In the Netflix reality series, both Natalie and Shaina take an interest in Shayne.
Spoilers ahead! If you have not watched the first nine episodes of Love Is Blind season 2, bookmark this for later or proceed with caution.
Love might be blind, but the stars of Love Is Blind season 2 were also unaware of some of the drama that played out both on and off camera.
Much of the early drama portrayed on the Netflix dating show centered around Shaina Hurley and Natalie Lee's shared affection for Shayne Jansen.
ET's Will Marfuggi spoke with both Natalie and Shaina separately after the first nine episodes aired, and each had different stories to tell about their take on Shaina's actions in the pods and beyond.
"No, I had no idea that they had a connection in the pods," Natalie tells ET of Shayne and Shaina. "I just thought he was talking to other women, it was still early on, but after that, I didn't know they had a connection, no."
Now having seen these episodes, Natalie admits that some of Shaina and even Shayne's actions make much more sense to her.
"She called me after Mexico just to check in and she asked how Shayne and I were doing. It was girl talk," Natalie recalls of Shaina. "She told me about the things that were happening with Kyle [Abrams] as well. She just said, 'If Shayne and you don't work out, I have a friend who's interested. He's a millionaire and I showed him your Instagram profile, so if you're interested, he's available.'"
She says that at the time, she thought the comment was "weird," adding, "But I kind of brushed it off because I didn't know the connection she had with Shayne. Looking back, now I see where it was an inappropriate comment on her end."
She says that Shayne was "pretty mad" that Shaina had made that comment to her.
"I didn't understand it at the time. And I was like, 'She doesn't know us. I think she just said it out of the blue,'" Natalie recalls. "But now I understand why he was irritated by that comment."
As for Shaina's explosive comments at the cast bonfire, where she called Natalie and Shayne's connection "laughable" and "fake," Natalie says she still doesn't know where those comments came from.
"I still don't know what her intentions were. I haven't had the conversation with her about it in terms of where her anger came from or why she called my relationship fraudulent or fake," Natalie says. "But I didn't know the extent of that conversation until I saw the show. That was a surprise for me."
She adds of Shaina, "I actually called Shaina the day after and asked, 'Did you say these things?' And she was dishonest in that phone call, and she denied saying most of the things she actually did say."
Shaina tells ET a different story, claiming that she takes ownership of that bonfire conversation, noting she shouldn't have said the things she said.
"That was very petty for me to say that and I definitely apologized. I should have never questioned their relationship because I wasn't there behind closed doors," she admits. "It was not fair of me to drag what was going on with me internally and putting it onto them. It's a huge regret. I should have never said that. I've apologized, and I wish them nothing but the best."
She says that her comments came from her experiences in the pods and from things being said to her about Natalie and Shayne off-camera.
"It went back to the pods and in my third-party retrospective saying, 'What compatibility did they have?'" she says. "Again, there were some things behind the scenes where people would say things like, 'Oh, it was rehearsed.' I took that and, again, out of emotion and the other things that were going on and it kind of imploded."
She says she was hesitant to tell Shayne that he was her No. 1 early on because of her friendship with Natalie.
"Natalie and Shayne's connection was very apparent right away. And me and Natalie were friends. So it was just an awkward position to be in," she claims. "I was kind of holding it back, per se. I definitely should have been more forthright, and I own that. That was another regret."
Insisting her bonfire talk with Shayne "wasn't a plot to get him back," Shaina adds, "Him and Natalie should have picked each other at the end of the day."
As for whether she could envision a future with Shayne had he picked her, Shaina says, "At the end of the day, I don't know if it would have worked. I don't know Shayne as deep as Natalie knows Shayne. "
The first nine episodes of Love Is Blind are currently streaming on Netflix. The finale will air on Friday.
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