me,” David began. Then he went after the men on the couches: “I’m surprised you guys aren’t standing up for another guy. Sometimes guys go out, they get drunk, and they do stupid things.” ^[1][2]

“He did a stupid thing, but he didn’t cheat on her,” he said, telling his son he was “falling on the sword.” John tried to cut him off. ^[2][4]

Then Scott, a Boston pod member seated next to David, jumped in. “John’s a good man,” he said, pointing out that John brought his Bible to breakfast and prayed over the men before their engagements. Then he aimed at Sarah: “Nobody brings up the fact that she goes out three times a week!” According to USA Today, he was talking about her side job as a bartender. ^[1][2]

Morrey, Sarah’s former pod connection, came back at him: “What does the Bible say about cheating?” Sahar joined in: “Bro code is calling out your bros. Do not blame the victim.” Wilson summed it up with “That’s corny as hell to talk to a woman like that.” John eventually begged everyone to stop. ^[1][2]

Sarah’s family said they don’t think John is a “bad person,” but that he clearly “wasn’t ready” for marriage. ^[2]

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Embed: Netflix (@netflix), “Chaos erupts at the Love Is Blind reunion 👀”: https://x.com/netflix/status/2119629805515616401

THE DIVORCE TIMELINE: FILED IN JUNE, REVEALED IN NOVEMBER

Viewers found out the marriage was over days before the reunion aired. TMZ reported on Nov. 4 that Sarah had filed for divorce in Massachusetts on June 4, citing an “irretrievable breakdown” of the marriage. People, E! News and USA Today all reported the filing afterward. ^[5][6][7][8]

• March 27, 2025: wedding date, per the court documents reported by TMZ, People and USA Today. ^[5][6][8]
• April 15, 2026: the date the couple stopped living together, which Sarah gave as the breakdown date. ^[5][8]
• June 4, 2026: Sarah files. She asks for an “equitable division of all assets and liabilities” and, in a separate filing, to go back to her maiden name. ^[5][6]
• Nov. 4, 2026: the finale with their wedding streams on Netflix, the same day the split news spreads. ^[5][8]
• April 26, 2027: pretrial conference on the calendar, per USA Today. ^[8]

Us Weekly gives Sarah’s age as 34 and John’s as 33. ^[9]

Related: another split that played out in public: Margaret Qualley and Jack Antonoff file for divorce.

MICHAELLA VS. MATT: “I WAS ON MUSHROOMS”

Michaella Giorgio started with Rob Feeley. He apologized for his St. Patrick’s Day “crash out,” said he had been seeing a therapist, and told the room he had gone 50 days without going to bars. Michaella said she “felt so rejected and so abandoned by him.” ^[1][2]

Then came the reveal. After filming, Michaella dated Matt Waldrip, the beekeeper from her other pod connection. Tudum says they saw Harry Potter and the Cursed Child with his family, her mom made him chicken cutlets, and they said “I love you.” ^[1]

The two remember it differently. Matt said he was the one who ended it, even though he was “in love” and had met her family. Michaella called his version an “exaggeration.” ^[1][2]

“I did say ‘I love you,’” she said. “I don’t think I was in love with you; I was on mushrooms.” ^[2]

BENITA’S SURPRISE ENGAGEMENT

Benita Paloja, who had connections with Morrey and Blake in the pods, arrived with a ring. Her fiancé isn’t from the show, wasn’t in the audience, and has been with her for a year and a half. “I’d like to announce him and bring him out to the public on my own platform,” she said. ^[1][2]

She also said it was “very understandable” that Morrey felt love-bombed. “I said ‘I could fall in love with you’ to a few guys,” she admitted, looking toward Blake. ^[1]

THE HUG THAT ENDED ON THE FLOOR

Near the end, Michaella got up from the couch to hug Sarah. Her long gown caught and she fell hard on the stage. “You’re welcome, guys. Break the tension!” she said once she was back up, and she followed it with a callback to her pod days: “There goes the dud!” ^[1][2]

Related: a married couple that is still very much together: Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce leave Arrowhead in a vintage Cadillac.

