‘Love Is Blind’ star Deepti responds to brutal comments her fiancé made behind her back
The second season of Netflix’s hit reality dating show “Love Is Blind” has come to an end. The finale aired on Friday, Feb. 25, finally revealing which of the final couples would say “I do” and which would part ways before tying the knot.
Deepti Vempati and Abhishek “Shake” Chatterjee were among the couples who made it to the end, but their relationship was shrouded by brutal comments Chatterjee said about his fiancée during the course of the show.
Warning: There are spoilers ahead for the finale of “Love Is Blind” season two.
Vempati opened up to Buzzfeed after the finale aired about the comments her fiancé made about her behind her back.
At one moment in an episode, Chatterjee confided in another castmate about his physical attraction to Vempati, explaining, “I do not… I’m not physically attracted to her, man. It feels like I’m with my aunt or something.”
“Shake and I had conversations about how physical intimacy and that chemistry was lacking between us,” she told the outlet. “But to watch it back and see how he did it — it was kind of like, ‘Oh, look at me, I’m this cool dude that’s just gonna talk s--t about you to my friends.’ You don’t talk about somebody who is your fiancé, let alone a best friend — or even just a real friend — that way.”
In watching the moments back, Vempati said, “It was kind of disappointing and hard to watch, especially because my parents were so impacted by it. We welcomed him into our home.”
Her family’s scrutiny was one of the most worrisome parts about joining the show. Vempati opened up TODAY earlier this month about handling the overnight fame, explaining, “Since I come from an Indian background, I’m putting myself in a very vulnerable position for a lot of judgement, so I have to remain strong and yeah, it’s gonna be bittersweet, but here for the journey.”
After a tumultuous start to their relationship which contained doubts about their physical chemistry, the couple made it to their wedding, but ultimately decided not to tie the knot. At the altar, Vempati had a heart-to-heart with Chatterjee, telling him, “I hope you know how much you mean to me and the impact that you’ve made on my life. But, no, I cannot marry you.”
As Vempati’s parents looked on, their daughter added, “I deserve somebody who knows for sure. So, I’m choosing myself and I’m going to say ‘no.’”
“It was probably for the best,” Chatterjee said to some wedding attendees, adding, “Thank God I didn’t have to say anything. Very transparent — I was the one that was more on the fence.”
But to Buzzfeed, Vempati identified the exact moment she knew she was going to no.
“There was a pivotal moment after we had this massage date. It was really to instill some intimacy and to bring us closer together on that level — but it felt so disingenuous and like we were forcing it," she said.
“I had the epiphany that like, ‘Why am I trying to prove to this person to see me? I’m done trying, I’m over this. I just need to move forward and figure out what I want — instead of trying to figure out why he doesn’t want me, do I even want him?’”
