Latest / Miss Understood with Rachel Uchitel / Netflix's "Love is Blind" Uche Okoroha Sheds Light on Sizzling Season 5

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Netflix's "Love is Blind" Uche Okoroha Sheds Light on Sizzling Season 5 · Miss Understood with Rachel Uchitel

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  Speaker 1: That's B-A-B-B-E-L dot com slash P-O-D. Start your journey to
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  Speaker 1: real conversations in a new language today. Welcome back to Misunderstood.
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: I'm your host, Rachel Yucatel. Love is Blind is one
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: of the biggest hits on Netflix right now. In fact,
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: over 30 million viewers have tuned in in the last
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: two months. It's on its fifth season and it just
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: keeps getting better. I love the concept. Honestly, I wish
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: they would do a version for people like me, a
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: little bit older in their 40s who have been married before, divorced,
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: and have a kid or two and really are looking
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  Speaker 1: for their second chance at love. I think that would
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  Speaker 1: be a great concept. Every season, the producers send us
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: on a rollercoaster ride of emotions, but this season was
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  Speaker 1: dramatic in a whole new way. And the person at
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  Speaker 1: the center of that drama is today's guest, Uche Okoroha.
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  Speaker 1: I hope I'm pronouncing that right. He's smart, handsome, forthright,
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  Speaker 1: and authentically himself. When I say he gives us the
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: inside scoop on all things Love is Blind, that is
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  Speaker 1: an understatement. We talk casting, a day in the life
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: of the production, the pressure to fall in love, and
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: the shock of hearing an ex-girlfriend's voice in the very
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: next pod. Uche also opens up about the true friendships
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: he made, love after the pods, and he responds to
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  Speaker 1: the comments Izzy recently made on the vile files. Also,
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  Speaker 1: if you've been following in the news, season five contestant
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  Speaker 1: Tran Dang, excuse me, is suing the production companies Kinetic
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: and Delirium, claiming that she was sexually assaulted by her
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  Speaker 1: former fiance during filming. I'll be honest, we're not going
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  Speaker 1: to get into this because of some restrictions we had,
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: but it wouldn't be fair if I didn't tell you
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  Speaker 1: that this was happening. If you're watching the show, you
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  Speaker 1: know that only two contestants made it to the final
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  Speaker 1: stages of the show where they end up standing to
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  Speaker 1: find out who actually gets married. And I think there
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  Speaker 1: was some question as to why there was so little
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  Speaker 1: couples that made it to the very end. Now we
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  Speaker 1: know that others have in the past been filmed and
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: they haven't followed through with their stories. This is an
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  Speaker 1: example of why. So these two were engaged. They were
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  Speaker 1: not featured on the show. She alleges false imprisonment and negligence.
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  Speaker 1: And of course, we have a statement from the production
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  Speaker 1: companies that say they deny and will vigorously defend the
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  Speaker 1: allegations against them. So again, due to some constrictions, we
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  Speaker 1: have kept that part out, but we do ask Uche
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  Speaker 1: his experience of the situation. So it'll be interesting to
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  Speaker 1: hear what he went through while he was on this
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: exact season that the production companies are being sued for.
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  Speaker 1: Uche is a straight shooter, which I appreciate. No bullshit,
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  Speaker 1: no safe generic answers. He spills it all for us.
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  Speaker 1: It's so good. So please welcome Uche to the show. Uche,
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  Speaker 1: I'm so excited that you're with us on Misunderstood. Thank
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  Speaker 1: you for joining me today.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, thank you so much for having me.
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  Speaker 1: So Netflix is doing so well with the show. It
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  Speaker 1: always has. I've always been a fan. 30 million viewers
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  Speaker 1: in the first two months. You're a lawyer. You're obviously
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: good looking. What made you do the show?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I really just thought that this was a way
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  Speaker 2: to step outside of the box, try something a little
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  Speaker 2: bit different. Obviously, I'd been on dating apps. I tried
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  Speaker 2: dating through, you know, friends and getting introductions and things
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  Speaker 2: like that. And I thought this would just be a
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  Speaker 2: fun and unique experience, something that was different to meet
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  Speaker 2: somebody that could potentially be my wife.
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  Speaker 1: So what were you doing before the show in terms
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  Speaker 1: of getting dates? Were you on Bumble? How was your
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  Speaker 1: dating life happening then?
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  Speaker 2: I think the majority of it was through dating apps
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  Speaker 2: because I read somewhere that, hey, most people that find
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  Speaker 2: a spouse, it's one of two different methods. Either you
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  Speaker 2: find them through work or you find them through school.
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  Speaker 2: And obviously, I've done more school than... I've ever that
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  Speaker 2: I ever want to do in the future I'm done
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  Speaker 2: with school and as far as work I I own
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  Speaker 2: my own business I work from home so I'm not
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  Speaker 2: meeting anybody here either so mostly dating apps um and
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  Speaker 2: that was the way that I was relying on meeting
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  Speaker 2: new people for the most part.
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  Speaker 1: Right right so how did you did you get in
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  Speaker 1: touch with the show did they get in touch with
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  Speaker 1: you how what was the process.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, they reached out to me. So I think a
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  Speaker 2: lot of us got recruited for the show. And what
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  Speaker 2: they'll do is they'll reach out to you on Instagram.
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  Speaker 2: One of the casting producers will follow you and then
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  Speaker 2: they'll message you and then they'll have a call and
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  Speaker 2: they'll say, hey, we think you're really good for this show.
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  Speaker 2: Would you like to apply? And, you know, would you
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  Speaker 2: like to potentially be on Love is Blind?
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  Speaker 1: And was it something you were open to? Had you
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  Speaker 1: seen the show in the past?
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  Speaker 2: I think that it took a little bit of convincing.
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  Speaker 2: The first show that this production studio reached out to
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  Speaker 2: me for was Married at First Sight. And that was
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  Speaker 2: like a year or two years before Love is Blind.
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  Speaker 2: And I got on the phone with them and I said,
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  Speaker 2: the premise of this show just really makes me feel uncomfortable.
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  Speaker 2: I don't know if I would want to do that.
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  Speaker 2: So then a couple of years later, when they called
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  Speaker 2: me for Love is Blind, I was like, okay, well,
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  Speaker 2: at least in this situation, I get to choose who
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  Speaker 2: I get engaged to or get married to. So I
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  Speaker 2: was a little bit more open to that. So it
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  Speaker 2: was more of like prompting over time where, you know,
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  Speaker 2: people were reaching out to me for different shows. And
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  Speaker 2: I thought, okay, what the hell? I'm still single. You know,
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  Speaker 2: I should just go for it. I should just try it.
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  Speaker 1: So I'm curious about what the, like, how you're getting picked?
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  Speaker 1: Was it a ton of people and it was narrowed
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  Speaker 1: down to you or they knew from the beginning that
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  Speaker 1: it was offered to you? Did you have to do
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  Speaker 1: a bunch of interviews?
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  Speaker 2: Oh, yeah. So even though they reached out to me,
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  Speaker 2: you still had to apply. You still had to go
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  Speaker 2: through a casting process, do interviews, send them photos, all
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  Speaker 2: of that. So I think that started in maybe November
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  Speaker 2: of 2021. And I didn't get the final green light
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  Speaker 2: that I would be on the show until March or
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  Speaker 2: April of 2022.
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  Speaker 1: Oh, wow.
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  Speaker 3: Okay.
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  Speaker 1: So they did do a big vetting. All right. So
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  Speaker 1: what was your mindset once they say, okay, you're on
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  Speaker 1: the show, this is going to happen. Did you think
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: you were going to go on it to find love?
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  Speaker 1: Did you believe in the process? Like, what was your mindset?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, so I think if anybody tells you that they
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  Speaker 2: thought that they were going to 100% find a potential
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  Speaker 2: spouse by going on a reality TV show, they'd be
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  Speaker 2: lying to you. I think it was more of the
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  Speaker 2: mentality of, hey, I am ready to get married if
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  Speaker 2: I find the right person. Do I think this is
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  Speaker 2: the best option and this is 100% certain to happen
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  Speaker 2: for me? No, but I thought it was a very
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  Speaker 2: unique way to date. I'd seen just the first two
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  Speaker 2: seasons at this point and I saw, wow, there's still,
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  Speaker 2: you know, four successful couples that are still married. Wouldn't
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  Speaker 2: it be awesome if that happened to me as well?
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  Speaker 2: Even if it's a one or 2% chance, that would
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  Speaker 2: be amazing to have that happen.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure. So now explain like how it works.
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  Speaker 1: I'm always obsessed with like how this goes down. Are
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  Speaker 1: you guys in there sequestered for two weeks? Like they
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  Speaker 1: sort of say that you are. Give us the day
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  Speaker 1: in the life.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, the day in the life is we'll wake up
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  Speaker 2: in the morning like, you know, seven o'clock or so.
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  Speaker 2: And then we'll go from the hotel over to the studio.
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  Speaker 2: And we are cut off from the rest of the world.
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  Speaker 2: We don't have our cell phones, our laptops. We don't
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  Speaker 2: have TV, internet, radio, nothing. So we go there and
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  Speaker 2: we're in our respective lounges. All of the guys are
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  Speaker 2: in the lounge together. All of the girls are in
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  Speaker 2: the lounge together. And basically all we do all day
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  Speaker 2: is we hang out with each other and we go
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  Speaker 2: on dates. And that's pretty much it. But we are
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  Speaker 2: cut off from the rest of the world during that
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  Speaker 2: period of time.
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  Speaker 1: So I heard that like in the first day you
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  Speaker 1: do meet all 15 or however many contestants there are,
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  Speaker 1: whatever the word is, but the women, you go through
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  Speaker 1: all of them and you get to meet them at
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  Speaker 1: least once, right?
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  Speaker 4: Yes.
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  Speaker 2: On the first day you go through and you date
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  Speaker 2: all of the women for 10 minutes each. So the
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  Speaker 2: first day is 10 minutes each and all 15 women,
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  Speaker 2: and then you have to rank them. And then you
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  Speaker 2: can go on dates with your top eight for the,
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  Speaker 2: for the second day.
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  Speaker 1: And what kind of criteria made them your top picks?
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  Speaker 2: You know, it's a hard to get to know somebody
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  Speaker 2: in 10 minutes. Yeah. So I was going in there
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  Speaker 2: and I'm like, hey, I'm not beating around the bush.
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  Speaker 2: Let's get directly into it. I want to know that,
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  Speaker 2: you know, you have some kind of values. I want
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: to know that you're ambitious and motivated in life. I
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: want to make sure that, you know, you're lighthearted and
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: you don't take yourself too seriously. So I was going
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: in asking those type of questions to make sure that
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: I would mesh well with somebody.
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  Speaker 1: Right, right. And what, what did it feel like in
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: the pods? I always noticed that there's blankets. Like, is
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: it super cold? Is it like, are they giving you
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: something to eat and drink? Like what, what is it
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: like in there?
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: In the pods, it was, it was pretty comfortable and
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: it's like. I don't know. Everywhere else, you feel super
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: aware that there's cameras and you're being watched and you're
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: being monitored. But in the pods, they kind of hide
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: the cameras a little bit. So it just feels like
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: you're in a little living room and you're just able
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: to really relax and pretend like you're not on a
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: television show.
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  Speaker 1: Right, right. And do the producers give you advice about
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  Speaker 1: what to expect or how to handle yourself or how
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: you might feel based on what they've seen in the
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  Speaker 1: past and how to like navigate this experience to make
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: it better for you?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, they definitely do. They give their advice. They came
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: in every day and they gave kind of like a
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: speech and they let us know, hey, here's what's going on.
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  Speaker 2: Here's what you should do. Each day they had a
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: theme as well.
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I was going to ask you about that.
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: Yeah, they're like, hey, you know, according to all of
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: these studies and all of this data, here are the
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: things that you need to figure out before you potentially
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: marry somebody. So one day is like values and religion,
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: and the next day is about physical intimacy, emotional intimacy.
• 11:56
  Speaker 5: She calls it other mommy.
• 11:58
  Speaker 4: You look like you.
• 11:59
  Speaker 3: What?
• 12:01
  Speaker 4: From Blumhouse, executive producer of Obsession.
• 12:03
  Speaker 3: It was me.
• 12:04
  Speaker 5: Why was it me?
• 12:06
  Speaker 4: And James Wan, producer of Backrooms.
• 12:08
  Speaker 5: You don't have to be scared, Mommy. She's nice. Can
• 12:13
  Speaker 5: I go into your heart?
• 12:14
  Speaker 4: There's nothing like a mother's love.
• 12:18
  Speaker 6: We'll have so much fun together.
• 12:23
  Speaker 4: So it's like they're helping you with conversation starters to
• 12:25
  Speaker 4: move forward.
• 12:25
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: So like what can and can't you say? I mean,
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: obviously you guys can talk about what you do for
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: a living, what your name is, but can you ask
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: about physical traits? Yes, yes, you can. And people did
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: ask about that. They told us there is nothing that's
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: off limits. You can ask whatever you want. You can ask, hey,
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: what do you look like? I know some people played
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: the whole game of what's your celebrity lookalike or things
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: like that, but nothing was off limits.
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  Speaker 2: I didn't do that. The only thing that I did
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: and I wanted to make sure of, and I did
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: this for the first day, is I wanted to get everybody's,
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: you know, racial and ethnic background. Because obviously you go
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: in there and my name is Uche, right? So you're like, hey,
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: you're starting to get a sense of kind of what
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: I look like from that. So I was just like, hey,
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: to put us on a, you know, a level playing field,
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: I do want to get that information from the other
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: person that I'm dating. But other than that, I really
• 17:22
  Speaker 2: didn't ask what people look like or any of their
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: physical characteristics.
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: Do you feel like after seeing what some of the
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: people look like and then speaking to them for so
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: long before, did it match what you thought?
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: No, like it's so hard. And as we saw, as
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: we saw from the show, it's very hard for me
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: to even recognize voices in the first place. So being
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: able to match up, you know, voices with what people
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: look like, it was just so weird because you get
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: some image of what they would look like in your
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: head and then it's different. So it's kind of, it's
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: kind of weird in that sense, trying to match that up.
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: Right, right.
• 18:00
  Speaker 5: Okay.
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: So who did you have an instant connection with?
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: I think I had an instant connection with Aaliyah and
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: I believe she was my last, very last date on
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: the first day. Oh, okay.
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: But was there anyone else that you felt like, oh, wow,
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: this is someone I really want to pursue or from
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: the beginning, she was always the one?
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: I think from the beginning, she was the one. I
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: think there were a couple of other girls that I
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: thought there may be something there with. For example, I
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: had a lot of conversations with Linda from the show,
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: and I thought she was amazing. But Aaliyah was definitely
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: my top pick from the first day.
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: And I'm always curious because you always see all these
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: different people, men and women that never make it on
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: the show and they're edited out kind of where their
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: story is edited out. Why is that? Is that because
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: at the end they don't follow through to the end?
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: Is it because they're boring? Like, why do they get
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: that edit?
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I'm not really sure what makes them
• 18:57
  Speaker 2: make those decisions, really. I know that there are some
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: couples that, you know, get engaged and they don't get
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: followed at all. Some couples actually do get followed and
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: then they're cut out later. To be honest, I have
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: no idea how they make those decisions of who they're
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: going to show and who they're not.
• 19:13
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: Okay, so when you read about how Love is Blind works,
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: it says that you guys are spending 10 days of
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: time together. Is that true?
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: Yeah, about, about 10 days. I think there's seven or
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: eight days of actual dating in the pods. And then
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: like day eight or nine is the engagement. And then
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: one day is the reveal as well. Right. Okay.
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: So, and are you feeling pressure at that point when
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: you get to day eight or nine, like, Oh God,
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: I have to pick someone.
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: I think there definitely is pressure. And I don't know
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: what it is about you know um being in that
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: environment and coming in there every day and talking about
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: your feelings and, you know, having the, the producers and
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: everybody around you talk about, Hey, marriage, this is, you know,
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: the most important decision of your life. You're, you're forming
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: this bond. You're, you know, there's this partnership and then
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: all of that. It's like, I went in there thinking
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: on the first day, Hey, You know, I'm open to
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: a marriage. If I find the right person, I'm open
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: to getting married. And then after a couple of days,
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: I started thinking, you know what? I really want to
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: get married. I'm not just open to it. Like I
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: really want to get married. And then by like day
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: six or seven, I'm like, wow, like I need to
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: get married. Like this is the only thing, this is
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: the only thing I want in life. I need, I
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: need to get married now. So it's like, you kind
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: of get into like this mental state where you're like
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: romanticizing the idea of marriage and falling in love with
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: somebody and getting engaged by then. Right.
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: Right. And so up until the eighth day, how, how,
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: I mean, I'm assuming you're narrowing it down from then
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: that eight to whoever you like, but are you still
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: seeing those eight until the end?
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: You are, you are. So the entire, the entirety of
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: the time, um, you know, you start off with eight
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: on the, um, on the second day, but then you
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: narrow that list down. So after eight, I think the
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: day after that is it's six and then you go
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: to four and then you go to three. And then
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: you're dating those two or three people until the end.
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: You can choose when to end those relationships if you'd like,
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: but it's kind of open to you to make those determinations.
• 21:33
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: Um, okay. So did you, at the end there on
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: day eight, did you really feel like you were, you
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: said you wanted to propose in general, maybe not necessarily
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: to Aaliyah, we'll get to that. But do you feel
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: at that point, like you're really in love? I'm asking you,
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: but just in general, like your group, were there men
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: that were like, yeah, I feel in love. I want
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: to propose. Or was it a lot of, I want
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: to move to the next step because I want to
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: keep getting filmed and I want to go to Mexico.
• 22:00
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: I really think you saw both, you know, in there.
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: Like me personally, I did feel at that point in
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: time that I was in love, you know, whether or
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: not I would have felt the same way or felt
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: in love outside of that environment. I don't know. But
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: there were guys as well that said, hey, you know,
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: I'm not in love. But, you know, we get engaged
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: and we're able to figure that out afterwards. So I
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: think there was a little bit of both going on
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: for sure.
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: Right, right. Okay, so now let's clear up some rumors. Obviously,
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: I mean, I don't think at this point it's a
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: spoiler alert, but you and Lydia had dated in the
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: past before the show. So I want to ask you
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: point blank. Did you know that Lydia was going to
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: be on the show?
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: I did not know that she was going to be
• 22:45
  Speaker 2: on the show.
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: Do you think that she knew you were going to
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: be on the show?
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: She absolutely did know that I was going to be
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: on the show, or at least she had some idea
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: that I might.
• 22:56
  Speaker 4: Be on the show.
• 22:57
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: Um, how do you think that happened? Do you think
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: that the producers did that on purpose? Do you think
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: it was accidental? Like, what are your thoughts on that?
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: So you remember when I was telling you about the
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: casting process, how these casting producers reach out to you
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: and they follow you on Instagram and they send you
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: a message. Well, what I found out is, and Lydia
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: had had a conversation with a few of the girls
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: from the cast.
• 23:25
  Speaker 6: They think you're done for the day, but they don't
• 23:28
  Speaker 6: know about the drawer. The drawer.
• 23:32
  Speaker 5: Just the one square before bed. Or two, you know.
• 23:38
  Speaker 5: Nobody's watching.
• 23:40
  Speaker 6: You deserve a treat.
• 23:44
  Speaker 7: With eight flavours to choose from, you can choose the
• 23:47
  Speaker 7: flavour you favour with Cadbury Dairy Milk.
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: She had a conversation with Aaliyah. And then on a
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: separate occasion, she had a conversation with three or four
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: of the girls. What she had told them is that
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: because she was checking who I followed on Instagram every week,
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: she noticed that I was following somebody new. And she
• 24:11
  Speaker 2: saw that that was a casting producer. And she clicked
• 24:14
  Speaker 2: over to their Instagram profile and she saw casting for
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: Love is Blind. So she was like, oh, okay. So
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: she applied to be on Love is Blind. She blocked
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: my Instagram profile so nobody would know that we know
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: each other. And that's how we ended up on the
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: show together. Now, I think after she made those admissions
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: to those girls, she realized how bad that made her look.
