LOVE DURING LOCKUP Season 5 inmate Justin Johnson passed away in July

WE TV recently dropped the first preview trailer for the new season of Love During Lockup premiering in January, 2026. The trailer features many of the new cast members, including one inmate who passed away in July of this year while still incarcerated.

Below is the full trailer:

LOVE DURING LOCKUP’S JUSTIN DIED IN JULY

The Love During Lockup Season 5 preview trailer includes couple Emily Anthony and Justin Johnson. Emily is the tattooed brunette featured in several scenes, including the dramatic restaurant brawl.

27-year-old Emily is a licensed courtesan, boutique owner, blogger, OnlyFans model, former corrections officer, podcaster, and twice-divorced single mother from Pennsylvania.

Emily is dating 35-year-old Justin, who is also from Pennsylvania. An older photo of Justin is shown very quickly in the trailer. Below is the uncropped version from Facebook:

While filming for Love During Lockup, Justin was serving 5-10 years for a burglary conviction.

According to a press release issued by the superintendent of the state prison where Justin was incarcerated, he “was found unresponsive in his cell on July 12, 2025. Prison staff immediately responded and provided life-saving measures until emergency medical personnel arrived. Johnson was pronounced deceased at 8:04 p.m.”

The statement states Pennsylvania State Police would be investigating Justin’s death. Starcasm has been unable to find the results of the investigation or Justin’s official cause of death.

Justin’s obituary was written by a close friend named Elizabeth who is featured in the preview trailer. (She is one of the women who gets into an altercation with Emily at a restaurant.) The obituary states Justin passed away “due to disregarded ongoing mental health issues.”

Elizabeth has been posting VERY negative things about someone (she doesn’t use Emily’s name) on social media since his passing. You can read more of her posts here.

Meanwhile, there is barely any mention of Justin on Emily’s social media accounts.

Emily did respond to a commenter on Facebook a few days after the Love During Lockup trailer dropped. The comment appears to be referencing Justin’s friend’s comments about Emily.

“Sad part is I see a certain person who is tryna come after you for someone’s death or something,” the commenter wrote.

“I’m aware,” Emily responded. “It’s truly heartbreaking because we all grieve differently, but I couldn’t imagine pointing fingers and blaming someone else for a tragedy we are all going through.”

Another friend of Emily’s shared the trailer with her on Facebook. “This season of Love During Lockup features [Emily] and all the chaos that comes with her, some heartwrenching twists and turns, and some surprises we couldn’t have ever been ready for,” he wrote. “This next month is going to be so much fun, but we can’t wait until this actually releases.”

“Can not thank you enough for helping me push through all those crazy challenges,” Emily replied. “Can’t wait to see what the future holds for all the chaos 🥂.”

The new season of Love During Lockup premieres in January of 2026.

[NOTE: This article has been updated to include’s Justin’s last name.]

Asa Hawks is a writer and editor for Starcasm. You can contact Asa via Twitter, Facebook, or email at starcasmtips(at)yahoo.com