Every reality tv show features at least one cast member that divides fans. For Love Is Blind season 1, that was Jessica Batten. She caught heat for getting engaged to Mark Cuevas when he was clearly her number two. Then she was accused of trying to break up Matt Barnett and Amber Pike. A similar dynamic played out on season 2.
Fans took issue with Shaina Hurley, who they accused of trying to get in between Shayne Jansen and Natalie Lee. So it’s obvious why the dynamics are hitting close to home for Jessica.
Given her knowledge of the experience, Jessica is now defending Shaina for her actions. She even defends Abhishek “Shake” Chatterjee, who fans refuse to forgive for his treatment of Deepti Vempati. Jessica recently spoke with Us Weekly’s Here for the Right Reasons podcast to give her take on season 2.
Jessica was visibly emotional discussing her take. She began, “It’s hard for me to see someone be torn apart regardless of their actions on TV. And sometimes with editing and, you know, there’s entertainment for a show, sometimes you have to take accountability for things that you didn’t do. That’s my No. 1 [piece of] advice to the cast that’s reached out.”
RELATED: Love Is Blind Star Deepti Vempati Says Abhishek “Shake” Chatterjee Lacks Self-Awareness
She continued of Shake, “Sometimes people aren’t mature enough to have to go outside of your ego to be able to do something just to move on and live your life and have another chance. He’s not taking the chance at this time and he’s not willing to kind of fall on that sword, whether it’s totally, you know, his fault or not.”
Jessica added, “I think there’s probably certain things that weren’t aired that he’s probably just so hurt about and caught up about [but] he’s still human, who still needs to [be] treated like a human being. And quite frankly, the scenes that I saw come out where he was being viciously attacked [on the reunion], I was a little traumatized by that.”
Jessica clearly feels for both Shake and Deepti. Said Jessica, “I love Deepti, she’s my favorite character off the show. I’ve reached out to her and she’s so lovely, but I don’t wanna see — especially with everything going on in the world right now — anyone being attacked so viciously for putting themselves out there in an experiment to find out if love is blind.”
RELATED: Love Is Blind Star Abhishek “Shake” Chatterjee Slams Host Nick Lachey For Not Being Impartial; Calls Nick A “Massive Twat”
She went on, “It’s not, you know, preemptive love is blind. He’s saying a lot, he’s saying too much and he’s falling all over his words, and he is not saying the right things, but I think we need to be human and try to understand and stop the piling on because this is when truly bad things can happen to people who signed themselves up for this.”
As for Shaina, who was accused of trying to meddle with Shayne and Natalie’s engagement, Jessica can relate. She confessed, “I love it. I think my behavior as seen on that show was much worse than anything that she has done. Obviously, I didn’t love the way that it looked on there, but I’ve actually spoken with her and she’s lovely.”
RELATED: Love Is Blind Star Deepti Vempati Says Cast Warned Her About Abhishek “Shake” Chatterjee
Jessica noted, “I’ve spoken with Natalie as well. They’re both very lovely people and it’s really hard because this is a competition. At the end of the day, it’s an experiment. And it’s a competition in that we’re all dating the same guys.”
Jessica continued her thoughts on making a love connection on the show, “You’re gonna have the same person interested in the same guy. I mean, it’s just gonna happen. It’s just part of the show. There’s no other way to have drama unless you have love triangles. I feel for [Shaina] because she didn’t have, you know, the perfect match [in Kyle Abrams] and maybe she had lingering feelings for Shayne. I feel like it’s more of a friendship, but two, the thing people have to understand is when you go into these pods, you will fall in love with a rock.”
RELATED: Love Is Blind Star Abhishek “Shake” Chatterjee Says He’s Not Sad Or Sorry About His Behavior On The Show
She concluded, “You’re so comfortable. And the situation is so intense and you’re alone, like, you’re stripped of your friends and family and access to all the things that you’re used to. And you get into these rooms and you’re exposing yourself and they want you to talk about your innermost feelings. You’re gonna fall for these people.”
Jessica has fully moved on from her stint on reality tv. She got engaged to Benjamin McGrath and started her own podcast, Unsettled.
TELL US – WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT JESSICA STICKING UP FOR SHAKE AND SHAINA? ARE YOU SURPRISED BY HER TAKE ON SEASON 2?
[Photo Credit: Netflix]
