“Love Is Blind” fans think Season Four contestant Irina Solomonova might not have been the nicest woman in the pods. But former contestant Shayne Jansen says the backlash has gone too far.
Since the season premiered March 24, viewers have swarmed Solomonova's Instagram page with harsh comments about her character and appearance. Jansen, who received plenty of backlash of his own after Season Two, responded to the hate with a comment on a March 20 post by Solomonova.
“I know I’ll get a ton of backlash for this. But these comments are honestly absolutely disgusting,” he wrote.
“Yes, what she did was horrible completely," he added. Completely horrible I don’t defend it. But seeing most of these comments, the hate some of you have is sad. My first four eps of my season, I couldn’t get out of bed and was horribly depressed from the hate and comments."
In Season Two, Jansen proposed to Natalie Lee after seeming to also lead on another contestant. The night before their wedding, he also said hurtful words to Lee, leading her to leave him at the altar.
Fans largely sided with Lee throughout the season.
In his comment, Jansen said he's "done a lot of growing" since then.
“Just because someone f----- up, it’s ok to completely ruin their life?” the “Perfect Match” contestant continued. “I’ve done a lot growing, and trust me still have plenty. Poke fun, sure, with some of the scenes, but the words I see being used are sad. I promise you there is a better way.”
"No one deserves this (I don’t care) what you did," he wrote, in closing. "She will never grow this way. Take that as you will, and I’ll take the heat. Love you all.”
In Season Four, Solomonova's behavior left a negative impression on fans, who described her behavior as that of a “mean girl.”
In one episode, the business owner appeared to laugh with Micah Lussier at contestant Amber Wilder as she sobbed over the love triangle beginning to form between herself, Lussier and Paul Peden.
Solomonova eventually became engaged to Zack Goytowski, whom she seemingly influenced to break things off with Bliss Poureetezadi in the pods.
But after meeting Goytowski face to face, Solomonova seemed to lack physical interest in him, making critical comments about his eye contact and dodging his attempts at affection.
The two broke up during the trip to Mexico.
Solomonova later told TODAY.com that their break-up occurred because they just "weren’t meant to be."
“It wasn’t anything about his looks, or anything like that, it was more of the sense of feeling this gut feeling that he wasn’t the person for me," she said.
