Now that it’s over, here’s exactly how many times Dave mentioned his sister on Love Is Blind

She never appeared on the show but Dave’s mysterious sister was basically a main character in season eight of Love Is Blind and the third person in Dave and Lauren’s relationship.

She was first mentioned in episode one, which was completely normal because it’s only natural to talk about your family in the pods, but then it continued on and on until Dave was inevitably dropped by Lauren in episode 11. Still, Dave evoked her name constantly throughout the show to defend his actions and statements.

It was during the reunion when Dave spoke about his sister AGAIN that I began to question just how many times she’s been mentioned. Upon further investigation – which is just a fancy way of saying I rewatched all of Dave’s scenes – it seems there was only one episode she didn’t come up.

Dave broke his sister silence 10 minutes into episode one

In episode one, Dave Bettenburg was one of the first people we met and during his initial chat with Molly Mullaney – which was 10 minutes in – he name-dropped his sister for the first time. Soon enough, Lauren O’Brien was also learning about her boyfriend’s “super cool super fun to be around” sister a few minutes later.

Also in episode one, Dave noted how his sister was “hard to impress” but Lauren could succeed if she “forced me and you to hang out with them more” in Lakeville, Minnesota.

Dave’s sister was mentioned twice in episode two, once when he suggested she and Lauren could bond over music, and again 3 minutes after that when he said his sister would be mad about going on the Netflix experiment.

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Episode three was officially the only Love Is Blind season eight episode where Dave did NOT mention his elusive sister, but don’t worry, he got back some brownie points in the following episode when talking about wedding rings with Molly.

Dave toned down his sister talk in episodes five and six besides admitting that she would “freak out” when he went home engaged. I say toned down, but he did still mention her twice in as many episodes.

Dave got back to his usual programming in episode eight

After sunning it up in Honduras, Dave returned to his sister promotion in episode eight when he told Lauren not to be on the phone call with her.

“She’s calmed down a lot since I’ve had my phone back,” he said, before adding, “She’s scared I was going to meet a lunatic reality TV-chasing girl.”

The conversation continued for what seemed like hours but it was actually only 10 minutes of talking about the messy friends-with-benefits drama and his sister’s love of espresso martinis.

Shockingly, Dave didn’t bring his sister up during the workout session with Lauren’s friends in episode nine, but he more than made up for it during a one-on-one with Lauren later in the episode as his family questioned why he and Lauren couldn’t simply date one another.

The sister talk really picked up in the later episodes

This compilation of every time Dave talked about his sister on Love Is Blind is a minute and a half long… pic.twitter.com/M1R6OmuiT8

— Netflix (@netflix) February 22, 2025

When meeting Lauren’s mum at the bowling alley in episode ten, Dave had to bring up the third person in their relationship – his sister. He spoke very kindly of her but just minutes later was using her as a weapon once again to negate Lauren’s feelings.

“She does [want to meet Lauren]. She’s just like my family. They don’t meet just anyone,” he told his girlfriend, before adding that she doesn’t “just meet anyone.”

The fight from episode 10 continued well into episode 11 when Dave confessed that his sister “wasn’t happy” with the situation. Lauren obviously wasn’t happy either but Dave seemed more preoccupied about his sibling’s emotions.

After the breakup that everyone saw coming, Dave was confronted by Molly at the group date where – you guessed it – his sister came up in conversation again, and again.

“It’s really important to me that she approves of what I do, she was really not a fan of me doing this at all,” he said.

Later, when chatting with producers outside, he revealed he had told his sister about the breakup which happened the night before. It honestly surprises me she wasn’t on a conference call as it was happening.

As you might expect, Dave’s sister was a bit talking point during the reunion and Vanessa Lachey brought her up immediately when chatting with Dave.

Credit: Netflix

So, how many times did he mention her?

Throughout 12 episodes, six of which were in the pods, Dave Bettenburg mentioned, talked about, and referred to his sister as “she” at least 36 times! Just imagine if he and Lauren went through with the nuptials, that number would reach triple digits.

Love Is Blind is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news, drops, quizzes and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook. 

Featured image credit: Dave Bettenburg