“Love Is Blind” cast member Kyle Abrams promised that the season two reunion special would be a “train wreck” and, well, he wasn’t kidding.
The reunion special, which just dropped on Netflix, brought together all the main players from season two, including the couples who got married as well as everyone who said “I don’t” at the altar.
Many fans may have been expecting some epic showdown between Shaina Hurley and Natalie Lee, who were both at one point romantically tied to Shayne Jansen in the pods, but any drama in that department was actually pretty subdued compared to some of the other confrontations that went down during the special.
In fact, most of the most jaw-dropping moments during the special involved Abhishek “Shake” Chatterjee, who was already one of the most controversial season two cast members due to his treatment of his fiancée, Deepti Vempati, throughout the season, as well as his general comments about women.
The reunion episode was pretty much a non-stop emotional roller coaster, but here are some of the most memorable moments from the hourlong special.
1. Deepti called out Shake for his treatment of her
Deepti did not mince words when it came to sharing her feelings about her ex-fiancé. Shake faced intense backlash earlier in the season after he was seen talking behind Deepti’s back throughout the show about how he wasn’t physically attracted to her.
“I just want to say it’s OK to not be physically attracted to somebody … it’s the way you go about life, it’s how you do it, it’s how you say it, that’s extremely disrespectful,” Deepti told him during the reunion. “It’s degrading to women, and I’m so happy for every single person on this couch today because they have my back and they call you out.”
She also took him to task for disrespecting her when he knew her family would be watching.
“I brought you to my family. I’ve never done that,” she said. “For my dad and my mom to sit there and watch you say these disgusting f---ing things about me is so degrading.”
In one memorable season two moment, Shake said being with Deepti felt like he was “with his aunt or something.” At the reunion, Deepti addressed that comment with an epic zinger.
“Guess what, your aunt is probably dope at f—, that’s all I’m saying,” she said.
2. Tensions erupted between Shake and the other cast members
During season two, most of the drama surrounding Shake centered on his relationship with Deepti, and we didn’t get an in-depth look at his relationships with other cast members. But during the reunion special … hoo boy.
Pretty much every cast member expressed their frustration with Shake in one way or another during the reunion special, whether through words or through stone-faced stares.
In one particularly tense, awkward moment, multiple cast members called out Shake for saying Sal Perez and Mallory Zapata’s relationship was “soured” by Sal’s ex-girlfriend.
“I feel like you’re just trying to break people down,” Jarrette said, adding later, “You came here for all the wrong reasons. Anyone can see how shallow you are.”
“Shake, he literally just said he didn’t want to air out dirty laundry. Why do you feel the need to come in and say that?” Shayne chimed in.
3. Shake doubled down in the cringiest way possible
Despite all the backlash — or perhaps because of it — Shake doubled down on his defenses of his behavior throughout the season, and shared some new views on women and relationships.
For example, he compared choosing a wife to “making a huge purchase.”
“Think of it as the ultimate purchase,” he said, “the ultimate commitment. Before you make this type of commitment, I feel like you have to read the fine print on that. So when we’re in a situation where the stakes are so big, I want to make sure this thing works. I wanted more than anything for this to work.
“And for me, that meant I knew at least a certain physical body type, to get me in the ballpark … If I were to marry someone and there was a big weight discrepancy, it would be very hard for me to get past that,” he added.
4. Nick and Vanessa Lachey got in on the drama
Hosts Nick and Vanessa Lachey usually stay out of conflicts between cast members, acting as neutral mediators and interviewers. But during this reunion special, things got a bit more personal as both Lacheys jumped into the fray and shared their true, raw opinions about Shake’s views and behavior.
“I think you were on the wrong show,” Vanessa Lachey said to Shake at one point. “And what I mean by that is, there are shows that are based on looks and if they have a connection. But what I’m saying is you need to open your heart to a bigger picture. Because at the end of the day, what if she’s (mangled) in an accident? What if she gains weight? What if she loses her hair, her legs and her arms? Are you not going to love her anymore?
“I hope to God if I’m (mangled), knock on f—ing wood, this man stands by my side and I know he will, because he loves me for me,” she continued, growing emotional as she gestured to her husband beside her.
“So the problem I have, Shake,” she went on, “is that you sat there and berated every single one of these women physically and then went through the process with this beautiful soul over here, all because you wanted someone that you wanted to f—, not fall in love with.”
