The season 2 contestant spoke exclusively to ET about her struggles filming the show and the aftermath.
Love Is Blind season 2 alum Danielle Ruhl is continuing to speak out about her alleged treatment from Netflix and Kinetic Content producers while filming the hit reality series.
Danielle exclusively spoke with ET's Kevin Frazier via Zoom after sharing some of her own personal experiences with Business Insider earlier this week.
Danielle, who tied the knot with her now-ex-husband, Nick Thompson, on season 2 of the hit reality series, told ET that she was not offered medical or psychiatric assistance while filming the show.
"When I was experiencing some medical stuff in the pods, there were no doctors. When I was experiencing mental health issues, there were no therapists," she claimed. "You kind of just had to rely on your producers to make you feel better."
Danielle said that though she received a call after filming wrapped inquiring about her well-being, there were no other follow-ups.
"There was absolutely no therapist on set. There was absolutely no support after filming, and I will take that to my grave," she insisted.
She claimed that access to food and water was strictly limited in Mexico, alleging that her hotel room TV was disconnected for "three days," which was the only way they could order food.
"I will say that we didn't have to go that long without food and water, but it was solely because of the people we lived next to," she shared, saying that a couple in the room next to theirs helped sneak them food. "It was solely because of the relationship. We didn't get anything from production or from the hotel," she claimed.
She also opened up about hiding in a closet while having a panic attack after producers allegedly wouldn't let her attend a cast meetup, saying they thought she had COVID, despite letting Nick, who had been around her constantly, attend. She later shared that she was having "suicidal ideations" with her then-fiancé and the crew.
"To the producers, I said, 'You know what, I'm not trusting myself right now. I've tried committing suicide in the past. I haven't had these type of feelings since high school.' And in that moment, they all came rushing in, all of the producers, all of the crew, and instead of sending a therapist, they all kind of persuaded us to stay in an environment that I knew wasn't going to be healthy for me," she claimed.
After filming on the show wrapped, Danielle said her mental health severely struggled.
"The aftermath of experiencing this doesn't go away quickly. I mean, the first month, I couldn't even leave the house. It is hard. So it's gonna take me a while to feel myself again," she admitted. "I felt like a shell. I didn't feel like a human being. I wanted to dig myself in a hole and not come out of it... I was not myself. I wasn't OK. After the show was released, it just amplified all that."
She shared that she was in "eight-hour therapy" days after filming wrapped. Though Danielle filed for divorce from Nick in August 2022, she applauded her ex for how he handled that time period.
"It impacted both of us, and he did his best. It takes a lot of patience from both sides," she explained. "But I was really glad to have him by my side during that whole period."
Despite these issues, Danielle appeared at the show's reunion special and in the After the Altar special. She explained that her decision to participate had to do with production's persuasion.
"They persuade you that going on and telling a different narrative is going to impact your side positively," Danielle said. "Like, 'You're going to be better going on this because people are going to like you again. And you're not going to feel like this.'"
In the wake of Danielle posting more allegations against Netflix and Kinetic on TikTok, her ex, Nick, also posted a video to his own account, accusing the limited food and water to cause him to drop 15 pounds in three weeks and "no mental health support before, during, or after."
In response to the Business Insider report, Kinetic Content released a statement, saying, "The wellbeing of our participants is of paramount importance to Kinetic. We have rigorous protocols in place to care for each person before, during, and after filming."
ET has reached out to Netflix about the allegations.
Despite their difficult split last year, Danielle is "so proud" of her ex for speaking out.
"You know, we just weren't compatible, which is fine, and the fact that now that we are divorced, but we're still speaking out about the same exact topic, having the same exact goal, you know, makes me so proud of him and it means the world to me," she told ET of Nick.
As for the show's co-hosts, Nick and Vanessa Lachey, Danielle said that the couple was not aware of her struggles during filming.
"I never communicated this with Nick and Vanessa because it was COVID, they were less involved," she said of the filming time period. "[Vanessa] really did care and she has reached out to me, asking how I was doing mentally after the show. She has sent me voice notes. So she cares, she just didn't know."
As for her advice to those considering appearing on the show in the future, Danielle said, "I would really want people to do the research of either reading this article or reading the fine print of the contract, speaking with your own therapist and multiple other therapists and connecting to the psych eval to your own therapist."
If you or someone you know needs help, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.
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