Love Is Blind Villains Ranked By Shadiness Factor
Netflix's "Love Is Blind" may be a show about finding romance, but every season features its fair share of villains who can't help but stir up drama. In case you've never seen it, "Love Is Blind" follows a group of singletons as they date one another without ever seeing what the other person looks like. The early days of each season take place in custom-made, soundproof "pods," which allow people to focus on emotional connections rather than physical ones. If a contestant falls in love, they must propose to the other person, only seeing them in the flesh for the first time once they're already engaged — obviously, this has both wonderful and disastrous consequences.
While most "Love Is Blind" contestants appear on the show hoping to find love, some contestants seem to be there for very different reasons. Occasionally, some have seemingly joined the series to gain fame and notoriety, while others simply seem to want the free vacation that engaged couples get to go on after the pods. Here, we rank the shadiest "Love Is Blind" contestants and examine the reasons they inadvertently showed their true colors on Netflix.
13. Did Micah channel Regina George?
The fourth season of "Love Is Blind" was filled with petty drama, juicy love triangles, and some serious "Mean Girls" action. Micah Lussier and Irina Solomonova quickly showed themselves to be contestants that would make Regina George proud, and the terrible twosome was caught on camera shading several other women on the show.
For her part, Micah most certainly didn't take the lead when it came to instigating the questionable behavior conducted by the two, but she was still party to it. For instance, early on in the competition, Micah insisted that Paul Peden break off his romance with her rival contestant, Amber Wilder. When Amber returned to the lounge, obviously devastated by the split, Irina spied on the crying woman as she was comforted by another contestant. Micah could be seen laughing along as Irina crept around like a cartoon villain, celebrating the fact that Micah now had Paul all to herself.
As for whether or not Micah should really be considered a villain, the jury is still out. Discussing her controversial connection with Irina, Micah told Us Weekly, "I like to joke, like, this is a really serious situation, but I don't have to be miserable. Like, I can enjoy myself a little bit and she gave me that, and for that, I don't regret it." Micah has also suggested she has some sense of contrition for her actions, telling Entertainment Weekly, "We're just doing the best we can do. We just have to grow up from our mistakes."
12. Paul made a post-wedding diss
Paul Peden quickly became a hit in the pods when he was caught in a love triangle with Amber Wilder and Micah Lussier. Ultimately, Paul chose Micah, and the pair made it as far as the altar before calling it quits. In the Season 4 finale, he told his bride he couldn't marry her, and Micah ran away from her wedding devastated.
However, it's what Paul said in a confessional interview after breaking her heart that earned him a place on this list. "I struggled at least in terms of envisioning Micah as a mother," he said during the finale, having just called off the wedding (via Vanity Fair). "It's like a nurturing aspect that some people have. I don't know, but whenever I tried, I wasn't able to see it clearly." For viewers, this was a brand new revelation and not something Paul had said on camera before. According to Micah, she was caught off-guard by his extremely personal comments, too.
During the Season 4 reunion episode (via People), Micah revealed, "I felt like it was the worst thing that could be said ... He knew how important it was for me to be a mom. It's something that I've talked about since the pods, how important having family was to me." Paul tried to apologize for his pretty callous words, saying at the reunion, "I think that the better way to phrase that would've been, 'I can't see us as parents.'"
11. Jackie's leaked texts spoke volumes
Jackelina "Jackie" Bond's appearance in "Love Is Blind" Season 4 was anything but predictable. In the pods, Jackie was caught in a love triangle with Marshall Glaze and Josh Demas. Ultimately, she got engaged to Marshall, but their romance didn't fare so well in the real world. Viewers witnessed the pair arguing, and in Episode 8, Marshall expressed his upset at something Jackie had said to him. "The other night, she says that I needed to boss up," he explained (via Entertainment Weekly). "The way that she made me feel in that moment when she said that I wasn't a man, that I wasn't doing grown-man stuff, that hurts." After missing her wedding dress fitting, the audience was shown Jackie meeting up with former flame Josh, and agreeing to date him. Understandably, her actions caused her to be labeled a villain.
