Sometimes the best thing for a person is to walk away from the stranger they fell in love with sight unseen.
Source: Adam Rose / Netflix
BOSSIP Sr. Content Director Janeé Bolden spoke with ‘Love Is Blind’ Season 2 singles Deepti Vempati, Natalie Lee and Salvador Perez about their experience on the show on February 22nd under embargo, weeks ahead of when the March 4th reunion aired. All three singles successfully paired up in the sight unseen pods, but when it came time to meet their partners at the altar, ultimately all three were the ones to say “I Don’t”.
After watching the show and being disappointed at Deepti being degraded over and over by Shake after matching with him in the pods, the first question Janeé asked Deepti was about hearing Shake’s OWN mom tell him she deserved more out of her partner.
“I was sitting outside on the patio while they were filming that so I had no idea of the conversation,” Vempati told BOSSIP. “It was amazing to watch it back because they are just such amazing people and they were really supportive and really took the time to get to know me, inviting me into their home and giving me that love and support.”
“I loved the comments that are like, ‘Not a queen fixing the crown of another queen.’ I’m glad that she recognized and saw my worth when her own son couldn’t.”
We asked the cast members about any regrets or things they wished they’d done differently and Natalie said she felt the situation played out the way it was meant to be.
“I don’t think I would have done differently,” Lee told BOSSIP of her relationship with Shayne. “I think the way my journey played out was the way my journey was supposed to play out. I learned so much about myself through it all and I wouldn’t want it to change.”
Sal did express some regrets, mainly about how he and Mallory kept some of their more important conversations off camera.
“I feel like I would have wanted to get into the difficult conversations with Mallory more on screen because i feel like a lot of that happened privately, completely out of this whole experience,” Perez told BOSSIP. “I wish a lot of that would have been portrayed out there because we did go through a lot together. So if I had to go through it again I would have more of that and also enjoyed more of my time with the entire cast. When we were all together there was something special about that, so I would’ve liked to enjoy that a little more.”
We were excited to hear Deepti open up about another connection in the pods besides Shake who she wished she’d explored more — and to watch her physical reaction!
“I think I have two regrets, one would be I had a strong connection apart from Shake in the pods and I wish I was more vocal about it or pursued that more,” Deepti told BOSSIP. “Secondly, I wish I didn’t put up such an emotional wall with my relationship with Shake and when I feel I’m being cornered or I feel like someone is criticizing me I kind of take a step back and i wish I was more vocal, would have expressed more emotion to him to show my discomfort with his actions.”
We were super excited when we asked Deepti about circling the block to her other connection and her body language said it all! She has to be talking about Kyle Abrams right?
If you haven’t watched the “Love Is Blind” Season 2 reunion yet, Kyle pretty much let the cat out of the bag that he’s got it bad for Deepti.
The feelings are clearly mutual, with TMZ recently posting about a Deepti and Kyle sighting in Chicago.
In a March 4 interview with Elite Daily, Deepti admitted that she and Kyle are continuing to explore their connection,
“Kyle and I, we are figuring it out,” she says. “Not a lot of people know that we had a really strong connection in the pods.”
“I was really struggling to pick between Shake and Kyle [in the pods],” she recalled to Elite Daily, acknowledging that their dates were never aired for viewers to see. A few months after filming ended, she reconnected with Abrams, and the two have since become close. “We’re just trying to figure it out,” Vempati says. “There’s a lot on our plate right now. … We’ll see what happens.” She clarifies that she is currently single and “focusing on myself.”
We love this for BOTH of them!
Speaking of Kyle — while he was in the pods, he ended up proposing to Shaina, who accepted the ring he gave her initially but the pair ultimately were unable to make things work. We couldn’t help but notice that a few people on social media felt Shaina and her family gave them MAGA vibes…
So when we asked the singles about diversity on the show this season we had to ask about Shaina and her family who were dragged on social media for being perceived as a racist and we were surprised at Natalie’s response.
“Reality tv — take it with a grain of salt,” Natalie told BOSSIP. “It definitely was our real lives and real feelings but don’t be so quick to judge others. You’re only seeing one dimension of us.”
Does it surprise you that she’d defend Shaina?
Check out our full. interview with the “Love Is Blind” singles below!
“Love Is Blind” Season 2 is currently streaming on Netflix. Did you watch the show? Who were your faves? Who got under your skin?