THE REST OF BOSTON: JAX AND STEW, ERIKA AND BLAKE, CAM AND ANEHA

• JAX AND STEW: Jax now lives in Stew’s neighborhood and they keep running into each other. She wears her engagement ring as a pinky ring. Asked if they’ll get back together, Stew said: “Some moments are best kept off camera.” ^[1][2]
• ERIKA AND BLAKE: they hadn’t seen each other in a year and a half. He left to move a boat. “I’m never going to not take a shot at love,” he said. ^[1]
• CAM AND ANEHA: Cam said his answer at the altar would have been no too. Aneha’s mom, Anjula, skipped the wedding but came to the reunion. ^[1][2]
• WILSON AND WILNIE: “It’s the entitlement that turned me off,” Wilson said. “I choose to live softly,” Wilnie answered. ^[1]
• THE FINALE: Ashe performed “Stop the Wedding” live in a black wedding dress. ^[1]

Embed: Netflix (@netflix), “Jax and Stew are….neighbors?!”: https://x.com/netflix/status/2119520332872655224

THE TAKE

Most reunions recycle old drama. This one had the season’s only married couple sitting on the same couch while the husband described a stripper’s phone number, his dad told the room that guys just do stupid things, and a castmate brought up the wife’s bartending shifts as though they were the scandal. Sarah predicted the ending before the wedding. Boston just took a year and a half to air it.

MORE ON SCANDAL PLANET

FAQ

Are John and Sarah from Love Is Blind Season 11 still together?

No. Sarah Williams filed for divorce from John Shannon in Massachusetts on June 4, 2026. Their court documents list April 15, 2026, as the date they stopped living together. ^[5][6][8]

Did John cheat on Sarah on Love Is Blind?

At the reunion John said nothing physical happened. He admitted sending three graphic, “inappropriate” texts to a woman he met on a boys’ night, and said she was a stripper and also an escort. When Nick Lachey asked if he cheated, he answered, “I guess so.” ^[2][3]

What did John’s dad say at the Love Is Blind reunion?

David said, “Sometimes guys go out, they get drunk, and they do stupid things,” and “He did a stupid thing, but he didn’t cheat on her.” ^[1][2]

What did Scott say about Sarah?

Scott called John “a good man” who prays with the Bible, and then said, “Nobody brings up the fact that she goes out three times a week.” USA Today says he meant her bartending side job. ^[2]

Who got engaged at the Love Is Blind Season 11 reunion?

Benita Paloja. Her fiancé isn’t from the show, and she plans to introduce him on her own platform. ^[1][2]

When did the Love Is Blind Season 11 reunion come out?

Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026, on Netflix. ^[2]

SOURCES

[1] Netflix Tudum, Melanie Whyte, Nov. 9, 2026: https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/love-is-blind-season-11-reunion-recap

[2] USA Today, Joelle Goldstein, Nov. 8, 2026: https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv-streaming/2026/11/08/love-is-blind-season-11-reunion-recap-boston/92643765007/

[3] People (reunion): https://people.com/love-is-blind-reunion-john-shannon-admits-cheating-sarah-williams-texts-stripper-12241487

[4] Vulture: https://www.vulture.com/article/sarah-john-love-is-blind-reunion-what-happened.html

[5] People (divorce filing): https://people.com/love-is-blind-john-shannon-sarah-williams-divorce-12237430

[6] TMZ, Nov. 4, 2026: https://www.tmz.com/2026/11/04/john-shannon-sarah-williams-divorce/

[7] E! News, Hayley Santaflorentina, Nov. 5, 2026: https://www.eonline.com/news/1437852/love-is-blinds-sarah-williams-john-shannon-file-for-divorce

[8] USA Today, Nov. 4, 2026 (divorce filing): https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv-streaming/2026/11/04/love-is-blind-season-11-sarah-john-divorce/92617993007/

[9] Us Weekly (divorce filing): https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/love-is-blind-season-11s-only-married-couple-files-for-divorce/

[10] TV Insider: https://www.tvinsider.com/swooon/1311439/love-is-blind-john-cheat-sarah-escort-divorce-season-11-reunion/

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