“Love Is Blind” Season Six has been trending since it premiered on Valentine's Day.
But recent internet chatter proves a trend started by past seasons of the dating show: Fans are just as interested in the rumored romantic entanglements that happened off screen as they are with the contestants' official storylines.
Some of the reality show's stars are responding to rumors, leading to two drama timelines: The one that unfolds in the show, and the internet's version.
Season Six star Jimmy Presnell responded to a Feb. 16 TikTok from a woman who said she was dating a “Love Is Blind” star, whom she never names. “She doesn’t say it’s me but she’s definitely insinuating it’s your boy,” Presnell said in his video.
Then, after Jeramey Lutinski was called out on social media for how he handled a recent past relationship, he defended himself in a Feb. 22 Instagram video, explaining his side of the story.
“I want to quickly address the story that’s going around about my previous engagement prior to ‘Love Is Blind,’” he began in the video. “One, anybody that I was on date’s with, my cast mates, and in multiple interviews, this topic was discussed. Nobody is surprised by this.”
He said that the conversations about his ex-fiancé were edited out of the episodes.
“Two, I did not apply for this while I was living with anybody else. I was out living on my own. And I didn’t seek this out. I was actually reached out to over Instagram,” Lutinski said in the video.
Lutinski said he was cast on the season weeks after the relationship ended, presenting what he said was a message from a "Love Is Blind" producer as evidence. Parts of the DM were redacted and he did not show the sender’s name. The message was allegedly sent on Nov. 30, 2022.
In his caption of the video, Lutinski reiterated what he said in the clip: “Not going to give this one any more attention.” Lutinski limited the replies on the video, as well as the rest of his Instagram posts.
Presnell's situation is different, since the TikTok he responded to, which racked up over 18 million views, didn't call him out by name. Instead, TikToker Ryan Stringfellow said her "boyfriend" was on the show, and was shown dating a mom. One of Presnell's connections in the pods had a child, and it appears he drew a conclusion.
“Uh uh, I don’t know this woman,” Presnell said in a TikTok video uploaded Feb. 19. “I’ve never met this woman. This is not true.”
TODAY.com reached out to Stringfellow for comment. She declined to name the individual in an email.
Fans in the comments suggested Presnell was taking the situation too seriously.
“You know she was just joking right?” one asked.
Another said, “Dude she never even said your name.”
The uproar of rumors, combined with lack of marriages in recent seasons, has fans questioning the casting decisions.
“I think the #LoveIsBlind producers do less vetting every season and they’re just trying to see how bad they can get before they get canceled,” one fan theorized on X.
Another tweeted, “Quite annoyed at all these stories coming out about the contestants real lives’ because ??? Did the producers do any vetting at all? Background checks? Ugh.”
These two contestants, among others, will likely have to further explain their dating history if they appear at the upcoming Season Six reunion on March 13.