The new couple skipped the Season 4 reunion, but they did appear via Zoom interview, revealing that they now live together. Notably, Jackie also clarified (via People), "Okay, so I broke up with Marshall before I saw Josh at the coffee shop. It looks like I'm a cheater and I am not a cheater." She also alleged during the reunion that she split from Marshall because he called her a transphobic slur, which he denied. Meanwhile, per StyleCaster, texts between Jackie and her friends were seemingly leaked on Instagram and seemed to show them trashing Marshall while questioning his sexuality. Basically, this was one messy relationship.
10. Amber fought to win Barnett
The first season of "Love Is Blind" became an instant hit because the concept was so fresh. However, that doesn't mean that Season 1 was completely free from drama. One particular love square created quite the spectacle early on, resulting in Amber Pike being at the center of some of the season's most heated moments. In the pods, Matt Barnett was hot property, gaining interest from Amber, Jessica Batten, and Lauren "LC" Chamblin. During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Barnett revealed how he decided between the three women, saying, "Amber just had that fire that I needed in my life." Plus, she wasn't about to let Barnett get away, leading to her developing a feud with rival Jessica.
During the Season 1 cast reunion, Amber confronted Jessica, who had allegedly continued to flirt with Barnett after he was engaged. "[T]o see her throwing herself at him in Mexico ... you're so fake, coming to my face like we were cool, you were so fake," Amber said (via Entertainment Tonight). "I think you're a very [disinegnius] person ... He was engaged, he made his choice. So no, I'm not super happy seeing that." The feud continued during the follow-up "After the Altar" episodes, with Amber making Barnett refuse an anniversary present from Jessica. While she was probably just defending her relationship, her fierce approach to winning Barnett rubbed some viewers the wrong way.
9. Cole allegedly body-shamed his fiancee
With his witty one-liners winning over viewers and contestants alike, Cole Barnett was initially a bright spark in "Love Is Blind" Season 3. However, after he got engaged to Zanab Jaffrey, his charm started to wane, especially when he continued to flirt with Colleen, another contestant he'd had a connection with in the pods. To make matters worse, Cole later told Zanab that she was a nine out of 10 in the looks department while rating Colleen as a full 10, per USA Today. Understandably, his fiancée was not too happy about this revelation, and according to Zanab, things only got worse on their way to the altar.
During the Season 3 reunion episode, Zanab alleged that Cole had body-shamed her when they were together. Per the New York Post, she was about to eat two clementine oranges when her husband-to-be reportedly asked her, "Are you about to eat two of those?" While it's unclear whether Cole was intentionally shaming Zanab's food choices or not, it's uncool that he ogled other women in front of her, and used a rating system to pit women against one another. Ultimately, Zanab expressed her disappointment in Cole at the altar. "You have disrespected me. You have insulted me. You have critiqued me. And for what it's worth, you have single-handedly shattered my self-confidence," she said, per Netflix. "And I hate that you have had that kind of effect on me."
8. Kenny reneged on dating Kelly after the show
On Season 1 of "Love Is Blind," Kenny Barnes and Kelly Chase seemed to have a sweet connection, even if it often felt as though they were just really good friends. But during the Season 1 finale, the pair split at the altar, with Kelly telling her beau that she didn't think they should get married after all. Afterward, Kenny told Entertainment Tonight, "We were adamantly not going to get married. That was never something that we were going to do." Basically, the pair had apparently already decided that they weren't ready to tie the knot. While Kenny acted like a consummate gentleman during his tenure on the show, his actions immediately following it landed him on this list.
In an interview with People, Kelly dropped a bombshell by claiming that they'd agreed to continue dating after leaving their season. However, she was left blindsided when he decided not to follow through with their agreement. "It was our last filming day, and he had a conversation with me like, 'Hey, I think I am not emotionally available right now. I need to take some time apart from you.' I felt very rejected, like, 'That wasn't the plan. What the heck?'" Although they'd mutually decided that they weren't going to get married, Kelly was under the impression they'd still be a couple. Kenny's decision to wait until the last day of filming to share that news? Yeah, that's pretty shady.