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: So she started to backtrack and say, oh, no, well, yeah,
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: Uche told me he was being casted for the show.
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: And that's how I figured it out. But number one,
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: not only is that not true, you know, I didn't
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: have a conversation with her about it at all. But
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: even if that were true, it still begs the question of,
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: why conceal the fact that you knew somebody was going
• 25:03
  Speaker 2: through the casting process that you knew and you used
• 25:06
  Speaker 2: to date and you applied to be on the show
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: and you started showing up the first day saying, I
• 25:14
  Speaker 2: feel like I'm going to see somebody from my past
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: before the dates even happened. I think that was a
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: little bit questionable. The exact mechanics, whether the producers knew
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: or not, I don't know all of the specifics of it.
• 25:28
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: So like when she came in the pod that day
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: and she started talking to you and you guys figured
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: it out, did you end up going to producers and
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: say like, what the hell's going on? Did you know
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: I knew her? Like, or did you never talk to
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: production about it?
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: Oh, we did. So once they figured out we knew
• 25:43
  Speaker 2: each other, they pulled us both out of the pods
• 25:46
  Speaker 2: and they put me inside of the interview room and
• 25:49
  Speaker 2: they said, we don't know what's going to happen right now. Just,
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: you know, wait here. We're talking it through. We're going
• 25:55
  Speaker 2: to figure out what we're going to do. And while
• 25:57
  Speaker 2: we were in there, you know, one of the producers
• 25:59
  Speaker 2: was talking to me. He's like, hey, just, you know,
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: you can talk to me. The camera's not on. Just
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: between me and you, what are you thinking? And I said,
• 26:07
  Speaker 2: between me and you, I think that y'all went out
• 26:11
  Speaker 2: and y'all found somebody that I used to date in
• 26:14
  Speaker 2: order to have some kind of plot twist and, you know,
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: mess with my head. That's what I think. And he said, no,
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: we absolutely didn't do that. It surprised us just as
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: much as it's surprising you. Wow.
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: Okay. So when she came into the pod and you
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: guys figured it out, how did you feel? I mean,
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: I think it's clear now it's somebody you ended it
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: before with her and did not want to continue. But
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: did it make you for a second think, oh, maybe
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: I'll see how it goes? Or what were your thoughts?
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: Were you angry?
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: I was just taken aback. I was so surprised. Obviously,
• 26:50
  Speaker 2: you know, we had dated out in the real world
• 26:52
  Speaker 2: and that didn't work out. I didn't have any inkling,
• 26:56
  Speaker 2: any idea. any idea, any concept, any desire to work
• 27:00
  Speaker 2: things out with her at all. I was just thinking
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: of how do I handle this situation? And you have
• 27:06
  Speaker 2: to remember, we're in this pod and we're supposed to
• 27:08
  Speaker 2: be in there for 10 minutes. So it was kind
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: of awkward. And I was like looking around at the
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: cameras and I'm like, hey, what am I supposed to
• 27:17
  Speaker 2: do here? This is kind of weird. So I just
• 27:20
  Speaker 2: didn't know how to handle that situation. It was awkward.
• 27:24
  Speaker 2: awkward and I was just trying to work through it
• 27:26
  Speaker 2: the best that I could.
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: Right, right. And then it's evident that she became, you know,
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: embroiled in, you know, this sort of triangle and affected, obviously,
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: what happened for the rest of the show with you
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: and Aaliyah. How did you feel about that?
• 27:45
  Speaker 2: I think there's how I felt while it was happening
• 27:49
  Speaker 2: and there's how I felt watching it back. Oh, yeah.
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: OK, tell me.
• 27:54
  Speaker 2: I didn't understand the severity of it when it was happening.
• 27:58
  Speaker 2: So when we first figured out we knew each other,
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: the producers came to me and they said, hey, OK,
• 28:06
  Speaker 2: you have two options right now. Option one, you go
• 28:09
  Speaker 2: home right now. Completely fine. We'll send you home. No harm,
• 28:14
  Speaker 2: no foul. We'll let you out of the contract, whatever
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: it is. Or you can stay, but if you do stay,
• 28:21
  Speaker 2: you can't tell anyone that you used to date Lydia.
• 28:25
  Speaker 2: If Lydia stays, Lydia cannot tell anyone that she used
• 28:28
  Speaker 2: to date you. So those were the rules. And already
• 28:32
  Speaker 2: in the back of my head, I'm thinking, okay, well,
• 28:36
  Speaker 2: I've just went through this casting process for four months.
• 28:40
  Speaker 2: I've sent them all of these photos. I've done all
• 28:43
  Speaker 2: of these, you know, interviews. I had to buy new
• 28:46
  Speaker 2: clothes that don't have logos and don't have certain patterns
• 28:49
  Speaker 2: on them. And I'm like, I can't just go home.
• 28:51
  Speaker 2: I haven't even seen half the girls yet. You know,
• 28:54
  Speaker 2: what if there really is somebody that I'm going to
• 28:56
  Speaker 2: marry that's out there? So going through it, I think,
• 29:02
  Speaker 2: kind of just forgot that it was a thing. And
• 29:04
  Speaker 2: in the back of my head, I was keeping that
• 29:06
  Speaker 2: in mind. And I was trying to place that to
• 29:09
  Speaker 2: the side and not let it affect me until I
• 29:13
  Speaker 2: actually realized that, hey, Lydia and Aaliyah were becoming friends.
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: And what we don't see is that I'm the one
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: that anticipated that and asked Aaliyah in one of our dates.
• 29:30
  Speaker 2: Once I knew that I started connecting with her, I
• 29:33
  Speaker 2: asked her on a date, hey, is there anybody that
• 29:36
  Speaker 2: you are, you know, getting close with, becoming friends with
• 29:39
  Speaker 2: in the pods? And she said, yeah, there's this one girl.
• 29:44
  Speaker 2: She's like a sister to me. We talk every day.
• 29:48
  Speaker 2: I love her. She's going to be the aunt to
• 29:51
  Speaker 2: all of my kids. And I'm thinking in my head,
• 29:52
  Speaker 2: don't say it, don't say it, don't say it. She's like,
• 29:55
  Speaker 2: it's Lydia. And I was like, oh, like, I was just,
• 30:00
  Speaker 2: I didn't know what to say. I was so uncomfortable
• 30:03
  Speaker 2: in that moment. And after that date, I went to
• 30:06
  Speaker 2: the producers and I said, hey, I can't do this.
• 30:10
  Speaker 2: I know y'all want me to keep this a secret
• 30:13
  Speaker 2: or whatnot, but this is not right. They're becoming friends.
• 30:17
  Speaker 2: I'm an honest person. I've said this from the get-go.
• 30:20
  Speaker 2: I'm blunt. I speak my mind. You're not letting me
• 30:23
  Speaker 2: be myself. And you're making me keep something from somebody
• 30:27
  Speaker 2: that I care about. And it was at that moment
• 30:29
  Speaker 2: that the producers came to me and they were saying, hey,
• 30:33
  Speaker 2: you know, you're right. We're going to allow you to
• 30:35
  Speaker 2: tell the person that you're dating. We're going to allow
• 30:38
  Speaker 2: Lydia to do the same thing. So that's how it
• 30:41
  Speaker 2: came about. Now, after that happened, Aaliyah felt the need
• 30:46
  Speaker 2: to say, hey, okay, now that I figured out that
• 30:50
  Speaker 2: you used to date Lydia, I need to talk to
• 30:52
  Speaker 2: her about that because that's my friend. And that's when
• 30:56
  Speaker 2: we saw that scene where, you know, she was telling
• 30:59
  Speaker 2: her a whole bunch of things about me and what
• 31:01
  Speaker 2: car I drive and where I live and everything like that.
• 31:05
  Speaker 2: And Aaliyah actually came back to me and she said, hey, Uche, like,
• 31:11
  Speaker 2: Lydia is telling me all of these things about you.
• 31:13
  Speaker 2: And I said, okay. Well, there's no way she's doing
• 31:17
  Speaker 2: that because the producers told me that if we tell
• 31:21
  Speaker 2: anybody anything, if I tell any of the guys about Lydia,
• 31:25
  Speaker 2: if Lydia tells any of the girls about me, we're
• 31:28
  Speaker 2: going to be sent home. So how is she telling
• 31:30
  Speaker 2: you these things? And she said, I don't know. She's
• 31:34
  Speaker 2: telling me these things. They're not sending her home. So
• 31:36
  Speaker 2: I went to the producers and I said, hey, you
• 31:39
  Speaker 2: remember when you said that if we were to talk
• 31:41
  Speaker 2: about any of our previous relationships or tell anybody in
• 31:46
  Speaker 2: the lounge about each other, you would send us home?
• 31:49
  Speaker 2: Why isn't that happening? And the producers told me, I
• 31:53
  Speaker 2: don't know what she's talking about. We don't know what
• 31:55
  Speaker 2: Aaliyah's talking about. Like, we're keeping them separate in the lounge.
• 31:58
  Speaker 2: They're taking separate rides up to the studio, back from
• 32:02
  Speaker 2: the studio. I don't know, maybe Lydia said something in passing,
• 32:07
  Speaker 2: but it's like not a big deal. It's like, it's
• 32:09
  Speaker 2: not something that's happening. So I'm like, okay, well, Maybe
• 32:14
  Speaker 2: she just said something in passing. It's not a big deal.
• 32:17
  Speaker 2: So that's what I was thinking on my end. I
• 32:19
  Speaker 2: was getting conflicting information about what was going on. And
• 32:23
  Speaker 2: then watching it back, I was like, oh my God,
• 32:26
  Speaker 2: that's terrible that she had to sit through that. Obviously,
• 32:30
  Speaker 2: it felt... I don't know what Lydia's goal was out
• 32:36
  Speaker 2: of all of it, but it felt a little bit
• 32:39
  Speaker 2: manipulative to me.
• 32:40
  Speaker 3: And....
• 32:42
  Speaker 2: I was just so sad that Aaliyah had to go
• 32:46
  Speaker 2: through with that. I had a completely different impression once
• 32:49
  Speaker 2: I was actually able to see what was going on.
