The cast of the Netflix reality series don't hold back despite the technical difficulties that plagued the special.
SPOILER ALERT: If you haven't watched season 4 of Love Is Blind and the reunion special, proceed with caution.
Though it was billed as Netflix's second-ever live special, Love Is Blind fans were disappointed on Sunday evening when the streaming service struggled to get the event going for hours.
Co-host Vanessa Lachey took to her Instagram to share that they had been experiencing technical difficulties, and eventually Netflix posted that the reunion was being filmed and they were planning to have it on Netflix "as soon as humanly possible."
Eventually, Netflix announced that the reunion would be available globally at 12 p.m. PT on Monday, April 17, though many viewers were able to screen the reunion through a glitch in the system.
For those diehard fans who stuck out the delay and managed to get through, the payoff was well worth it as the reunion skimmed the surface of the love stories, but scooped deep into the drama.
Season 4 stars Chelsea Griffin, Paul Peden, Micah Lussier, Kwame Appiah, Zack Goytowski, Bliss Poureetezadi, Tiffany Pennywell, Brett Brown, and Irina Solomonova were all in attendance.
One of the biggest surprises of the night was that co-stars Jackie Bonds and Josh Demas, who reconnected outside of the pods after Jackie's split from Marshall Glaze, were not in attendance at the reunion. The couple, who confirmed their ongoing relationship to ET prior to the reunion, later spoke with Vanessa about their life since the show wrapped filming, making multiple accusations against Marshall, who mostly let his eyebrows do the talking in response, but did own up to comments he made about Jackie.
Here were the biggest bombshells to come from the reunion.
Irina's Direct Messaging to Bliss
Probably the biggest villain of the night was Irina, who was audibly booed by the audience during her time speaking. Irina starting crying from the moment she was addressed, offering apologies to her ex, Zack, and his wife, Bliss.
Neither Bliss nor Zack seemed to be having any of it.
"I was super disappointed, and I just really hope that you grow from this," Bliss said to Irina of watching her treatment of Zack in Mexico. "It's sad to see someone so wonderful be treated so poorly."
Zack went full force calling Irina out, claiming only "10 percent" of what she supposedly did to him was shown on camera.
"There was so much stuff that happened that was just unbelievable," Zack said. "If we're real, you went on this show to get famous. But look, I forgive you. I genuinely, 100 percent forgive you."
Irina tried to again apologize and said that she had been suffering from panic attacks and mental health struggles at the time, but Bliss had more receipts to pull out.
"You did tell me when you landed in Mexico that [I] dodged a bullet," Bliss said of the DM that Irina confirmed she sent to her. "You can have panic attacks, and you can have trouble with mental illness and that's totally valid, but then you're turning around and you're doing malicious things and you're acting in really cruel ways. It's hard to reconcile those two things. It really is."
The Insults That Caused Marshall and Jackie's Split
Though Jackie and Josh didn't appear with the rest of the cast, they still filmed an interview that was shown much to the disbelief of Marshall's eyebrows. In it, Jackie claimed that Marshall called her a "derogatory term" that was meant as a joke, but that she took offense to. Marshall later addressed the claims head-on saying he never used such a term and that it wasn't in his vocabulary.
Marshall claimed that Jackie had been "calling me out for my sexual preferences," noting, "I felt like it was my turn to make a jab. I said, 'You know, you got a strong jawline. You coulda been a man for all I know.'... She took very clear offense to it. We were just learning each other. We don't really know what each other's triggers are. I thought it was a safe space because she's coming at me, calling me out for my sexual preferences... I did not say a specific term. I did not use a derogatory word, no."
Jackie's Accusations
Jackie claimed that Marshall wanted the engagement ring back so he could propose to another cast mate. Marshall shut that down as well, saying he went on one date with an unseen co-star named Kacia, but that ultimately he wanted to distance himself from the experiment that had caused him so much pain.
"I felt like she didn't deserve to have that symbol of my love," Marshall said of the ring. "Ultimately, I did not want to propose to anybody else."
Kwame and Micah's Differing Timelines
As Kwame and Micah addressed and apologized for their flirtation, the exes seemed to have a different recollection of events. Kwame claimed that though Micah called it off, he had intended to end their relationship in order to pursue Chelsea, claiming he still had the breakup note in his notebook. Co-host Nick Lachey called Kwame out for having an intense reaction to Micah's breakup despite claiming he'd been intending to end things. He replied, "It hurts no matter what... I still needed to process out the pain that was felt."
Micah's Reaction to Paul's Motherhood Comments
Micah claimed that she wasn't aware that Paul had said he couldn't picture her as a mother until the wedding episode aired.
"I felt like it was the worst thing that could be said about me. It's something that I've talked about since the pods, how important having family was to me. My mom wasn't supposed to be able to have children. The fact that we even survived my birth was a miracle. I didn't have any siblings. I didn't have a big family and it's something I wanted so bad," Micah said through tears.
Paul apologized for his wording, saying, "I think I phrased that really unfairly towards her."
He amended that he would have changed it to say, "I can't see us as parents... It wasn't evident to me. In my vision of the future, it wasn't there."
He commented on not feeling a "nurturing presence" from Micah during their relationship, which he added went after he said no at the altar for a brief stint.
Zack's Defense of Paul and Accusations Against Micah
Vanessa caught Zack whispering to his pal, Paul, on the couch and asked him to share with the class. Zack said he felt Micah was "here for blood," and questioning her intentions, claiming that "there have been women who have told me in the conversations they have had with her, very rarely did she mention actually getting married to Paul."
"She would talk pretty badly about Paul," he said.
Vanessa did some digging, seeming to pin the alleged comments on Irina, who said that everyone was up in the air about whether they'd be getting married at the start of the experiment.
Chelsea Has Met Kwame's Mom
Though Kwame's mom did not approve of their relationship while the show was filming, Chelsea shared that she has since met her mother-in-law.
"Yes, we've met. Thanksgiving, went to the family for Thanksgiving. His mom welcomed me with open arms," Chelsea shared. "It was a wonderful first visit. When I was in his sister's home, it was like, 'I'm home.'"
Bliss Is Ready for Babies
While the other married couples dodged Vanessa's intense baby pressure, Bliss happily declared of her husband, "I can't wait to have this man's babies."
Bliss' Dad Is Paying for Their Honeymoon
Despite clearly being against their union at the time, Bliss claims her dad has really come around to his new son-in-law.
"My dad, he will always show up for me. He will always be there for me... I'm happy to say that he and Zack are best buds... He is paying for a honeymoon for us in Panama," Bliss shared.
Zack Has Written a New Song
No words... just... love is deaf?
Love Is Blind season 4 and the reunion currently streaming on Netflix.
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