Share and Follow
Now that Season 2 of Love Is Blind UK is in full swing, fans are weighing in on which of the reality TV cast members they do and do not like. Across the board, one of the fan favorites appears to be Demola Ayilara, a quiet and sweet single man who nearly found love with another contestant, Katisha, before she chose to get engaged to someone else at the last moment.
Though Demola isn’t heavily featured in the later episodes of the season, which primarily follow the engaged couples, eagle-eyed fans did notice that he bore a resemblance to another reality TV star. That is, it turns out that Demola is cousins with a former Bachelorette contestant.
The Bachelorette’s Dotun Olubeko Is Demola’s Cousin
It turns out that Dotun Olubeko, who previously won his season of The Bachelorette and is now engaged to fiancée Charity Lawson, is actually Demola’s cousin. As reported by Us Weekly, Dotun shared on his personal Instagram stories that he and Demola were indeed blood-related.
Dotun elaborated on their relationship to answer his followers’ burning questions:
For those asking, yes, he’s my cousin. [We] met later in life due to living in different counties, but clicked right off the bat. Neither of us ever considered or seeked reality TV, but it found us both independently. Crazyyy how life happens.
Dotun’s response makes it clear that it was pure coincidence that he and Demola both wound up on separate reality shows, instead of Dotun helping his relative get his big break on TV.
Demola Says He And Dotun Have Grown Close
Despite the two men growing up in different countries, it seems that they’ve formed a very close relationship since then. On his own Instagram page, Demola shared some kind words about his connection with his cousin.
He even went on to add a kind word about his cousin’s partner, Charity, with whom he’d also developed a friendship:
Dotun is my long-lost cousin, who I met for the first time in my late teens. Ever since then, we’ve been solid [and] had many adventures together. He’s my guy, and, of course, Charity is his beautiful missus. I love them both.
Those who have been following this season of Love Is Blind UK will know that, in the most recent episode, Demola finally got a chance to sit down with Katisha in real life. Though he came to the conversation hoping for some closure, Katisha wasn’t able to offer much of an explanation as to why she’d changed her mind at the last minute.
While she admitted to doing a “180” and choosing to get engaged to a different person, Javen, instead, she never formally apologized for going back on her word to Demola. “I just wasn’t quite there [with you, while] I just felt, like, with Javen, the connection was stronger with him,” Katisha pointed out.
That said, Demola seemed to be understanding of her situation, and the two ended the conversation agreeing that they were in a good place. For his part, Dotun was there to support his cousin as best he could, taking to social media again to commend him for putting himself out there in such a vulnerable way.
“Finally caught up on last week’s ep of LiB. Almost more excited for @demolaayilara14 season than my Bachelorette season,” Dotun shared on his Instagram. “Way to put your whole heart out there family, [it’s] not easy, especially in that format.” Only time will tell if fan favorite Demola will go on to be cast in other reality TV shows.
