So messy! While the premise of Netflix’s Love Is Blind is to help singles find their perfect match, the experiment hasn’t come without drama.
During season 2 of the dating show, which premiered in February 2022, multiple love triangles blossomed. In one corner, Shayne Jansen connected with both Natalie Lee and Shaina Hurley, and in another, Jarrette Jones was smitten by Iyanna McNeely and Mallory Zapata. In both instances, the men were subsequently torn while trying to decide which woman to propose to.
“Earlier this week, I was going back and forth between Mallory and Iyanna, but over the past couple days, I’ve gained clarity,” the healthcare consultant said during a confessional interview in the third episode. “I can definitely see myself proposing and having a life with Iyanna, but I want to propose to Mallory and it’s gonna feel crazy, you know. I’m gonna feel a whirlwind of emotions.”
After Mallory turned Jarrette down, he eventually proposed to Iyanna while Mallory explored her connection with Salvador “Sal” Perez.
“I was a roller-coaster of emotions [at the wedding]. I was just feeling everything, and I really was trying to wrap my head around everything that we had been through together,” Sal exclusively told Us Weekly ahead of the season 2 finale, recalling his decision to call off his engagement to Mallory. “I was really just kind of summarizing it in my head and I knew that, at that moment of my wedding, I just wanted to make that choice with her. I wanted to see how I felt in that moment with her. It was a crazy day.”
Shaina, for her part, accepted a proposal from Kyle Abrams despite her strong feelings for Shayne. The hairstylist even informed Shayne — who was set to pop the question to Natalie — of her interest while Kyle’s mother’s ring sat on her finger.
“It took me a while to open up in the pods. It took me longer than I thought,” Shaina told Us of her Love Is Blind experience. “I think everything happens for a reason. It was organic [with Shayne], I guess, you could say. There’s some regrets. I just wish I was a little bit more forthright from the beginning [and] kind of prepared myself more, but can you prepare yourself? Besides that, no, it was an amazing experience.”
Shaina eventually broke up with Kyle during the group’s trip to Mexico, citing different religious beliefs as the major issue. However, she later admitted that she was still interested in Shayne, allegedly telling Natalie she had a “friend” to introduce her to in case she and Shayne split.
“I have nothing to lose here. I have nothing but — I care for you,” Shaina told Shayne in the sixth episode. “You were, like, my number one. … I feel like I’m being portrayed as a villain in your guys’ relationship, your guys’ f—king fake-ass relationship. It is such a joke.”
While season 2 of the reality show packed a dramatic punch, its precursor, which dropped on the streaming platform in February 2020, saw its fair share of love triangles and heated breakups.
“I do not,” Damian Powers explained to ex-fiancée Giannina Gibelli on their wedding day in the first season finale. “I stayed consistent all the way through this and you have not.”
The Atlanta-based business owner was shocked to hear Damian’s decision, and she ran out of the venue, notably falling in the mud and ripping her dress.
“There was so much that happened,” Giannina told Entertainment Weekly in March 2020. “At the end of the day, the relationship is between you and this person. Who better to understand that than you two? … I love Damian, I know his heart, I know everything about him. I really wanted us to heal together because we had gone through such a big, scary thing and it just didn’t feel right not being together in that moment whether we were going to end it together or not. It was something I wanted to go through with him and just see, ‘Are we OK? Are our hearts OK?’”
Scroll down to relive more of Love Is Blind’s most dramatic moments:
