On Wednesday, Nov. 9, Netflix released the Season Three finale of “Love Is Blind,” which included intense confrontations between multiple couples.
Following Nancy Rodriguez’s decision to say yes to fiancé Bartise Bowden at the altar, Episode 11 began with the senior analyst revealing his answer.
He said “I do not” and asked Rodriguez if he could explain his reasoning. She declined and fled the ceremony as her mother and brother looked hurt and furious.
Rodriguez’s mother, Erendira Rodriguez, tried to comfort her, but the real estate investor told her, “It’s fine. Don’t hug me.”
Bowden then joined his former fiancée outside and tried to speak to her. Rodriguez’s mother and younger brother, Steve Rodriguez, repeatedly interrupted them as they defended Rodriguez and questioned why Bowden rejected her.
"You’ll have your time. Let me talk to my fiancée right now,” Bowden curtly told Rodriguez’s mother before later telling her brother he did not “owe” them an explanation.
In a separate conversation between the matriarch and her son, Rodriguez’s brother became emotional as he had predicted Bowden would not marry his sister when the time came. But Steve said he “did not want to be right.”
The siblings' mother replied, “She’s my only daughter. Do you think I’m broken? But I cannot be broken because I’ve got to be strong for her. Do you understand that?”
Speaking to People, Nancy said that she had “shut down her feelings” in that moment, and her family was acting on her behalf.
“My brother and Bartise were about the same age, so my brother got it. And when (Bartise) said no, I had to shut down my feelings and I even said to Bartise, ‘It’s OK.’
“Those were my first words when we got outside. My mom and my brother fought the fight that I couldn’t fight in that moment,” she continued.
“Love Is Blind” fans quickly took to social media to discuss the dramatic disagreement between Bowden and Rodriguez’s family, praising Rodriguez’s mother and brother for fiercely defending her.
“Nancy’s brother knowing in his bones Bartise was NO GOOD is heartbreaking,” another commented, along with a screenshot of Rodriguez’s brother talking to his mother. “You a good lil bro bro.”
The same Twitter user later added, “Honestly Nancy’s brother is the star of the show, GET EM NANCYS BRO!!!”
More fans applauded Rodriguez’s brother and his funny one-liners throughout the episode.
“We should’ve been getting commentary from Nancy’s brother all season long, tbh,” one viewer tweeted.
Another called him “the MVP of the season” for referring to Bowden as a “punk.”
To sum up his appearance on the show, one fan simply said, “Nancy’s little brother is a KING.”
Ahead of the backlash he received for how he handled his breakup with Rodriguez, Bowden spoke to TODAY about strangers commenting on his relationship.
He explained, “Now our relationship — the good, the bad, the ugly, the cringey — is on display for millions of people to see and for millions of people to have access to us on social media, and give their thoughts and opinions on what we said wrong or what we said right or what they like and dislike.”
The senior analyst said the experience so far has been nerve-racking and fun.
“And I don’t think anybody would say that they wouldn’t ever do it again. I don’t think any of us regret this,” he shared.
He also said that Rodriguez cut him off the moment he said no and that there wasn’t a possibility of them reuniting.
“However, it has been a long time since that moment. It’s been like almost a year and a half since our weddings,” he said. “And our relationship has gone from just about everything — from completely no communication to being friends to back to no communication. It’s been a roller coaster.”
When Rodriguez discussed her time on the show with Bowden, she told TODAY that she was not affected by his comments on her physical appearance, but that he could work on his delivery.
Speaking about the current status of their relationship, Rodriguez shared, “I’m single. I’m wishing well to Bartise and whatever he’s doing in his journey. (I’m) single and confident and strong.”
