32 Wild “Love Is Blind” Behind-The-Scenes Facts That Explain How The Show Really Works

“It was very long days,” Jarrette explained. “You start out dating 15 women, and then each day the women that you’re dating decreases — but as your dates decrease, the time frame of the dates are increasing. When we got to day eight or nine, we were dating for three hours during the day — and then night dates, where it was up to two hours.”

“I literally saw an article that was like, ‘Is this scripted?'” Nick said. “Not even close! Nobody’s coming up and saying, ‘Nick, go talk about this! Nick, go do that! I was like, ‘Am I doing this right?'” 

Nick continued, “For anyone questioning it, you literally don’t see each other at all until the reveal! Sometimes some people talk about it, but, like, you literally have no idea what’s on the other side of that wall.”

“It seemed like legitimate relationship questions,” Deepti recalled. “It’s not a random dating show, where you’re trying to go and hook up with people. It seemed more serious. Obviously, it’s marriage!”

Deepti added, “My producer was kind of like my active therapist during the whole thing, and I got very close to her.”

“I thought twice about it,” Sal said. Meanwhile, Natalie added, “I’m not sure if there was a rule or not, but none of us went overboard with the drinking.”

“On the pods side, Shake wasn’t my only person that I was into. I was really between two people most of the time. It’s just that I could envision this life with Shake, so that’s why I picked him. But I had a really strong other connection, and I was very much going back and forth in my head on what direction to go. I wish they aired a little bit more of that doubt, but they can’t air everything,” Deepti said.

Iyanna recalled, “At some point, him and my dad were talking alone, and he asked my dad for his blessing to marry me. My dad was like, ‘You know what, I’m gonna trust you because I trust my daughter.’ And then they took a shot together!” 

“A lot of the times off-camera were some of the most important to us. One aspect was there were things that we were able to communicate about that we might not necessarily be comfortable sharing — for myself, even with my family — but if we get married, that is something that I’m going to want him to know and vice versa,” Danielle explained.

Natalie said, “I wasn’t aware of the connection Shaina and Shayne had in the pods. At that time, I did ask them if there was anything going on — and I never got a straight answer on that. So seeing it on the show and really getting that inside look, was a surprise to me.”

“I vaguely knew about the conversation beforehand, but then to actually see it — it was like reliving all the emotions that came with that all over again,” Iyanna told us. “But then, at the same time, I reminded myself that so much time has passed since then. We’ve been married for a while — at least long enough for us to establish ourselves and for him to show that he’s not a fool.”

“That was also quite a shock to me too, just in terms of what was said and the anger that she had in that scene — I wasn’t aware of it. I did reach out to her the day after that scene to get her side of the story. Shayne told me what she had said. I didn’t get the full truth at that time. So really seeing it all was definitely surprising,” Natalie said.

Natalie added, “I’m pretty cordial with Shaina. I see her often at gatherings with the cast. She’s been nothing but kind to me — and vice versa. This happened so long ago that I don’t think there’s really a need to hold a grudge or anything like that.”

Jarrette told us, “A lot of the cast, we still talk and hang out. I think the last time I saw [Mallory] was Friendsgiving, back in November. But there’s no beef, there’s no hard feelings or anything like that. I wish her nothing but the best. I’m happily married, and I’m happy with my choice.”

Iyanna then added, “I’ve spoken to Mallory several times since then. At some point, she went on with her relationship, and then we went on with ours. It wasn’t really an issue anymore by the time we got to the wedding. Then, after everything wrapped up, we realized us girls needed to lean on each other — because there’s just so much to process and cope with. Everyone’s pretty cordial.” 

“Honestly, it was amplified. Obviously, it got to the team’s production, and Mallory did feel uncomfortable,” Sal recalled. “But I did give her a heads up beforehand, I didn’t want her to worry. And [she was] not my girlfriend.”

Deepti told us, “Shake and I had conversations about how physical intimacy and that chemistry was lacking between us, but to watch it back and see how he did it — it was kind of like, ‘Oh, look at me, I’m this cool dude that’s just gonna talk shit about you to my friends.’ You don’t talk about somebody who is your fiancé, let alone a best friend — or even just a real friend — that way. It was kind of disappointing and hard to watch, especially because my parents were so impacted by it. We welcomed him into our home.”

“It probably was our biggest fight yet, but we couldn’t find a resolution to that fight. It was a sign [that] we hadn’t completely found a solution to the differences in our communication styles. It was just a sign that we still had to work on it — and I think, until we were able to, we weren’t ready to be married,” Natalie explained. “That went into the decision-making for me coming to the conclusion that we couldn’t be married on our wedding day.”

Meanwhile, Deepti said, “There was a pivotal moment after we had this massage date. It was really to instill some intimacy and to bring us closer together on that level — but it felt so disingenuous and like we were forcing it. I had the epiphany that like, ‘Why am I trying to prove to this person to see me? I’m done trying, I’m over this. I just need to move forward, and figure out what I want, instead of trying to figure out why he doesn’t want me, do I even want him?'”

“We went on one date after, and we figured out everything we needed to figure out about each other. And we decided not to continue anything,” Sal explained. When we asked him if it was strange to go on a date without cameras around, he replied, “It was! We kept turning around at Starbucks. It was just it was actually really nice to have a date without all of that — real conversation, real talk. Not that it wasn’t real, but no pressure.”

“Honestly, I thought that I would be friends with Shake — and we tried,” Deepti said. “But seeing how he interacts with people, and seeing how he is on social media — every time he left the room, I just felt emotionally drained. So I just think that we’re not meant to be in each other’s lives at any capacity.”

Natalie explained, “I’m still in contact with Shayne. We are friends. I think after going through this experience together, we are definitely bonded by that. I wish him all the best.”

Jarrette told us, “So many people have sent us DMs like, ‘Are you two still together? Just tell me, I won’t tell anyone!’ Seriously?”

“I’m focused on loving myself, I’ll say that. [I’m] really focusing on me and making me into the best version I can be. But I am not dating right now,” Natalie said.

Deepti then emphasized what Natalie said and added, “I’m totally open to meeting people organically and naturally, if this person just stumbles into my life. But as of right now, no dating apps. I’m not physically looking right now.”

“I definitely feel like I’ve been using more of what I learned from this experience to go into my dating life. I am dating somebody right now,” Sal said.

“The last few weeks of the show promotion, we’ve just spent a lot of time at home binging Dawson’s Creek, which, ironically, I forgot that we talked about when we were filming,” Nick explained. “Before that, it was, ‘live your life and don’t post about it on social media.'”

“She’s just so excited! I think it’s been harder on her than it has been for me to hide the fact that her first daughter is married,” Danielle added.

Iyanna told us, “It’s just been a lot of adjusting. Once the cameras left, we kind of looked at each other and were like, ‘Alright, what now? What do we do now?’ A lot of adjusting our schedules, dating continuously, continuing to meet each other’s friends, and spending time with each other’s families.”

“It was really good to to have her integrate herself with my friends for the first time, truthfully,” Jarrette explained.

Iyanna said, “We have the same goofiness, we share the same goals and values — but he’s very extroverted, and I’m very, very introverted. That has been the challenge, finding more time for me to go out and for him to stay in — and then for us to do our thing together. I think that’s going to always be something you have to navigate; it’s not like our personalities are going to change.”

“We developed our own structure — and once we learned to do that, as well as work past some of our communication differences, it all became so seamless,” Danielle said. “We’re such a normal couple now, and we’ve grown a lot since this season.”

Nick told us, “We’re in couples’ counseling. So, like, we’ve learned a lot about how to do active listening for one another, what she actually wants in a scenario versus what my instinct is, and vice versa. That’s really helped us grow.”