7. Did Jessica get engaged for the wrong reasons?
Jessica Batten made a huge impression during the first season of "Love Is Blind," and was quickly christened the villain of the show. To start with, Jessica was caught between two men — the popular Matt Barnett and the much younger Mark Cuevas. When the former suitor revealed his intention to propose to Amber Pike instead, Jessica was devastated, but that didn't stop her from accepting a proposal from Mark. At the time, he was 24, while she was ten years older than him. Along with the age gap, Jessica couldn't seem to move on from her flirtation with Barnett. As a result, viewers suggested that Jessica was super messy, and shouldn't have gotten engaged to Mark in the first place. Of her edit on the show, Jessica told the Daily Beast, "I feel like it's a bit of a one-dimensional villain-type character."
During the Season 1 reunion, Jessica admitted (via Newsweek), "It's tough, watching it back. It was obvious I was working through some things. I didn't like the person I saw." Plus, Jessica's status as an OG villain was called into question when it was revealed that Mark wasn't the saint he appeared to be on television. During the "After the Altar" special (via Insider), Jessica alleged that Mark had cheated on her during their time on the show, seemingly flipping the script on her villain narrative. Either way, her appearance on the show remains iconic.
6. Mark may have been leading a double life
As previously mentioned, Mark Cuevas got engaged to Jessica Batten in the pods, but their relationship ran hot and cold throughout the season. Jessica ended up leaving Mark at the altar, and he seemed to be completely devastated by the breakup. However, the "After the Altar" special suggested that he wasn't exactly the person viewers saw onscreen. Not only did Jessica allege that Mark had cheated on her, but Lauren "LC" Chamblin also chimed in with her own story about him. Per Men's Health, "LC" revealed that she'd dated him after the show, sharing on "After the Altar" that they'd been in a relationship for several weeks when she discovered he'd been cheating on her.
Per People, "LC" reportedly discovered the alleged cheating on Reddit, when someone posted that their coworker had been dating the "Love Is Blind" star. This was obviously news to the reality star who thought she was the only one dating him. In an attempt to save face, he released a statement to People claiming, "I enjoyed spending time with LC for a few weeks, but at no point were we in an exclusive relationship." We may never know the truth about Mark, but it seems as though his performance on the show may have been exactly that — little more than an act.
5. Shaina's love triangle caused some issues
Shaina Hurley was extremely entertaining during her time on the second season of "Love Is Blind," but she quickly acquired the title of villain. In the pods, Shaina was very flirty with Shayne Jansen, but she was also speaking to Kyle Abrams. At the same time, she was forging a relationship with Natalie Lee. Kyle ended up proposing to Shaina with his mom's engagement ring, but that wasn't enough to stop her also pursuing Shayne. After getting engaged to Kyle, she proclaimed her feelings for Shayne, but he knocked her back. She went to Mexico with her new fiance, but their romance started to fizzle — and Shaina seemingly wasn't prepared to give up on Shayne just yet.
During a cast meet-up at a beach bonfire, she pulled him aside to suggest that his relationship with Natalie wouldn't work out. Shaina's decision to make such a bold move in attempting to break up Shayne and Natalie made her the season's stand-out villain. She subsequently admitted that she made some bad choices on the show. Discussing her decision to accept Kyle's proposal, Shaina told Entertainment Tonight, "At the end of the day, I should have said, 'No,' and stuck to my gut and I didn't." She continued, "I completely regret that because I could have avoided a lot [of] further messiness and drama. I'm working on it. And it goes back to my people-pleasing and I didn't want to hurt him." See, even villains can evolve!
4. Damian's toxic treatment of Giannina upset viewers
During the first season of "Love Is Blind," Damian Powers and Giannina Gibelli had a passionate relationship, which involved many arguments and a lot of affection. However, it was at the altar that the real drama began. While Giannina said "I do" to marrying Damian, he said "I do not," which spurred one of the most iconic runaway bride scenes in TV history. As if calling off the wedding wasn't bad enough, Damian took the opportunity to criticize Giannina in front of her family and friends, saying, "I stayed consistent all the way through this and you have not," (via Refinery29). After the wedding, Giannina called out her former fiancé for waiting to make the statement in such a public way, asking him, "You couldn't have told me? Like, for real?" His decision to blindside her at their actual wedding was pretty awful, but that's not even the worst of it.