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: Well, as someone watching it, I'll say I feel like
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: you got shortchanged. And I also feel like maybe you've
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: been edited in a certain way. And I'm curious to
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: ask you about that in a minute. But, you know,
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: I felt like as someone who was watching it, it
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: looked manipulative. It looked like Lydia was trying to sort of,
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: you know, make make it known that she knew you.
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: She knew all about you. She was trying to show
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: how close you guys were and almost, you know, like
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: show her that, you know, she had you first and
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: that she was always going to be important or she
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: knew you more than Aaliyah did and to like exert
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: some sort of, you know, made her feel better about herself.
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: I don't know. It was kind of uncomfortable to watch.
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: It also was uncomfortable to watch Aaliyah's reaction though, because
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: it made me realize for you, that might not be
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: somebody you've only known them a few days who you
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: would want to be with, because why would that information
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: be something that was so upsetting to someone that they
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: wouldn't want to stay with you? I mean, and also
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: she wasn't there to make friends. She was there to
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: find someone to get engaged with and someone to have
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: a relationship with. And the fact to me that she
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: was like, well, let me you know, talk to Lydia first.
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: Let me see if this is okay. That felt weird
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: to me. I didn't know if there was something more
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: intimate going on with them. I mean, it seemed so
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: odd watching it. And also who cares what kind of
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: car you drive? It's a fact you drive a car,
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: you know, whatever. So who cares what this woman said?
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: It should, she should have been level-headed to say, well,
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: you know, she told me all these things. I didn't
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: want to know it because I wanted to know from
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: you later and getting to know you, but I'm here
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: for you. And clearly she's jealous that she's not with
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: you anymore. So, and I'm the one that you like.
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: I mean, it was so obvious watching it and uncomfortable
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: and it made me uncomfortable later as you get on
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: in the series, how the girls took her side because I,
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: you know, I'm somebody who takes a girl's side, but
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: I thought it was really uncomfortable. And I thought it
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: was uncomfortable how they made you look like the problem
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: when I don't I don't think you are the problem.
• 34:54
  Speaker 6: They think you're done for the day, but they don't
• 34:57
  Speaker 6: know about the drawer. The drawer.
• 35:01
  Speaker 5: Just the one square before bed. Or two, you know.
• 35:07
  Speaker 5: Nobody's watching.
• 35:09
  Speaker 6: You deserve a treat.
• 35:13
  Speaker 7: With eight flavors to choose from, you can choose the
• 35:16
  Speaker 7: flavor you favor with Cadbury Dairy Milk.
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: One. All right. So let's get off that for a second.
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: So talk to me about how you thought you were
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: edited and if it was different from who you are.
• 35:34
  Speaker 2: I definitely think that the edit was different from who
• 35:37
  Speaker 2: I actually am as a person. And to give the
• 35:43
  Speaker 2: production studio credit for what they do, they've been doing
• 35:46
  Speaker 2: reality TV for a couple of decades and they know
• 35:49
  Speaker 2: what they're doing. They want to create polarizing characters because
• 35:53
  Speaker 2: they want people to be like, I'm on team this person.
• 35:57
  Speaker 2: I'm on team that person. So you need to create
• 36:00
  Speaker 2: a little bit of conflict there. But the person that
• 36:03
  Speaker 2: I was displayed as is not who I believe I
• 36:07
  Speaker 2: actually am. And I think if they were to try
• 36:10
  Speaker 2: and be fair to who I am, they would have
• 36:13
  Speaker 2: let me develop my character a little bit. Like so
• 36:15
  Speaker 2: many of the other people on the show, you got
• 36:17
  Speaker 2: to hear about their background, their childhoods. their culture, defining
• 36:23
  Speaker 2: moments in their lives, funny stories that they're telling. There
• 36:27
  Speaker 2: was so much that me and Aaliyah talked about, and
• 36:30
  Speaker 2: there's so much that we connected about, and there's so
• 36:33
  Speaker 2: much about me as a person that I was able
• 36:35
  Speaker 2: to display in those pods. And the very first episode
• 36:39
  Speaker 2: was titled, So You're a Recent Cheater. In the very
• 36:42
  Speaker 2: first episode, we go directly to the conflict and what
• 36:46
  Speaker 2: was happening. And I think by taking just the moments
• 36:49
  Speaker 2: of conflict and editing those moments out of context, so
• 36:53
  Speaker 2: you don't know what brings me to that emotion or
• 36:56
  Speaker 2: to that point, and nothing is really explained. I think
• 37:00
  Speaker 2: that that makes me seem like, you know, perhaps I'm unreasonable,
• 37:06
  Speaker 2: or perhaps I'm overreacting or I'm not level headed. And
• 37:11
  Speaker 2: that is something that I do regret about how they
• 37:14
  Speaker 2: portrayed me on the show.
• 37:17
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: And that also brings me to the question, because there
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: wasn't a lot of editing to show how you may
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: have fallen in love with Aaliyah because so much of
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: it was spent in this conflict like you're talking about.
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: So I'm curious, what was it that brought you to
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: the point that you wanted to propose to her?
• 37:34
  Speaker 2: I think from the get-go, we were always just... It
• 37:39
  Speaker 2: was just so easy to talk to her, like about anything.
• 37:42
  Speaker 2: I mean, they showed like a small portion of it,
• 37:44
  Speaker 2: how we connected on, you know, poetry and music. We had,
• 37:49
  Speaker 2: you know, some similar tastes. We had some similar hobbies.
• 37:52
  Speaker 2: I think that in general, where we wanted to go
• 37:56
  Speaker 2: in life, you know, being ambitious and having goals and,
• 37:59
  Speaker 2: you know, liking to travel and, you know, really... um,
• 38:03
  Speaker 2: you know, being family people, like loving, loving our family
• 38:06
  Speaker 2: and appreciating that, that family time. And it's like so
• 38:09
  Speaker 2: many different points, not to say that we didn't have
• 38:11
  Speaker 2: our differences as well. We had our differences, we had
• 38:14
  Speaker 2: our disagreements, but I think on a lot of different
• 38:17
  Speaker 2: levels of what you would want in a partner, we
• 38:20
  Speaker 2: were on the, we were on the same page.
• 38:22
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: So you ended up taking the time to call her
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: after she left. You made the effort to go see
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: her after you guys had gotten out of the pods.
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: What were your thoughts going into that meeting? And why,
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: if you felt like that, are you not with her now?
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: Is it because of her reaction and her leaving and
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: her not being open to talk to you and the
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: back and forth that you explained that she did after
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: you guys left the pods? Like, what is it for
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: you of why you didn't continue and pursue her after?
• 38:53
  Speaker 2: So to clarify, I did continue a relationship on with her.
• 38:59
  Speaker 2: And I know they edited the scene and they put
• 39:02
  Speaker 2: in the soundbite to make it seem like I dumped her,
• 39:04
  Speaker 2: but that's not what happened. You know, we met up
• 39:08
  Speaker 2: and she apologized for leaving. I apologize for, you know, my,
• 39:13
  Speaker 2: you know, any communication, miscommunication that I had. We held hands,
• 39:18
  Speaker 2: we shared our first kiss, and we decided to date
• 39:22
  Speaker 2: off of camera. They did invite us back. They said, hey,
• 39:26
  Speaker 2: you can come back as an engaged couple. And we said, no,
• 39:29
  Speaker 2: we're going to date off camera and i think because
• 39:32
  Speaker 2: we refused to come back to the show as an
• 39:34
  Speaker 2: engaged uh couple that is why they decided to change
• 39:39
  Speaker 2: what happened and make it seem like i dumped her
• 39:42
  Speaker 2: at that lunch but that wasn't the case I will
• 39:45
  Speaker 2: say going into it, I was still a little bit
• 39:49
  Speaker 2: upset because all we see is that phone call, right?
• 39:52
  Speaker 2: The phone call where I'm all upset and I'm in
• 39:56
  Speaker 2: the studio, but we don't see any context to that
• 39:59
  Speaker 2: as well, right? Because watching it back, I understand why
• 40:03
  Speaker 2: she left. I would have left too. I would have
• 40:05
  Speaker 2: left earlier than she did. The minute Lydia went off
• 40:10
  Speaker 2: and started saying, call our house, I would have been gone, right?
• 40:15
  Speaker 2: So she is so brave for sticking in it and
• 40:18
  Speaker 2: staying there as long as she did. And I thought
• 40:21
  Speaker 2: that meant that she really did care about me. But
• 40:25
  Speaker 2: my whole thing is the communication aspect of it, right?
• 40:29
  Speaker 2: And We went in there the day before the engagement
• 40:34
  Speaker 2: and I sat down with her and I said, okay,
• 40:37
  Speaker 2: tomorrow's the engagement. I'm not going to come in here
• 40:40
  Speaker 2: and get engaged for television. I'm just not going to
• 40:43
  Speaker 2: do that. I want to make sure that we're actually
• 40:46
  Speaker 2: ready to get engaged. So I said, let's talk about everything.
• 40:50
  Speaker 2: How are we on that Lydia situation? Is that good?
• 40:54
  Speaker 2: Are we over that? Is that still bothering you? She said, no,
• 40:57
  Speaker 2: we're past that. OK, this whole infidelity disagreement, how are
• 41:01
  Speaker 2: we on that? Are we good? Did we move past
• 41:05
  Speaker 2: with that? Are we okay with that? She said, yes,
• 41:07
  Speaker 2: that's okay. I was like, let's go back through every
• 41:09
  Speaker 2: date that we've had. Let's talk about emotional intimacy, physical intimacy, children, religion.
• 41:16
  Speaker 2: Are we on the same page about everything? Are we
• 41:18
  Speaker 2: actually ready to do this? And she said, yeah, I am.
• 41:22
  Speaker 2: I'm completely ready to get engaged to you tomorrow. There's
• 41:25
  Speaker 2: nothing that's holding me back.
• 41:26
  Speaker 1: So that's why it was so shocking when you showed
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: up and they said she had left.
