Speaking her peace. Love Is Blind’s Jackelina “Jackie” Bonds claimed that Netflix allegedly stopped her from attending the live reunion — and canceled her flight — due to “mental health” concerns.
“[Netflix] had me talk to a psychologist, and the psychologist was the one that told us that we weren’t gonna go. That was how it went down,” Jackie, 27, alleged during an interview with TheWrap published on Friday, April 21. “They called on a three-way [conference call], and they were kind of, ‘Oh, due to your mental health, we think it’s best for you to not come to the reunion.’”
The dental assistant further claimed that she and now-boyfriend Josh Demas were given barely any notice before being booted from the taping on Sunday, April 16. “It was like a two-day turnaround. They told us the day before [the reunion],” she alleged.
While Jackie was absent from the reunion stage, she was given a chance to speak during a pre-taped interview with cohost Vanessa Lachey. During the chat, the reality star said she was ready to “let bygones be bygones.”
Jackie’s remarks came shortly after former cast members of the reality series claimed to Business Insider that they were put through “emotional warfare” while on the show. Love Is Blind’s production company, Kinetic Content, responded to the allegations on Tuesday, April 18.
“The well-being of our participants is of paramount importance to Kinetic,” the production company told Variety in a statement at the time. “We have rigorous protocols in place to care for each person before, during, and after filming.”
Jackie, meanwhile, raised eyebrows on season 4 of the reality series when she called off her engagement to fellow contestant Marshall Glaze following a breakdown on their Mexican getaway. While not all the Love Is Blind couples make it down the aisle, the timing of their split seemed suspicious as she was quickly linked to fellow castmate Josh, 31. (On the show, it appeared that Jackie skipped her wedding dress fitting for a coffee date with Josh.)
The Washington native claimed to TheWrap that Netflix edited the episodes to make it appear as though she started dating Josh while she was still with Marshall, 27, which was allegedly not the case. In fact, Jackie told the outlet that she felt like she was cut from the live reunion because she planned to call out production for painting a false narrative.
“It was one of those [things] where I would be scared too, because all I wanted was for them to admit that the scenes were messed up,” Jackie explained on Friday. “But Marshall admitted and clarified [what happened] in his little interview.”
The TV personality — who went Instagram official with Josh on Sunday, April 16 — noted that she previously released “all my receipts and text messages,” which made her feel “vindicated.”
Jackie insisted: “All I wanted [was] for them to say, ‘Yeah, we messed up in how we portrayed and edited things.’”
As for her relationship with Josh, Jackie exclusively told Us Weekly that the couple are still going strong. “Me and Josh — we live together,” she said. “We’re going on a year on the 27th of April.”
The Netflix personality revealed that her and Josh’s love story “is exactly how it was supposed to happen. Jackie added: “I think if me and Josh would have chose[n] each other in the pods, I think, maybe, our story would’ve been a little bit different than how it is now. But to be honest, like, this was already in the motion [and] in the plan because of the Lord above.”
Marshall, for his part, told Us that he doesn’t have “any ill will toward Jackie or Josh.”
He explained: “We shared that experience for quite some time, and I’ll always have that to remember, and I am choosing to hold on to the good memories and let go of the hurtful ones and the one that ultimately ended us. I think that’s best to just put that under the bridge and keep moving and put that in the rearview.”
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Us Weekly has reached out to Netflix for comment on Jackie’s allegations.