During the "After the Altar" special, Damian was seen having a glass of wine with "Too Hot to Handle" star Francesca Farago, and the pair certainly looked pretty flirty. To make matters worse — if that's even possible – Damian decided to invite Francesca to a "Love Is Blind" cast party, which was supposed to celebrate everyone's anniversaries. All of this strangeness was shown on "After the Altar," with Giannina telling Francesca (via E! News), "I'm letting you know right now — if you ever did try anything, you're messing with the wrong b***h."
3. Bartise's flirting got him into trouble
It didn't take long for Bartise Bowden to take on the villain role in the third season of "Love Is Blind." After he'd flirted a lot with Raven Ross in the pods, he ultimately got engaged to Nancy Rodriguez. Once they were all back in the real world, Bartise seemingly couldn't stop talking about how attractive Raven was in person, even discussing this fact with his fiancee, much to her chagrin. Raven, meanwhile, had gotten engaged to fellow contestant SK Alagbada, but this didn't stop Bartise. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Nancy discussed her fiance's behavior, saying, "I was like, 'You said it once [that] she's attractive, but did you really have to say it four or five times? We get it, she's hot. But guess what? I'm hot too.'" Bartise would ultimately leave Nancy at the altar, seemingly blindsiding her with the decision.
During the "After the Altar" special, Nancy told Bartise that she didn't want to be friends with him anymore. She would later reflect on her decision to cut off Bartise completely, by telling Today, "If you're not doing anything for me personally, you're not helping me grow in any kind of way." As for whether or not he learned anything from being the villain on "Love Is Blind," Bartise told Entertainment Tonight, "I looked arrogant. I looked insensitive. I looked selfish. It is what it is. I can only learn from it. I can only grow from it."
2. Irina played an intricate game
Irina Solomonova will go down as one of the most unforgettable "Love Is Blind" contestants of all time. As well as taking part in some real-life Burn Book action with fellow contestant Micah Lussier, Irina showed herself to be a criminal mastermind when she convinced Zack Goytowski to propose to her instead of Bliss Poureetezadi. Despite getting the ring, Irina's plans didn't work out so well, as she instantly took a dislike to Zack once they met in person. She suggested she was creeped out upon meeting him for the first time, telling him (via Refinery 29), "You look like something out of a cartoon." Perhaps unsurprisingly, they ultimately split.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Irina claimed, "Me and Micah's coping mechanism was laughing about it. And I honestly will say on the record, 100 percent, I did not intentionally ever want to hurt anyone. [Hearing] that I hurt people's feelings genuinely breaks my heart."
Irina later explained some of the behavior she exhibited when she was trying to win Zack's heart in the pods, saying (via Us Weekly), "Look, I know I talk s*** about some girls, but I don't have any ill intent." She continued, "I'm not trying to be, like, snaky or mischievous." Still, viewers will most likely agree that Irina came across as both snaky and mischievous during her season. Despite being labeled as Season 4's villain, it's indisputable that Irina made for great TV. Someone give this woman her own reality show, pronto!
1. Shake takes the cake
As "Love Is Blind" villains go, Season 2's Abhishek "Shake" Chatterjee is the gift that keeps on giving. As soon as he entered the pods, Shake couldn't seem to stop focusing on the physical appearance of each person he was talking to, completely undermining the entire point of the show. Despite getting engaged to Deepti Vempati, he continued to fixate on physicality, telling her (via People), "I want everything we have but I also want to feel, like, an intense physical connection."
Deepti elaborated on Shake's obsession with looks in her book "I Choose Myself" (via People). "I later heard Shake compared me to an animal — a flying squirrel — because of my stretch marks and saggy skin," she claimed in her memoir. "I heard that he also said my body needed to be studied by science." If Deepti's account is true, then Shake's behavior on "Love Is Blind" was just the tip of the iceberg. Luckily, the pair didn't get married, as Deepti left Shake at the altar.
In an Instagram video addressing fan reaction to his behavior on the show, Shake failed to see the problem and confidently shrugged off the backlash. "I think I handled the situation as best as anybody in my situation could. And at the end of the day, I'm going to live my best life going forward," he said. "And you don't have to like me. Only I have to like me — thankfully. And that's real life." Some people never learn.