• 41:31
  Speaker 2: Exactly. Because I even told her in that moment, hey,
• 41:35
  Speaker 2: it might be difficult if Lydia gets engaged too. And,
• 41:38
  Speaker 2: you know, we're both continuing this process together. I said,
• 41:41
  Speaker 2: what do you think about just leaving, going home to
• 41:44
  Speaker 2: Houston and dating off camera? And she said, yeah, you know,
• 41:48
  Speaker 2: I'd be fine with that as well. And I said, okay,
• 41:50
  Speaker 2: so here's what we're going to do. We are going
• 41:52
  Speaker 2: to promise each other. We're going to promise each other
• 41:55
  Speaker 2: that no matter what, we are going to show up
• 41:57
  Speaker 2: for each other tomorrow. And we're going to make this
• 42:00
  Speaker 2: decision together. Either we get engaged and we go into
• 42:02
  Speaker 2: Mexico or we say, screw it. We're going to go home.
• 42:06
  Speaker 2: And we're going to date in Houston. But either way,
• 42:08
  Speaker 2: we'll be on the same plane home together. And she
• 42:11
  Speaker 2: made me that promise. And six hours later, she was
• 42:14
  Speaker 2: on the way to the airport by herself. And I
• 42:17
  Speaker 2: think that's why I was so upset. It's because I
• 42:21
  Speaker 2: can understand wanting to go home. But I just wish
• 42:25
  Speaker 2: she had communicated that to me. I understand. I would
• 42:27
  Speaker 2: have went home too. But just the communication. Don't promise
• 42:31
  Speaker 2: me you're going to show up for me and then leave.
• 42:33
  Speaker 2: And then.
• 42:35
  Speaker 2: What we don't see is that over that period of time,
• 42:38
  Speaker 2: I was at the studio for the entire day, even
• 42:41
  Speaker 2: though she didn't show up in the morning. And after
• 42:45
  Speaker 2: I went to the pod and she wasn't there and
• 42:48
  Speaker 2: I went back to the interview room, they started almost
• 42:51
  Speaker 2: interrogating me. You know, there was about three producers in
• 42:54
  Speaker 2: there and they said, hey, Aaliyah left. Why did she leave?
• 42:58
  Speaker 2: I said, I don't know why she left. They're like, well,
• 43:01
  Speaker 2: you must have said something to her. Like, where'd she go?
• 43:04
  Speaker 2: Why is she not here? And I said, well, you're
• 43:07
  Speaker 2: the producers. Tell me why she's not here. They said, oh,
• 43:10
  Speaker 2: she came to us this morning and she demanded she
• 43:13
  Speaker 2: go home. She gave us this journal, you know, the
• 43:16
  Speaker 2: journal I'd written about. She gave us this journal and said,
• 43:21
  Speaker 2: give this to Uche. He'll know what it means. What
• 43:23
  Speaker 2: does that journal mean? I said, I don't know what
• 43:24
  Speaker 2: it means. They're like, open it up. Did she write
• 43:26
  Speaker 2: you a note? And I opened it up and I'm like, no,
• 43:28
  Speaker 2: she didn't write anything. They're like, oh, so she didn't
• 43:30
  Speaker 2: even write you a note. And I said, no, she didn't.
• 43:32
  Speaker 2: She didn't write me a note. So at this point,
• 43:35
  Speaker 2: I'm all I'm confused. I'm, you know, anxious. I'm angry.
• 43:39
  Speaker 2: And at that point, they're like, oh, do you want
• 43:41
  Speaker 2: to talk to her? And I'm like, oh, yeah, I
• 43:43
  Speaker 2: guess I'll talk to her. And they put the phone
• 43:45
  Speaker 2: in front of my face. And then that's the one
• 43:49
  Speaker 2: moment that you see. You don't see everything else there.
• 43:52
  Speaker 2: So I think a big part of it was me
• 43:56
  Speaker 2: trying to calm down and understand her perspective from it.
• 44:02
  Speaker 2: And I was a little bit hurt, but I did
• 44:06
  Speaker 2: get past that and I did forgive her and I
• 44:09
  Speaker 2: did want to give it a second try. And we
• 44:11
  Speaker 2: did date off camera for, you know, about a month
• 44:14
  Speaker 2: or so. And it just didn't work out between us
• 44:16
  Speaker 2: at the end of the day.
• 44:18
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 44:18
  Speaker 1: And so it didn't work out, but it had nothing
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: to do with the show. Like you're happy that you
• 44:21
  Speaker 1: met her. You felt like it, the, the, it sounds
• 44:24
  Speaker 1: like the experiment worked because you found somebody who you
• 44:28
  Speaker 1: were attracted to enough. inwardly, outwardly, whatever it was to
• 44:32
  Speaker 1: date outside. And then it just didn't work because it
• 44:34
  Speaker 1: wasn't the right person, which happens to all of us, right?
• 44:37
  Speaker 1: So do you believe in the process of what you
• 44:40
  Speaker 1: guys were doing there?
• 44:42
  Speaker 2: Oh, that's a tough one because while I do think
• 44:49
  Speaker 2: that I found an incredible person and I did appreciate
• 44:55
  Speaker 2: our relationship and I do think it worked in that aspect,
• 45:00
  Speaker 2: I can also see that that environment and, you know,
• 45:03
  Speaker 2: being cut off from the rest of the world and,
• 45:06
  Speaker 2: you know, not having distractions and friends and family and,
• 45:09
  Speaker 2: you know, going into their everyday thinking about marriage might
• 45:14
  Speaker 2: make you force connections that otherwise wouldn't have necessarily have
• 45:20
  Speaker 2: been as strong in the real world. Like, for example,
• 45:23
  Speaker 2: in the pods, we saw the whole thing about, um,
• 45:27
  Speaker 2: that she plays the guitar, right? And she told me, hey,
• 45:31
  Speaker 2: you know, I have a Fender guitar. And I was like,
• 45:34
  Speaker 2: no way. You have a Fender guitar? I have a
• 45:37
  Speaker 2: Fender guitar. Like we're soulmates. This means that we should
• 45:40
  Speaker 2: be together, right? This is a huge coincidence. And then
• 45:43
  Speaker 2: watching it back, I'm on my couch and I'm like,
• 45:47
  Speaker 2: Fender is one of the best-selling guitar brands in the world.
• 45:51
  Speaker 2: That's really not a huge coincidence or whatever. So yeah,
• 45:57
  Speaker 2: I do think that I had a strong connection with her.
• 45:59
  Speaker 2: And I do think that is an interesting way to date.
• 46:02
  Speaker 2: But I do see some downsides in that you're willing
• 46:05
  Speaker 2: to compromise more than you typically are. And you're willing
• 46:08
  Speaker 2: to reach more for connection than you typically are. And
• 46:13
  Speaker 2: then also... While it's an interesting concept not to be
• 46:18
  Speaker 2: able to see the person while you're talking to them,
• 46:21
  Speaker 2: that also creates communication.
• 46:23
  Speaker 6: They think you're done for the day, but they don't
• 46:26
  Speaker 6: know about the drawer.
• 46:28
  Speaker 5: The drawer. Just the one square before bed. Or two,
• 46:35
  Speaker 5: you know. Nobody's watching.
• 46:38
  Speaker 3: You deserve a treat.
• 46:42
  Speaker 7: With eight flavors to choose from, you can choose the
• 46:45
  Speaker 7: flavor you favor with Cadbury Dairy Milk.
• 46:58
  Speaker 2: The most effective communicator sometimes. And I went in there
• 47:01
  Speaker 2: and I even told all of the girls, you know,
• 47:04
  Speaker 2: on the first or the second day that I came
• 47:06
  Speaker 2: in there, I was like, Hey, just so you know, warning.
• 47:09
  Speaker 2: I'm a very, sometimes I can be very blunt. I
• 47:12
  Speaker 2: can be very direct. And I prioritize just getting my
• 47:16
  Speaker 2: thoughts out there instead of, you know, taking the time
• 47:18
  Speaker 2: to actually figure out how I want to word that.
• 47:21
  Speaker 2: So please be patient with me. If I do that,
• 47:24
  Speaker 2: just point it out to me and I'll correct it.
• 47:26
  Speaker 2: But yeah, I think because I am that type of person,
• 47:31
  Speaker 2: I take nonverbal cues. Like the majority of communication is nonverbal.
• 47:37
  Speaker 2: And so... Me already sometimes being an ineffective communicator, I
• 47:42
  Speaker 2: feel like I need to see somebody. Oh, that thing
• 47:45
  Speaker 2: that I said, they made that face. Okay. I shouldn't have,
• 47:48
  Speaker 2: you know, I shouldn't have done that. Right.
• 47:49
  Speaker 1: I totally agree with that. I've never thought about that before.
• 47:52
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 47:52
  Speaker 1: That's really, that's really interesting and important. I do agree
• 47:55
  Speaker 1: with that too, but I like dating online because I mean, yeah,
• 48:00
  Speaker 1: you could see what their picture is like and you
• 48:02
  Speaker 1: can get an idea, but for the most part, every
• 48:04
  Speaker 1: time I've met somebody online, they don't, I mean, of
• 48:07
  Speaker 1: course they resemble their picture, but But it's different. Their
• 48:09
  Speaker 1: movements are different. The way they smile or talk makes,
• 48:12
  Speaker 1: you know, even their voice makes them come across different
• 48:15
  Speaker 1: than the photo. And I think, you know, dating online,
• 48:18
  Speaker 1: you get the opportunity to meet someone's personality. first and
• 48:24
  Speaker 1: see if they give good phone, if they're, you know,
• 48:26
  Speaker 1: if they communicate well, if they're in touch with you
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: in a way that makes sense, or if they're disappearing,
• 48:31
  Speaker 1: like you can find out a lot about a person
• 48:34
  Speaker 1: dating online, kind of like being behind a door because you,
• 48:38
  Speaker 1: you get to just see their personality first and see
• 48:40
  Speaker 1: if it matches. A lot of people are like, Oh,
• 48:42
  Speaker 1: I'll just meet you Wednesday night. We'll see if there's
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: a connection. I don't do it that way. I, I
• 48:46
  Speaker 1: like the idea, which is why I love the idea of,
• 48:49
  Speaker 1: of love is blind. I always wish they would do
• 48:51
  Speaker 1: a show. I'm 48 for people who have been divorced,
• 48:54
  Speaker 1: that have kids that are older than you guys that
• 48:57
  Speaker 1: want a second chance at love. I think that would
• 48:59
  Speaker 1: be a great show because we're like dying to meet
• 49:03
  Speaker 1: the right person. And you know, the statistics are like,
• 49:05
  Speaker 1: it's easier to get kidnapped by terrorists or something after
• 49:08
  Speaker 1: you're 40 and been married a couple of times. So
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: I would think my statistics might be better through a while,
• 49:14
  Speaker 1: but who knows? Okay, wait, so you were talking about
• 49:16
  Speaker 1: that and made me curious about your castmates because like,
• 49:19
  Speaker 1: we see with, I think their names are JP and Taylor,
• 49:23
  Speaker 1: that they have a great connection. People really like them.
