Moving on. While Danielle Ruhl and Nick Thompson may not have found long-lasting love in the pods, the Love Is Blind alums have tried to navigate their split with mutual respect.
“We were very amicable and civil at first and that’s why people were confused with some of the back and forth that happened but going through the divorce process added even more stress and it’s tough on both of us,” Ruhl said during an emotional Instagram Story video in October 2022.
The Illinois native added at the time: “When we decided to separate, it was a mutual decision, like, we talked about it [and it] wasn’t just a spur-of-the-moment thing, even though it seems like that. We tried really hard, and again, we were just like, ‘You know what? I think it is in our best interest and I need to get out of the what if mode because hindsight’s 20/20.’ It’s tough.”
Ruhl and Thompson were one of two couples to say “I Do” at the end of the Netflix show’s second season — alongside Iyanna McNeely and Jarrette Jones, who have also since separated. Shortly after celebrating their first wedding anniversary, Us Weekly confirmed in August 2022 that the associate marketing director had filed for divorce.
“It really did come down to just personality compatibility differences,” Ruhl explained during her social media video that October, noting that neither she nor her former spouse had cheated on the other. “I think that’s what makes it even harder because you do live in this, at least for me, I kind of live in this state of denial where it’s like, ‘But we love each other.’ You can still love each other and still try your best to move on. It’s hard, it’s very hard.”
The “Conversations with Nick Thompson” podcast host has been equally emotional about navigating his new normal following their breakup.
“The last few weeks have been especially challenging for me,” he wrote in part via Instagram in September 2022. “Like many of us going through a loss or life-altering event, we experience cycles of grief while we navigate our emotions. Everyone perceives and experiences grief differently when a relationship ends, let alone the loss of a marriage in the public eye.”
While Ruhl and Thompson have been focused on moving forward, their Love Is Blind costars have seen how difficult their divorce process has been.
“[Danielle and Iyanna are] doing very, very well,” Natalie Lee — who was briefly engaged to Shayne Jansen during season 2 — exclusively told Us in September 2022, also referring to McNeely and Jones’ own split that August. “I think that they truly had real love for each other, like in those relationships, so I know that those the decisions that they had to make were very, very tough and we felt it as their friends. I think though, you know, as friends we hope that it would work out, but we completely respect and understand why it didn’t.”
Scroll below for Ruhl and Thompson’s most candid quotes about their breakup:
