"Love Is Blind" Season Four contestant Irina Solomonova is speaking out about her behavior on the show which fans say exuded "mean girl energy."
Since the first batch of episodes aired on Netflix on March 24, Irina, 25, has been criticized for the way she treated the other women in the pod, as well as Zack Goytowski, a 31-year-old lawyer, to whom she briefly was engaged.
In the pods, Irina befriends fellow cast member Micah Lussier, 27. The two seem to seek out drama. At one point, Irina pressures Bliss Poureetezadi, Zack’s other love interest, to give her some of the cupcakes she had baked Zack for his birthday.
Then, after Zack and Irina get engaged, she pokes fun at his appearance, saying he looks like a cartoon character. It continues: In Mexico, she confesses to finding Micah's fiancé, 29-year-old scientist Paul Peden, attractive.
Her behavior elicited some heated responses from viewers. “Irina is a terrible person. End of story," one person wrote on Twitter.
“Irina from Love is Blind season 4 is not a very nice person. She laughs at people who are having an emotional time,” another user adds.
Irina's time on the show is short-lived as she and Zack decide to break things off in Mexico.
After taking time to reflect since the show's premiere, Irina posted a video on Instagram on April 2, finally apologizing for her behavior.
In the video, Irina said she privately apologized to the people she felt she mistreated. She also apologized to the people who watched the show and felt "hurt" by her behavior.
"I wanted to say I'm so so sorry for the people that watch the show that felt frustrated, angry, hurt by the way that I mistreated people on the show," she says.
"It was very immature and naive of me in a lot of those situations, and I just want to say that Zack, Bliss, Amber, Jackie, Micah, none of those people deserve to be treated the way that I treated them, and I am genuinely so so sorry," she adds.
Micah apologized for her “emotionally immature” behavior on the show in a statement on her Instagram story.
“I have apologized privately to the people that were hurt on the show by my hands,” she wrote March 29. “I would like to apologize publicly. An emotional immaturity was shown and I will grow from it.”
Speaking to TODAY.com in an interview, "Love Is Blind" host Nick Lachey said he plans on asking Irina about her time on the show during the upcoming Season Four reunion, which will air live.
“Sometimes they don’t realize that everyone is gonna see what you’ve done. You’re on TV! But it’s easy to forget that sometimes. I want to hear how she stands by it,” he said.