• 49:26
  Speaker 1: It's a teacher and a fire guy, fireman. And you
• 49:29
  Speaker 1: think they're going to work and he meets her. And
• 49:32
  Speaker 1: the rest of the time in Mexico, he hardly speaks
• 49:34
  Speaker 1: to her or looks at her. And it's clear that
• 49:36
  Speaker 1: it has to do with, you know, makeup gate or whatever.
• 49:39
  Speaker 1: He says that her face isn't what he pictured. The
• 49:42
  Speaker 1: eyelashes threw him off. The makeup on her face threw
• 49:45
  Speaker 1: him off. And it's hard to watch. It's hard. You know,
• 49:49
  Speaker 1: he was on the show knowing that he fell for
• 49:51
  Speaker 1: someone based on her personality and then clearly cannot get
• 49:54
  Speaker 1: over the way she looks. So two part question, how
• 49:59
  Speaker 1: important is the way you look in a relationship? And
• 50:02
  Speaker 1: number two, what did you think of that scenario, either
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: being in it and seeing them and then watching it back?
• 50:08
  Speaker 2: Yeah i think that in this situation that is one
• 50:11
  Speaker 2: of the good things that i will say about love
• 50:13
  Speaker 2: is blind and dating through a wall by the time
• 50:16
  Speaker 2: you actually see that person you already have that emotional
• 50:18
  Speaker 2: connection so it matters a whole lot less than on
• 50:22
  Speaker 2: a dating app where the first thing you see is
• 50:23
  Speaker 2: their face and then that's all you have to go
• 50:25
  Speaker 2: go off of so for me it didn't matter what
• 50:30
  Speaker 2: the person looked like at the end of the day. Obviously,
• 50:33
  Speaker 2: if they looked like, you know, Shrek or something, we're
• 50:36
  Speaker 2: going to have a problem, right? Everybody has their limits.
• 50:39
  Speaker 2: But for the most part, I'm like, okay, you know,
• 50:41
  Speaker 2: if they're just, you know, a normal looking person, that's
• 50:44
  Speaker 2: completely fine. So I think a lot of us, you know,
• 50:48
  Speaker 2: had the same feeling too. Like, hey, it doesn't matter
• 50:51
  Speaker 2: as long as I have that emotional connection. Now, watching
• 50:54
  Speaker 2: JP and Taylor, that was tough because I love JP.
• 50:57
  Speaker 2: I think he's a great guy. I love Taylor. I
• 51:00
  Speaker 2: think she's a great girl. And that situation, I don't know,
• 51:04
  Speaker 2: because off. you know, camera in person, like JP is
• 51:10
  Speaker 2: so charismatic. Like you can't get the guy to shut up.
• 51:12
  Speaker 2: He's always, you know, cracking jokes or doing whatever. And
• 51:15
  Speaker 2: I think that in the pod and in the pods,
• 51:18
  Speaker 2: you see that as well. Like I mentioned, like the
• 51:20
  Speaker 2: cameras are hidden, you know, you're not able, you're just
• 51:23
  Speaker 2: able to feel comfortable. And once you get out of
• 51:25
  Speaker 2: the pods, it's different. Like you have two cameras, you
• 51:28
  Speaker 2: have like three producers and, standing in front of you.
• 51:31
  Speaker 2: And I felt like he just felt awkward, like he
• 51:34
  Speaker 2: had to perform like, hey, go over here and have
• 51:37
  Speaker 2: this discussion, then walk over here and okay, talk here.
• 51:42
  Speaker 2: And like, he just had to perform and he just
• 51:45
  Speaker 2: kind of, you know, shrunk back into his shell. And
• 51:48
  Speaker 2: I what he said to Taylor was not right, you know?
• 51:51
  Speaker 2: And I reached out to Taylor and I said, hey,
• 51:54
  Speaker 2: you know, I'm sure he didn't mean what he said.
• 51:56
  Speaker 2: That was wrong. You handled it excellently. Like you handled
• 52:02
  Speaker 2: it so well. And I told her that. I think
• 52:06
  Speaker 2: at the end of the day, like if... you know,
• 52:09
  Speaker 2: JP like didn't like her makeup or, you know, wanted
• 52:12
  Speaker 2: preferred a more natural look. He could have just said,
• 52:15
  Speaker 2: Hey Taylor, like, wow, I noticed you're not wearing any
• 52:18
  Speaker 2: makeup today. And like, you are so beautiful naturally. I
• 52:22
  Speaker 2: don't even think you need makeup. And then maybe she
• 52:24
  Speaker 2: would have thought, okay, well maybe I'll not wear makeup
• 52:27
  Speaker 2: more often. But I think in that moment, like, you know,
• 52:31
  Speaker 2: from whatever pressure he was feeling to perform because it's television,
• 52:36
  Speaker 2: he's like, all right, well, they're like, why are you
• 52:39
  Speaker 2: being quiet? Why are you being quiet? And he's like, okay,
• 52:41
  Speaker 2: maybe I'll just create some drama. Like it's a TV show, right? So,
• 52:44
  Speaker 2: and I don't know, I haven't talked to him about it.
• 52:46
  Speaker 2: So I don't, but that would be my thought of,
• 52:49
  Speaker 2: you know, why he did that. Because at the end
• 52:51
  Speaker 2: of the day, I know him in real life. I
• 52:53
  Speaker 2: know he's not a bad person. I think that was
• 52:55
  Speaker 2: a bad moment. And I do think that he regrets
• 52:59
  Speaker 2: what he told her as well.
• 53:01
  Speaker 1: Yeah, right. All right, Izzy and Stacey. Oh, wait, go
• 53:06
  Speaker 1: back to JP for one second. Why did he wear red, white,
• 53:08
  Speaker 1: and blue the whole time? Did he do that off
• 53:12
  Speaker 1: camera also?
• 53:13
  Speaker 2: JP is like, he's like Captain America. He just loves America.
• 53:17
  Speaker 2: That's what it is.
• 53:18
  Speaker 1: I kind of love that about him. He's so innocent.
• 53:21
  Speaker 2: He's very patriotic. And yeah, that's off camera as well.
• 53:24
  Speaker 2: He's always, I mean, he's a firefighter. You know, he
• 53:27
  Speaker 2: told me this story once about... how he rescued people
• 53:32
  Speaker 2: from this burning building and he had to hop he
• 53:35
  Speaker 2: had to climb onto the building and he had to
• 53:37
  Speaker 2: come through the roof with an axe to go out
• 53:40
  Speaker 2: there and rescue the people from a burning building like
• 53:43
  Speaker 2: that as you know he's he's a very he's a
• 53:46
  Speaker 2: very selfless person he's a very patriotic person he puts
• 53:50
  Speaker 2: other people first um you know so that's that's just
• 53:53
  Speaker 2: who he is as.
• 53:54
  Speaker 1: A person yeah it's hard to dislike him. He, he
• 53:57
  Speaker 1: seems like a great guy. However, I guess, you know,
• 53:59
  Speaker 1: as we were talking about communication, he obviously had some
• 54:02
  Speaker 1: communication issues with Taylor and listen, sometimes if you're not
• 54:06
  Speaker 1: physically attracted to somebody, it's going to make you withdraw
• 54:09
  Speaker 1: and feel forced to have to make something of it.
• 54:12
  Speaker 1: And I mean, I get it. He didn't use the
• 54:14
  Speaker 1: right words, but hard to hate him when he's such
• 54:17
  Speaker 1: a good guy in his professional life. So, okay. So
• 54:20
  Speaker 1: Izzy and Stacey, I think they were like a fan
• 54:24
  Speaker 1: favorite for a little while. I think it got really
• 54:26
  Speaker 1: uncomfortable later watching how she was interacting with you when
• 54:30
  Speaker 1: you came back and you were trying to talk to
• 54:31
  Speaker 1: Lydia that one night. I did not like how she
• 54:34
  Speaker 1: spoke to Johnny. I almost don't like how she speaks
• 54:37
  Speaker 1: to Izzy half the time. It makes me uncomfortable. Her
• 54:40
  Speaker 1: family made me uncomfortable by saying she likes private planes.
• 54:43
  Speaker 1: She likes this. She likes that. Or you can be
• 54:45
  Speaker 1: able to. Support her with that because those are not
• 54:47
  Speaker 1: the most important things that you should be asking someone's fiance.
• 54:50
  Speaker 1: I just think that was incredibly disrespectful. And Izzy, it
• 54:54
  Speaker 1: looks like he's on the verge of tears half the time.
• 54:57
  Speaker 1: Izzy recently was on a podcast a couple of days
• 55:00
  Speaker 1: ago where he said, you know, he thought that you were...
• 55:04
  Speaker 1: being calculated that you were winning at breakups versus winning
• 55:08
  Speaker 1: at being in love. He did call you the oldest,
• 55:11
  Speaker 1: the wisest, the most level headed, but said that you
• 55:13
  Speaker 1: were talking shit about him and had said that you
• 55:17
  Speaker 1: were mad at Johnny for hanging out with this superficial guy.
• 55:21
  Speaker 1: What are your comments to that?
• 55:24
  Speaker 2: So I did say some of those things about him.
• 55:28
  Speaker 2: I'll be the first to come out and admit that
• 55:30
  Speaker 2: if I say something about somebody, I'll own it. But
• 55:34
  Speaker 2: what it is, is I only had one perspective, right?
• 55:36
  Speaker 2: So this all started at the barbecue when the whole
• 55:40
  Speaker 2: situation went down with how he, you know, interacted with Johnny.
