Love Is Blind’s Hannah Owns Up to Her ‘Cruel’ and ‘Demeaning’ Treatment of Nick: It’s ‘A Flaw of Mine’ (Exclusive)

Warning: this story contains spoilers from episodes 10 and 11 of Love Is Blind season 7.

Hannah Jiles knows her journey on Love Is Blind wasn’t perfect — but she has no regrets about how everything unfolded.

In the latest batch of episodes from the Netflix show’s seventh season, fans watched as Hannah and Nick Dorka’s relationship took a downward turn after meeting her family and friends, as well as failing to see eye-to-eye on household and marital responsibilities.

Ultimately, Hannah, 27, opted not to go to her bridal gown appointment with the rest of the women while Nick skipped out on his tuxedo fitting. The two called things off shortly after.

Now, Hannah is opening up about their split, telling PEOPLE there was not a specific thing that made them reach a “breaking point,” but rather “a lot of things” that simply accumulated over time.

“I think for me, it just came down to: I saw my friends [with him], my family was there, and I just had a moment where I was kind of like, what am I doing?” she recalls. “If I’m still seeing all these issues and I’m just being mean to this man, I feel like I’m just dogging on this man, this is probably not someone that I want to be married to. It just all came to [this] realization, we shouldn’t be together.”

Before that point, Nick and Hannah struggled to find common ground on a lot of issues, like dividing household chores and financial responsibilities, his interactions with other women (including Hannah’s “best friend” Katie from the show), and the concept of just how mature Nick was. Those disagreements often resulted in arguments that saw Hannah belittling Nick — something he vocalized more than once, but was frequently dismissed over.

Looking back on it now, Hannah admits she “absolutely recognized” how poorly she was treating her fiancé at the time and regrets handling the situation in that way.

“By the end of it, I was like, at this point, I don’t have anything nice to say. I’m just saying mean things and that’s cruel to him. And it’s cruel to me as well, like what am I doing? We’re just bringing out the worst in each other,” she recalls. “Watching it back, it’s a lot … The way I acted was very cruel and it was very demeaning towards him. I wish I didn’t do it in that way.”

Still, though, Hannah insists, “I stand 10 toes down and what I said was the truth. And that’s how I felt in the moment… I don’t regret it.”

“I’m glad that I did [say that] because I realized that’s something that is a flaw of mine, and it’s something that my family recognized, that everybody recognizes and I’m working on it,” she notes. “I was working on it through the show. I worked on it in the pastime since the show … I know that’s who I am. I was genuinely myself. And yes, they’re bad qualities, but I know, ‘Hey, Hannah, how about you just be careful what you say and it’s all about how you say it?'”

When it came to her friends meeting Nick, Hannah emphasizes that their reaction did have an impact on her, but wasn’t the sole reason as to why she ended things.

“Anything that they think, obviously I listen, but it doesn’t mean it’s going to make me have an opinion or change my opinion,” she says. “If I want to break up with Nick, if I want to be with Nick, I’m going to do whatever I want to do. But those are my best friends. And if they’re asking those questions and he still doesn’t have the answers to the questions that they’re asking, it was just concerning.”

“They made me realize more [that] they saw what I was seeing, so I didn’t feel crazy. And I think I kind of needed that a little bit,” she adds. “I think I was going to make that decision on my own, but it definitely helped to see that and see how he interacted with my friends.”

While things didn’t pan out the way she had hoped, Hannah says she’s walking away from the show with a renewed sense of patience.

“I’m really proud of myself because watching all your flaws and everything and being in a relationship in such a high-pressure and cooking environment, I had flaws. I did say things that I probably shouldn’t have said, but it’s just a learning experience and I realize a lot of who I am is not inherently bad, and I’m not a mean girl,” she explains. “It’s just the way I say things is not great. And I never realized that. And that’s what I realized is just to be kinder and just be more patient. And I think the show taught me a lot of patience, to be honest with you.”

“And so I definitely take that. I am trying my best to be able to do that in future relationships,” she adds.

That idea also relates to her perspective on marriage, she says. “I’ve learned it is work. It’s hard, and you just have to push through. You can’t just give up. I could have been like, ‘You know what, Nick, you can’t do this. We’re done.’ But we worked through it and it was a struggle and you saw me, not my so great points, but I really wanted to try.”

“And I think in the future, it’s just love is not easy, and if you really want it, you have to try for it, but don’t settle either,” she continues. “If it’s something that’s absolutely ridiculous, don’t settle for it. Just figure out what you want and it’ll come to you. You don’t have to force anything to happen for you.”