The claim comes just days after the 'Love Is Blind' reunion.
Love Is Blind producers are responding to a report in which past contestants claimed they were put through "emotional warfare," and deprived of food, water and sleep.
In an article posted Tuesday by Business Insider, season 1 contestant Briana Holmes told the outlet that she went on the show thinking she "might find my husband" but "had no idea it was going to be a lot of emotional warfare." Season 2 contestant Danielle Ruhl -- who married and then divorced Nick Thompson -- alleged she had a panic attack during the filming of the show and as a result hid in the closet.
She went on to allege that she told producers she wasn't mentally stable to continue, and she also said she was surprised she passed the show's psychological screening even though she had disclosed a past suicide attempt.
"I kept telling them, 'I don’t trust myself. I’ve tried committing suicide before. I’m having suicidal thoughts. I don’t think I continue in this,'" she told the outlet.
There was also an allegation of sleep deprivation, which season 1 contestant Danielle Drouin said "was real" and that producers "do it on purpose because they’re trying to break you. They want you on your edge."
Season 2 contestant Jeremy Hartwell had previously said there was not enough access to food and water, allegations he made in a lawsuit against Netflix and the show's production company, Kinetic Content.
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."
Kinetic Content also addressed Hartwell's claims after he filed his lawsuit in July 2022.
"Mr. Hartwell's involvement in season 2 of Love Is Blind lasted less than one week. Unfortunately, for Mr. Hartwell, his journey ended early after he failed to develop a significant connection with any other participant," the statement read. "While we will not speculate as to his motives for filing the lawsuit, there is absolutely no merit to Mr. Hartwell's allegations, and we will vigorously defend against his claims."
Love Is Blind is also facing a Change.org petition requesting the removal of Nick and Vanessa Lachey as hosts. ET has reached out to Netflix for comment regarding the petition, which has so far garnered more than 21,000 votes. The petition's organizer griped that the couple "seem to be much more concerned with directing as much attention at themselves and their personal lives rather than focusing on the contestants that are actually participating in the experiment."
The organizer also took issue with Nick's apparent dig at Jessica Simpson during the season 3 reunion show, in which he said marriage is "always better the second time." Nick was married to Simpson from 2002 to 2006. He married Vanessa in 2011.
Then, following the season 4 reunion, the organizer said "the hosts showed bias towards certain contestants which felt like an obvious manipulation of the viewer to dislike certain contestants." The "final straw" for the organizer came when Vanessa pressed "the female contestants about when they were going to have kids. Fertility is a tough subject for many women and to be forced to answer those questions on national television was cringey and wrong."
After the reunion, Paul Peden spoke with ET about being repeatedly pressed by Vanessa about comments he made about his ex, Micah Lussier, in which he said that he couldn't picture her as a mother. This all led to a tense moment, and Paul addressed it after the show.
"I was like, 'F**k, man.' They kept drilling, drilling it down on me," Paul told ET. "I think I said my piece. I think Vanessa might have had a little bit of personal bias in that scenario or at least I kind of detected that. I don't know. But that's just my assumption based on how she continued to drill into it after I gave my full rationale for why I felt the way that I did."
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