The finale of Love Is Blind was full of “I don’ts.” But one couple who happily said “I do” was Iyanna McNeely and Jarrette Jones. In the pods, Jarrette formed a connection with both Iyanna and Mallory Zapata. He almost proposed to Mallory, but she decided he wasn’t the one for her. Jarrette circled back to Iyanna to continue their relationship. Iyanna seemed disappointed to not be the first choice, but the couple got engaged and moved forward.
While they got their happily ever after, it wasn’t exactly easy to watch the road getting there. Iyanna and Jarrette spoke with Us Weekly about what it was like watching their journey. Iyanna revealed, “For me, watching it was really awkward.” It didn’t help matters when the couples met in Mexico to get to know each other after their engagements.
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Jarrette met Mallory in person for the first time and had a seemingly flirty conversation with her. He seemed let down by Mallory’s choice to get engaged to Salvador “Sal” Perez. He even pointed out that Sal didn’t pick out the engagement ring that she had described she wanted.
Iyanna said of the interaction, “I knew about the conversation beforehand. They both told me about it, but I think they both kind of forgot the details of it. So when I watched, I was like, ‘Ah, God.’ Like, it was just so awkward.”
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She added, “But at the same time, while the feelings felt fresh, I was constantly reminding myself, ‘That’s not who he is.’ And he’s proven for almost nine months now who he actually is. I’m not gonna make excuses for him, but I think it was just how fresh everything was.”
Jarrette also acknowledged that it was “definitely hard” to watch that particular episode. He explained, “I think, in the moment, you’re coming off this high of you’re just now leaving the pods and you’re seeing the other person that you had a connection with for the first time. I definitely think I could have tailored the conversation a different way.”
Jarrette continued, “But that’s no excuse for the conversation that did happen. It definitely was a little cringey, also, like she said, [I] just have to remind myself that this was something that happened months ago.”
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But the couple worked through it and Jarrette said they were able to move on. He confirmed, “We’ve moved past that. We’ve grown past. I’ve done everything that I needed to do every day to just reassure [Iyanna] that, you’re the only one and I made the right choice, and I made the choice for a reason.”
As for their decision to marry, Jarrette had no problem gushing about his new bride. Said Jarrette of Iyanna, “She’s a better fit for me because she’s everything that I needed. On paper, me and Mal would’ve worked out. I think with Iyanna — she was vastly different and I think those differences are things that I needed in my life to help me grow and be a better person and be a better husband.”
TELL US – DO YOU THINK IYANNA WAS A BETTER FIT FOR JARRETTE? DID YOU ENJOY WATCHING THEM AS A COUPLE? DID YOU THINK JARRETTE’S CONVERSATION WITH MALLORY WAS CRINGEY?