• 55:44
  Speaker 2: I wasn't there to see what actually happened. I came
• 55:47
  Speaker 2: in afterwards and you'll see on camera just a scene
• 55:50
  Speaker 2: of me sitting in front of Johnny and she's wiping
• 55:53
  Speaker 2: her tears with a handkerchief. That was my handkerchief that
• 55:55
  Speaker 2: I handed her. And I'm just sitting there like shaking
• 55:57
  Speaker 2: my head. And basically what happened is I went over
• 56:00
  Speaker 2: to Johnny and she said, wow, Izzy just came in
• 56:03
  Speaker 2: here and he attacked me and he attacked Chris. He
• 56:06
  Speaker 2: was calling me all these names. And then Stacey came
• 56:09
  Speaker 2: over and she attacked me and, you know, she attacked
• 56:12
  Speaker 2: Chris and, you know, it was terrible. So I was like,
• 56:15
  Speaker 2: oh my God, that's like, why would he do that? Like, I,
• 56:18
  Speaker 2: I was, I was cool with Izzy in the pods.
• 56:20
  Speaker 2: I thought, you know, and I still think he's a
• 56:22
  Speaker 2: great guy. I thought he was a great guy then.
• 56:23
  Speaker 2: I think he was a great guy now, but. i
• 56:26
  Speaker 2: i texted him after the barbecue and i was like
• 56:29
  Speaker 2: wow you know last night was crazy right i just
• 56:32
  Speaker 2: want to get your thoughts on everything like you know
• 56:34
  Speaker 2: what happened and all that i was trying to get
• 56:37
  Speaker 2: his side from it and he said hey man yeah
• 56:40
  Speaker 2: i'm filming right now and i'll hit you up later
• 56:43
  Speaker 2: and we'll talk and he never got back to me
• 56:45
  Speaker 2: so i only had johnny's perspective on it and she
• 56:49
  Speaker 2: told me all these terrible things so when filming ended
• 56:53
  Speaker 2: and you know Izzy was reentering Johnny's life, and I
• 56:57
  Speaker 2: saw that, I was like, wait, no, hold on, Johnny.
• 56:59
  Speaker 2: You remember what she told me about him, right? He's
• 57:01
  Speaker 2: a bad guy. Like, don't do that, you know? But
• 57:04
  Speaker 2: watching it back now, I see that it's more complicated
• 57:08
  Speaker 2: than I had originally thought, right? And I still don't
• 57:12
  Speaker 2: think the way he talked to her was... I don't
• 57:16
  Speaker 2: agree with the way he spoke to her, but I
• 57:18
  Speaker 2: can see that in his head, he thought he was maybe, like,
• 57:21
  Speaker 2: defending Chris.
• 57:23
  Speaker 3: So.
• 57:24
  Speaker 2: I kind of see a different perspective now than I
• 57:27
  Speaker 2: did then. And I absolutely don't think he's a bad guy.
• 57:31
  Speaker 2: That's just some of the things that I was hearing
• 57:33
  Speaker 2: about him that I was just essentially parroting back. Yeah.
• 57:37
  Speaker 1: I mean, as again, somebody who wasn't there and was
• 57:39
  Speaker 1: watching it, it almost seemed like he was defending Chris,
• 57:42
  Speaker 1: but more because he had some unresolved issues with Johnny
• 57:45
  Speaker 1: or something. And then Stacey walking in and, you know,
• 57:49
  Speaker 1: kind of parroting all that and calling her all sorts
• 57:52
  Speaker 1: of names and, I thought that that was so evident.
• 57:55
  Speaker 1: It was just because she was jealous that her now boyfriend, fiance,
• 58:01
  Speaker 1: is even talking to Johnny. I don't know. The whole thing,
• 58:03
  Speaker 1: that seemed really uncomfortable. I don't know why they were
• 58:06
  Speaker 1: attacking her. And so she wanted a second chance with Chris.
• 58:09
  Speaker 1: Who gives a shit? I just thought it was so
• 58:11
  Speaker 1: odd that they made it so, like, violent and mean.
• 58:15
  Speaker 1: That made me really question Johnny. um, who they were, but,
• 58:19
  Speaker 1: you know, it reminds us that the cast is regular
• 58:22
  Speaker 1: people with regular issues. And that happens a lot in
• 58:26
  Speaker 1: real life, I guess, you know what I mean? But
• 58:27
  Speaker 1: also you're in a situation where you guys are in
• 58:30
  Speaker 1: a heightened scenario. And I feel like people are looking
• 58:33
  Speaker 1: for some sort of that drama, especially when people get
• 58:35
  Speaker 1: together and it seemed not manufactured. I mean, I think
• 58:38
  Speaker 1: the feelings were there for some of those people, but
• 58:40
  Speaker 1: it did seem over the top. Yeah, it is.
• 58:44
  Speaker 2: And what we have to remember is that These situations
• 58:49
  Speaker 2: would not happen in real life. There is no way
• 58:53
  Speaker 2: if you just had if Johnny was dating Izzy and
• 58:56
  Speaker 2: Izzy was dating Johnny and then and then Stacey and
• 58:59
  Speaker 2: then we wouldn't all just go to a barbecue together
• 59:01
  Speaker 2: and be like, hey, how's it going? And, you know,
• 59:04
  Speaker 2: before we even go in there, all of the people
• 59:06
  Speaker 2: that are invited to the barbecue we're meeting with production
• 59:09
  Speaker 2: and they're giving us roles. They're like, okay, hey, Uche,
• 59:13
  Speaker 2: you need to talk to Lydia and then you need
• 59:15
  Speaker 2: to talk with Milton. Hey, Johnny, you're going to have
• 59:17
  Speaker 2: a conversation with Izzy. Then you're going to have this conversation.
• 59:20
  Speaker 2: So it's kind of planned out and it's not a
• 59:23
  Speaker 2: very natural situation. So yeah, there is going to be
• 59:27
  Speaker 2: conflict because that wouldn't have happened in real life. So
• 59:30
  Speaker 2: it's kind of a forced conflict in a sense. And
• 59:34
  Speaker 2: I think if they were able to just say, okay,
• 59:38
  Speaker 2: Izzy and Stacey, we just got engaged. You were just
• 59:41
  Speaker 2: dating Johnny. Let's not, hang out with them for a
• 59:45
  Speaker 2: few weeks so we can let our relationship blossom before
• 59:48
  Speaker 2: we're in a situation like that with your ex. I
• 59:50
  Speaker 2: think it might have happened a little bit differently if
• 59:54
  Speaker 2: they were allowed to kind of get over all of
• 59:57
  Speaker 2: that conflict and those feelings on their own first.
• 1:00:01
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 1:00:02
  Speaker 7: All right.
• 1:00:02
  Speaker 1: So it's been written in a couple articles already. It's
• 1:00:05
  Speaker 1: not really a spoiler alert at this point, but that
• 1:00:08
  Speaker 1: the only two people that got married. So we think
• 1:00:12
  Speaker 1: sort of is Milton and Lydia. And we don't know.
• 1:00:16
  Speaker 1: I don't know. You may know whether or not they
• 1:00:18
  Speaker 1: are still together, because as of right now, they do
• 1:00:21
  Speaker 1: not follow each other on Instagram for people. That seems
• 1:00:24
  Speaker 1: to be very important. But, you know, so what are
• 1:00:28
  Speaker 1: your thoughts on them as a couple?
• 1:00:31
  Speaker 2: Yeah, as a couple, I think they're great. You know,
• 1:00:34
  Speaker 2: I think they're a great match. You know, from the beginning,
• 1:00:38
  Speaker 2: from what we saw, they had, you know, a few
• 1:00:41
  Speaker 2: things in common. Like, you know, Milton is into rocks and,
• 1:00:46
  Speaker 2: you know, Lydia's a geologist. How often does that happen
• 1:00:49
  Speaker 2: in the world as well? And I think that Milton
• 1:00:54
  Speaker 2: and Lydia's personalities complement each other very well.
• 1:00:57
  Speaker 1: He's very calm and collected. Yeah.
• 1:01:01
  Speaker 2: Exactly. And it's like, I think that Lydia is somebody
• 1:01:04
  Speaker 2: that's very emotionally demanding. And Milton is somebody that can
• 1:01:12
  Speaker 2: kind of bottle up or suppress his emotions a little bit.
• 1:01:17
  Speaker 2: And he is able to prioritize things. Lydia's emotions and
• 1:01:24
  Speaker 2: let his take a little bit of a backseat and
• 1:01:26
  Speaker 2: let her be a little bit more dominant. And that
• 1:01:29
  Speaker 2: balance I think works for them well in a relationship.
• 1:01:34
  Speaker 2: And yeah, I think that just from what was on screen,
• 1:01:40
  Speaker 2: you know, at least I think that they're a great
• 1:01:43
  Speaker 2: fit and a great match in a relationship.
• 1:01:46
  Speaker 1: Do you feel like you made some real authentic friendships?
• 1:01:49
  Speaker 1: Do you still talk to people from the show?
• 1:01:51
  Speaker 2: Absolutely. There's a bunch of the guys that I still
• 1:01:54
  Speaker 2: talk with. You know, we hang out, we've been on trips.
• 1:01:58
  Speaker 2: There's a bunch of the girls that I still talk
• 1:02:00
  Speaker 2: with that I'm friends with. And I would say that's
• 1:02:02
  Speaker 2: the number one thing that I was most thankful for
• 1:02:04
  Speaker 2: throughout the entire experience is developing those strong and those
• 1:02:10
  Speaker 2: long lasting relationships.
• 1:02:12
  Speaker 1: And how do you feel about production? Did you become
• 1:02:14
  Speaker 1: friends with anybody in the crew?
• 1:02:17
  Speaker 2: Production, I would say that I don't keep up with
• 1:02:19
  Speaker 2: anybody from production, I would say that one of the
• 1:02:24
  Speaker 2: producers I really did enjoy Marco, you know, I think he's,
• 1:02:28
  Speaker 2: I think he's great. I thought I, you know, was
• 1:02:30
  Speaker 2: able to, to connect with him, you know, during during filming.
• 1:02:35
  Speaker 2: But other than that, don't keep up with anybody from
• 1:02:37
  Speaker 2: from production.
