Sara Carton tells PEOPLE she "was shocked" by Ben Mezzenga after 'Love Is Blind,' but says it gave her "the most clarity of who Ben is"

"We had a fair shot at it and just kind of felt like something was missing," Mason Horacek tells PEOPLE of what went wrong between him and Meg Fink after filming on season 8 concluded

"He planted this entire story ... Honestly, it's embarrassing and it's desperate for attention and it's pathetic," Dave Bettenburg tells PEOPLE of the man Lauren O'Brien was seeing before the show, which led to their breakup

The Minneapolis-based cast came together to hash out everything that unfolded on and off camera this season on March 9, and things got heated

Smith appeared on season 6 of 'Love Is Blind', while Sutherland debuted on season 1 of the U.K. version, but they didn't meet until 'Perfect Match' season 3

"Also, me saying no to a marriage, why would I continue dating someone? If you're going to say no to that, why even continue the relationship?" Sara Carton tells PEOPLE after Ben Mezzenga suggested they keep dating after the show

Sara Carton tells PEOPLE she found herself "questioning if [Ben Mezzenga] was there for the right reasons" after several issues came to light, including his TikTok drama with an alleged ex and his YouTube business cards

Heading into the March 7 finale, only four couples remained: Sara and Ben, Joey and Monica, Virginia and Devin, and Taylor and Daniel

The couples headed to the altar include Sara Carton and Ben Mezzenga, Joey Leveille and Monica Danús, Virginia Miller and Devin Buckley, and Taylor Haag and Daniel Hastings

"It's just sucks when it's one of the biggest world stages that you have to fumble the ball and learn," Mason Horacek says of reverting to his "old ways" of ignoring red flags inside the season 8 pods

"I'm just like, there's just no way I'm going to marry this person if that's what she was doing coming into it. I just can't justify that," Dave Bettenburg tells PEOPLE of hearing rumors about his then-fiancée Lauren O'Brien

"You can't come back from that. Because again, I truly look back and I'm like, this wasn't about this guy. This was about you and the way that you treated me," Lauren O'Brien tells PEOPLE of ex Dave Bettenburg

"You see him question my dad and it's his friends and it's his sister, and it's all of these things," Lauren O'Brien tells PEOPLE of ex Dave Bettenburg's reasons for ending their engagement

While Madison Errichiello insists Alex Brown "was not the same person that I was speaking to in the pods," he claims they "just realized that we were on different pages" and "wanted to go our separate ways"

"I just didn't think it was appropriate to bash him any more than he already was feeling," Alex Brown says of Mason Horacek

"What I'm looking for in a partner is someone who's able to sit in those heavy emotions and not feel uncomfortable by it and not feel like they have to push it away with positivity," Madison Errichiello tells PEOPLE

Let these true love stories warm your heart this Valentine's Day

"I think there's a certain heartfelt-ness to this season that maybe we haven't seen in others. There's a certain sensitivity to everybody in the pods this season," Nick Lachey tells PEOPLE of the Minneapolis-based cast

"Over the course of the years, I just continuously fell in love with her more and more, with the kind of human that she was becoming," the 'White Lotus' actor tells PEOPLE of Champion

"I didn't tell anybody because I was like, 'Whatever, everyone's going to go out for this show. I have such a sliver of a chance to get a call back,'" the actor shares