Nick Lachey had his own mic-drop moment when Shake said he couldn’t help who he was attracted to because “it’s nature, baby, we’re animals.”
“No, you treat animals,” Lachey said, referring to the fact that Shake is a veterinarian. “We’re human beings.”
“I love a vet as much as the next guy,” Lachey added, “but I don’t like people who treat human beings the way you do. It’s wrong. It’s wrong.”
5. Shake accused certain people of strategizing to stay on the show
Another gasp-inducing moment involving Shake — because the amount of drama surrounding Shake during this reunion really cannot be overstated — came when he accused Kyle and Shaina of making strategic decisions about their relationship to stay on TV.
Shaina was talking about how she felt “confused” about her feelings toward Kyle, and opening up about how looking back, she “should have just said no” to his proposal because of her initial doubts.
“Can we just say off the record that the drive to continue on the show was a driving factor, I think, for Shaina and Kyle, maybe?” Shake interjected, leading to an uproar among his fellow cast members.
Shayne, who looked genuinely dumbfounded, said, “I just can’t believe the words that are coming out of his mouth right now, honestly.”
“It keeps it real!” Shake said.
“No, that’s not real, man, that’s just bad,” answered Shayne. “It’s just so bad.”
“I’m a tell-all. I’m just going to say what everyone is thinking at home,” Shake said.
At that point basically the entire cast said in unison, “No one is thinking that.”
6. Natalie and Shayne revealed they tried to save their relationship after the wedding day
The most raw and heartbreaking moment of the special was probably between Natalie and Shayne as they opened up about their broken engagement.
Natalie teared up as she talked about how a major fight they had the night before the wedding.
“Why it’s so hard for me to talk about is, because really that night changed everything for us. I know like it sounds stupid to say a fight changed everything but for us it was kind of a wakeup call like, wow, we have big issues to work through and maybe we’re not ready for marriage,” she said.
She also revealed that she and Shayne did give their relationship another try after filming was over.
“We gave it another shot after our wedding day. We dated again without the pressures. We just wanted to see how we would work out,” she said.
However, they struggled to move beyond the issues that had come up during their fight.
“It was too fresh, it was too fresh at the time,” she said.
7. Iyanna made a confession about what actually happened in Mexico with Jarrette
Iyanna McNeely and Jarrette Jones had said during the episode that they were waiting until marriage to have sex, but Iyanna acknowledged during the special that things didn’t go exactly as planned.
“So the thing about it is like, I was very protective of that aspect of our relationship … if I’m honest, we had sex in Mexico,” she said, giggling.
She and Jarrette opened up about how they are navigating married life, calling it “hard” but “rewarding.”
While they said they are still working on finding a balance between her introversion and his love of socializing, things seem to be going well for the couple.
“I wouldn’t ride this roller coaster with anybody else than this woman here,” Jarrette said.
8. Danielle revealed how Nick has changed since they started living together
The other married couple from season two, Danielle Ruhl and Nick Thompson, also seemed genuinely happy. They twinned in bright blue outfits and cuddled together on the sofa for pretty much the entire episode.
They shared a cute video of their shared home life together, and Danielle revealed how they’ve been compromising on their interests and habits.
One thing that seemed like an issue between them earlier in the season was that Nick did not seem to approve of Danielle wearing goofy costumes and dancing on the furniture at home.
At the reunion, though, Danielle revealed her husband of nearly a year has been coming around to her way of seeing things.
“He gets on the table before I do … he dances on more tables than I did!” she said with a laugh.
And, it “turns out he likes costumes just as much as I do,” she added, showing off some silly costumes in their closet.
The couple revealed that they had attended couple’s therapy, which helped them communicate better.
9. Kyle had a tense conversation with Shaina
Kyle and Shaina, who broke off their engagement before the season finale, did not get quite as much air time as the rest of the couples during the reunion special. However, the conversation they did share on the show seemed a little uncomfortable for both of them.
Kyle explained that the strength of their connection in the pods wasn’t given justice in the way the show was edited.
He also said he still wishes he knew why Shaina hesitated to accept his proposal.
“It was one of those things where I was compromising my own beliefs,” Shaina said, adding that she had undergone a major “internal struggle” over the fact that he does not share her Christian faith.
She also shared that looking back, she realized she should never have accepted Kyle’s proposal.
“It was a people-pleasing moment and I should never have said yes to you,” she said.