What Happened to Emma's Arm on 'Love Is Blind'? Inside the Childhood Saga
Published Feb. 11 2026, 2:08 p.m. ET
Ladies and gentlemen, the pods are open! Season 10 of Netflix’s hit show Love Is Blind is officially in full swing. This season will showcase 32 singles making connections sight unseen, and hopefully leave the pods in hopes of jumping the broom. And since the new season is underway, viewers are learning about the contestants, with some becoming standouts. One contestant in particular, Emma Betsinger, has tongues wagging.
Emma, the Chinese beauty, has already won over viewers due to her chill yet inviting demeanor. While transparency and openness are key to finding success on the show, Emma has fully committed and has been opening up about her life. That said, fans noticed she has a scarred arm, and while her pod dates have no idea, she has decided to open up about it. So, what exactly happened to Emma’s arm? Here’s the full rundown.
Emma reveals that the scarring on her arm was due to a childhood health issue.
Shout out to Emma for being open and honest! While most folks are hesitant to share details about health issues or insecurities, Emma is holding nothing back.
During Season 10, Emma revealed that when she was born, she had birthmarks all over her arm. And while she doesn’t know who her biological parents are — she was adopted at age 3 from China — the fashion merchant revealed that those birthmarks were diagnosed to be high-risk and precancerous, which could potentially lead to melanoma.
As such, she had undergone 10 surgeries to remove the birthmarks by the age of 7. Emma was also regularly screened for melanoma. Naturally, going through that trauma at such a young age played a major role in how she navigated dating. And of course, her dating life suffered because of it.
“That’s why I didn’t date in middle school or high school a lot,” she told Tudum. “Getting into college and coming into my own, I also definitely became very self-aware of what my body looked like.”
And unfortunately, instead of people being excited to learn more about her, she felt that they were only was interested in the imperfection.
“Meeting someone out in the wild, they ask [me about the scars], but it wouldn’t be like, ‘Tell me more,’ she reveals. “It’s more like, ‘What happened to your arm?’”
Emma shares that it’s been hard to reveal her true self in relationships, which is why she was intrigued by the ‘Love Is Blind’ dynamic.
It’s a lot to juggle childhood trauma, your identity, and finding your place in the world. So, when it comes to dating, it can be easy for folks not to show up authentically. And unfortunately, Emma was one of those people, especially as an adoptee to a white family in middle America.
“I love my family, but [being adopted] was definitely something that integrated into how my identity and my self-esteem were formed,” she told Tudum.
Since many adoptees grapple with feelings of being unaccepted and misunderstood, it can be hard when considering a romantic partner. The world has a way of disappointing us, and with Emma, fear played a major role in how she showed up in romantic relationships. And as a result, she wasn’t able to find a true match.
“I had these things I wanted to talk about [in romantic relationships], but I was so afraid that if I did, they would run away,” she admitted. “And so I kept at surface level, and I think that also did me a disservice because I was hiding a very major part of who I was, and what I wanted my partner to share with me.”
With that in mind, Love Is Blind may be looked at as a wacky experiment, but it’s the tool Emma needed to open up and give love a true chance. Whether she’ll find a match remains to be seen, but we’re wishing her all the best on her journey.