"Emotionally intelligent king." "The most mature out of everyone." "The real MVP of the season."
That's right: It took a few weeks, but "Love Is Blind" fans have finally found their favorite Season Five cast member. James "Milton" Johnson IV, a 25-year-old, six foot seven petroleum engineer from Houston is sweeping away fans' hearts — and his fiancée, Lydia Velez Gonzalez'.
In the race for fan favorite cast member, the fifth season of "Love Is Blind" has fewer regulars than usual to choose from. By the end of Episode Four, only three couples remained: Lydia Velez and Milton, Izzy Zapata and Stacy Snyder and Taylor Rue and Jared “JP” Pierce (though maybe Uche Okoroha and Lydia count as half a couple, given their dating history). After Taylor and JP ended their engagement in Episode Six, there were just four contestants left.
When Episodes Eight and Nine were released on Oct. 6, Milton appeared to emerge as the fan favorite for his ability to stay out of cast drama and remain level-headed, all while supporting Lydia.
Social media users zeroed in on the moment Milton essentially told fellow contestant Uche Okoroha to butt out of his relationship with fiancée Lydia. Uche and Lydia dated before "Love Is Blind" and hash out lingering grievances with each other in Episode Seven.
In the show, Uche warns Milton about what he perceives to be Lydia's communication issues. The engineer uses his love of math and science to dismiss Uche's negative view of Lydia.
“This isn’t the Pythagorean theorem. This is like multidimensional calculus. We're all on different directional planes,” he says, essentially translating to: Your drama with Lydia is not my drama with Lydia.
“Milton is sending meeeeee!” one X user tweeted before quoting a few of the STEM-inspired phrases the engineer used in his response.
One social media user said they viewed Milton differently after seeing how he handled his talk with Uche.
“Milton really earned my respect in that convo with Uche. Uche was clearly trying to fluster him & get in his head and Milton very respectfully & cleverly ate him up,” they tweeted.
Others laughed at Milton’s parting words to Uche before he left to find Lydia.
“Not Milton telling Uche he’ll hit him up in the GROUP TEXT!! wow that was the nicest way of saying ‘we are NOT friends,’” the same person wrote.
The account for “The Betchelor,” a reality television recap podcast, labeled Milton an “emotionally intelligent king.”
Many fans also applauded 24-year-old Milton’s maturity during a conversation with a man 10 years his senior.
“The way Milton’s the youngest on this show & he’s the most mature out of everyone?!” one “Love Is Blind” fan said.
Some appreciated seeing his nurturing side and how he looks out for Lydia.
“I’m not a fan of them but Milton asking everyone to take care of Lydia while he went to confront Uche was the sweetest moment of this season,” one person tweeted.
Speaking to TODAY.com in a previous interview, psychologist Kelsey Latimer says Milton and Lydia exhibit traits of a healthy relationship. “They both have a voice, they listen and can be playful with each other. And they can fight fairly,” she says.
Episode Nine ended with Lydia and Milton in a rocky place, literally and figuratively. Milton took Lydia to the Houston Museum of Natural Science for a romantic dinner in the mineral exhibit (the two had previously bonded over their love for geology).
During their conversation, Milton voiced some of his concerns, pointing out that Lydia had an intense, emotional reaction to Uche’s comments about her.
Lydia walked away from the table and shed a few tears. As she cried, Milton ate his food and continued to enjoy his pasta. Multiple social media users laughed at his nonchalant reaction.
“Milton eating while Lydia is crying and pouring her heart out,” one person said. “Milton is the real MVP of this season.”
Fans will learn in the Season Five finale, available to stream Oct. 13, if he maintains his calm persona when he decides at the altar to marry Lydia or end their relationship.