The season 4 contestants opened up about flak surrounding the show's reunion special.
It's been months since the reunion for season 4 of Love Is Blind, and now several of the show's stars are weighing in on the criticism surrounding the Netflix event.
As fans will recall, the event was originally scheduled to be live before technical difficulties led to it being taped. At the time, co-hosts Nick Lachey and Vanessa Lachey received the brunt of the criticism, with Vanessa's actions being called out by contestant Paul Peden and viewers alike.
ET's Denny Directo recently caught up with season 4 couples Brett Brown and Tiffany Pennywell and Kwame Appiah and Chelsea Griffin to discuss the upcoming After the Altar special and whether they felt the criticism surrounding Vanessa was warranted.
"I know there's a lot of things going on at the same time, so I think it'd be unfair to put so much of everything on one person," Brett tells ET of the drama. "I wouldn't say a lot of it is probably warranted, but you know people are going to say what they're going to say."
Tiffany, who tied the knot with Brett while filming season 4 of the Netflix dating show, said that she would have preferred to see all of the contestants' complete stories during the reunion.
"I think it would have been great to have, like, dialogue on both sides at the live event versus one pre-taped portion of the event," Tiffany says, specifically referencing co-star Marshall Glaze attending the reunion, but Marshall's ex, Jackie Bonds, and her new man, Josh Demas, pre-taping an interview with Vanessa.
Brett agrees that the coverage of Marshall and Jackie felt unfairly skewed toward Jackie.
"Obviously Jackie was not there in person, but I did feel that Marshall was getting more heat, and I'm like, come on, y'all. We all saw what happened. This shouldn't be that way, you know? I don't know why it was that way. Maybe it was just because Jackie was not there to actually be a part of the conversation. But yeah, I didn't think that Marshall necessarily deserved some of the heat that even I was picking up on when I was sitting right next to him."
Kwame also agreed that Jackie and Josh got off easy in the reunion due to the nature of their pre-taped interview, but felt that Vanessa was simply doing her job as a co-host.
"I do think obviously she wants to get answers. She wants to make sure that that the people get what they want. It is her job as a host," Kwame shares. "And so, you know, I can't critique that too much. I think she did what she thought would be best to create closure for everyone who viewed it, and everyone who was in that experience. And so, yeah, I can't say that I saw the, you know, a leaning of difficulty on either gender."
Kwame's wife, Chelsea, agrees, adding, "I think on top of that, too, being a host for a reunion of a show like this is incredibly difficult, and I think that people don't understand that there are so many individual and collective relationship stories and things and so many dynamics that, yeah, it's a cluster."
As for Tiffany and Brett and Kwame and Chelsea, their love stories will continue in the upcoming After the Altar special, which is streaming on Netflix on Friday.
The couples have been married for more than a year now after finding love on the show, and the three-episode, pre-taped event will give a glimpse into their lives after saying their "I dos."
Additionally, married pair Zack Goytowski and Bliss Poureetezadi as well as split contestants Micah Lussier, Paul Peden, Marshall Glaze, Jackie Bonds, Josh Demas, Irina Solomonova, and more will be featured.
Back in April, ET learned that, despite online criticism, the Lacheys will keep their jobs on the Netflix series.
Furthermore, there is no truth to the rumors that season 1 standout couple Lauren Speed and Cameron Hamilton are being brought in to replace the Lacheys in any capacity. The Lacheys are hosting season 5 of Love Is Blind, which premieres Sept. 22.
Love Is Blind: After the Altar premieres Friday, Sept. 1 on Netflix.
The Lacheys also host the Netflix series, The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On. Watch the clip below to see Vanessa's emotional moment:
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