• 1:02:39
  Speaker 1: So I don't know if you've been following this like
• 1:02:41
  Speaker 1: reality reckoning thing. A lot of it has to do
• 1:02:43
  Speaker 1: with Bravo and NBC. But as you know, there was
• 1:02:46
  Speaker 1: a lawsuit that was filed last week. I know you
• 1:02:48
  Speaker 1: don't want to talk about it very much, but I
• 1:02:51
  Speaker 1: do just want to ask you in terms of the
• 1:02:53
  Speaker 1: bigger picture for this whole thing that people that are
• 1:02:56
  Speaker 1: in reality shows are feeling and fighting for, you know,
• 1:03:01
  Speaker 1: You were talking about how you were edited a certain
• 1:03:03
  Speaker 1: way and you felt, you know, that there were some
• 1:03:05
  Speaker 1: regrets about that. Do you feel, though, like you were
• 1:03:09
  Speaker 1: forced to do anything that you wouldn't have done on
• 1:03:13
  Speaker 1: your own? Do you feel like it was an abusive environment? Like,
• 1:03:16
  Speaker 1: how do you feel in terms of this whole reality
• 1:03:19
  Speaker 1: reckoning thing and what people in reality shows are, you know,
• 1:03:23
  Speaker 1: kind of up in arms about?
• 1:03:25
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so I haven't read or researched too much into that.
• 1:03:29
  Speaker 2: So as a whole, I don't think I can comment
• 1:03:32
  Speaker 2: much about other people's situation and other reality shows that
• 1:03:37
  Speaker 2: I was not a part of. In terms of my
• 1:03:40
  Speaker 2: experience on Love is Blind, I think there were some
• 1:03:45
  Speaker 2: good moments and there were some bad moments. You know, obviously,
• 1:03:50
  Speaker 2: at the end of the day, the producers can put
• 1:03:52
  Speaker 2: us in these situations and they can suggest things and
• 1:03:56
  Speaker 2: they can tell us what to do. Or in my case,
• 1:03:58
  Speaker 2: they can say, hey, if you do a certain thing,
• 1:04:00
  Speaker 2: we'll send you home or whatever else. But we all
• 1:04:03
  Speaker 2: have decisions to make at the end of the day. So,
• 1:04:06
  Speaker 2: you know, I have to take accountability for my actions
• 1:04:09
  Speaker 2: just as much as, you know, the producers have to
• 1:04:11
  Speaker 2: take accountability for their actions as well.
• 1:04:14
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 1:04:15
  Speaker 1: OK, I think that's a great answer. All right. So
• 1:04:17
  Speaker 1: I guess my last question would then be, do you,
• 1:04:20
  Speaker 1: you know, how are you going to move forward with
• 1:04:22
  Speaker 1: your own dating life? Are you going to pay more
• 1:04:24
  Speaker 1: attention to somebody's personality? Are there going to be things
• 1:04:26
  Speaker 1: you learned from the show that will, you will take
• 1:04:29
  Speaker 1: on into your new life as a single man? I mean,
• 1:04:32
  Speaker 1: if you are single, are you single?
• 1:04:36
  Speaker 2: I am not single. I'm in a relationship. I have
• 1:04:39
  Speaker 2: a girlfriend and I really think that a lot of
• 1:04:43
  Speaker 2: the things that I have learned from the show is
• 1:04:46
  Speaker 2: and learn from the experience has already helped me in
• 1:04:49
  Speaker 2: my relationship, you know, in terms of my communication and,
• 1:04:53
  Speaker 2: you know, watching my tone and, you know, choosing my
• 1:04:57
  Speaker 2: words very carefully. I think that that has helped out immensely.
• 1:05:01
  Speaker 2: And I am thankful for having those lessons. And I
• 1:05:04
  Speaker 2: do think that it's made me, you know, not only
• 1:05:06
  Speaker 2: a better man, a better communicator, but a better boyfriend
• 1:05:10
  Speaker 2: in my relationship.
• 1:05:12
  Speaker 3: Wow.
• 1:05:12
  Speaker 1: I love that. Okay. So, All in all, Love is
• 1:05:15
  Speaker 1: Blind was a success. You learned things from it.
• 1:05:20
  Speaker 2: If we're defining success as learning things, I absolutely think
• 1:05:24
  Speaker 2: that it was a success. I did learn things and
• 1:05:26
  Speaker 2: I did make a whole lot of friends.
• 1:05:28
  Speaker 1: Okay, that's great. Where can people find you in the future?
• 1:05:33
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Instagram at I'm Above the Law. And yeah, just
• 1:05:37
  Speaker 2: reach out to me and connect with me there.
• 1:05:40
  Speaker 1: And will you be watching the next season of Love
• 1:05:42
  Speaker 1: is Blind if it happens?
• 1:05:44
  Speaker 2: Um, yeah, I'm not sure if they've already filmed a
• 1:05:47
  Speaker 2: season six or not, but I'll just be excited to
• 1:05:49
  Speaker 2: be out of the hot seat. You know, people, people
• 1:05:53
  Speaker 2: forget all about season five. Nobody will know who I
• 1:05:55
  Speaker 2: am anymore. And I'll just be sitting back and I'll
• 1:05:58
  Speaker 2: absolutely be watching, uh, you know, season six, if, uh,
• 1:06:02
  Speaker 2: if that does happen.
• 1:06:03
  Speaker 3: Right. Wait.
• 1:06:03
  Speaker 1: And incidentally, how has this fame changed you? Have you
• 1:06:07
  Speaker 1: noticed an increase in your followers? Have you noticed people
• 1:06:10
  Speaker 1: stopping you on the street? What is that like for you?
• 1:06:13
  Speaker 2: It's honestly been exciting. At times, it can be a
• 1:06:19
  Speaker 2: little bit overwhelming. Obviously, there's the followers and there's the
• 1:06:23
  Speaker 2: internet or whatever else, but there's just such a big
• 1:06:27
  Speaker 2: difference between the internet and reality because on the internet
• 1:06:30
  Speaker 2: you know i'll get some people supporting me i'll get
• 1:06:32
  Speaker 2: some negative comments and then in person everywhere i go
• 1:06:36
  Speaker 2: i'm being recognized and it's like people love me people
• 1:06:39
  Speaker 2: come up to me and people say hey i really
• 1:06:42
  Speaker 2: connected with what you said you've encouraged me to stand
• 1:06:45
  Speaker 2: up for myself to express my opinions to maintain my
• 1:06:49
  Speaker 2: values hey can i take a picture with you hey
• 1:06:52
  Speaker 2: i loved you on love is blind so It makes
• 1:06:55
  Speaker 2: me feel good to have people say that, hey, you're
• 1:06:58
  Speaker 2: not perfect, you're flawed like everybody else, but I really
• 1:07:01
  Speaker 2: did like how you represented yourself and I enjoyed watching you.
• 1:07:05
  Speaker 2: So that's been pretty exciting to get that warm response
• 1:07:09
  Speaker 2: from people.
• 1:07:10
  Speaker 1: I do love that you say that because it is
• 1:07:12
  Speaker 1: different on social media. People are warriors behind a keyboard.
• 1:07:15
  Speaker 1: I saw you posted something about your dog and, you know,
• 1:07:17
  Speaker 1: it's all sorts of things. People are like, oh, I
• 1:07:19
  Speaker 1: love you. You're great. And some people are like, oh,
• 1:07:22
  Speaker 1: you know, I can't believe that Lydia didn't tell Aaliyah
• 1:07:24
  Speaker 1: what an ugly dog you had.
• 1:07:25
  Speaker 2: I'm like, who?
• 1:07:26
  Speaker 1: Are these people? What a dumb, I mean, you can
• 1:07:29
  Speaker 1: only laugh at it because it's so stupid. But yes,
• 1:07:32
  Speaker 1: I do. I am sure that when people see you,
• 1:07:35
  Speaker 1: they love that they're able to recognize you and say
• 1:07:38
  Speaker 1: something to you because you are such a star right
• 1:07:40
  Speaker 1: now and Netflix's biggest hit. And so we do wish
• 1:07:43
  Speaker 1: you the best. I think it's great that you are
• 1:07:46
  Speaker 1: able to come on and talk about your version of
• 1:07:48
  Speaker 1: the story because it did clear up a lot of things.
• 1:07:51
  Speaker 1: And we will be eager to see what happens at
• 1:07:54
  Speaker 1: the reunion. with everybody. I know you're not going to
• 1:07:56
  Speaker 1: be part of it, but, you know, we are going
• 1:07:59
  Speaker 1: to be following you and make sure that we see
• 1:08:01
  Speaker 1: how things end up. Good luck in your new relationship
• 1:08:04
  Speaker 1: and stay in touch.
• 1:08:06
  Speaker 2: Absolutely. Thank you so much, Rachel.
• 1:08:08
  Speaker 1: Thank you. Thank you so much for listening to Misunderstood.
• 1:08:21
  Speaker 1: I'm your host, Rachel Yucatel. Please be sure to subscribe
• 1:08:24
  Speaker 1: to the show and give us a five-star rating and review.
• 1:08:27
  Speaker 1: You can support the show by joining our Patreon at patreon.com
• 1:08:31
  Speaker 1: slash misunderstood with Rachel Yucatel. Do you have ideas for
• 1:08:34
  Speaker 1: the show or want to reach out? Email us at
• 1:08:37
  Speaker 1: infomisunderstoodpodcast at gmail.com. That's spelled M-I-S-S understood. Thank you so much,
• 1:08:44
  Speaker 1: and I'll see you next time.
• 1:08:50
  Speaker 3: You're on the bus, an hour from home, in bumper-to-bumper
• 1:08:53
  Speaker 3: traffic creeping forward a few inches at a time.
• 1:08:57
  Speaker 6: Someone's kids are screaming, and suddenly you're back in.
• 1:09:00
  Speaker 5: Too.
• 1:09:01
  Speaker 3: Luckily, Panadol extra film-coated tablets are boosted by caffeine and
• 1:09:06
  Speaker 3: they get to work in as little as 10 minutes.
• 1:09:08
  Speaker 3: For powerful relief that's more than just paracetamol, that's one
• 1:09:12
  Speaker 3: for Panadol. Speed-based on absorption data contains paracetamol. Always read
• 1:09:17
  Speaker 3: the label or leaflet.