While waiting for a new season of Love Is Blind, fans of the Netflix reality show are still super invested in the love lives of the cast of the first season. Amber and Barnett's married life is sweet, Mark is a new dad, and fans think that Gigi is single again.
Right away, people began talking about Jessica Batten, and she became a subject of memes and Twitter conversation. She gave wine to her dog, said Mark was too young for her, and wanted to be with Barnett but he chose Amber.
But does Jessica get too much hate from fans of Love Is Blind? Let's take a look at what people are saying.
Fan Reaction To Jessica
Many Love Is Blind fans want to know more about the show and the true story of Jessica and Mark's relationship is fascinating. They connected in the pods, but Jessica said that because she was 34 and Mark was only 24, that could present some problems. Fans often bring up this talk of the age difference.
A fan shared in a Reddit post that they sympathize with Jessica because, as viewers found out later, Jessica said that she tried to leave the show early. It seems like if she was able to do that, she would have avoided hurting Mark, and she wouldn't have felt so conflicted and confused by the situation.
The fan wrote, "I don’t think all her behavior should be excused but I do feel bad for her. She obviously should not have pursued Barnett in Mexico but being forced to stay there because of a contract sucks."
Another viewer agreed and said they understood that Jessica wanted to find a partner she could start a family with. They wrote, "She just seems lonely. She mentioned a few times about wanting to have someone to come home to, thinking she can talk herself into settling for a guy who loves her even if she doesn't feel the same way. Especially worrying that she's running out of time to have kids."
A fan feels bad that people have shown Jessica some hate online: they wrote on Reddit, "I think she deserves sympathy for all the cyberbullying and hate she received. To me, her actions were bad- but there were other factors."
Jessica And Barnett
For Cameron and Lauren, their story on Love Is Blind was fairly straightforward. They chatted in the pods, liked each other, and decided to get engaged. When they met each other in person, they felt a spark, and that chemistry continued as they went on vacation, lived in the apartment together, and got married. It wasn't so easy for Jessica, as she liked Barnett, then learned he was going to ask Amber to marry him instead of her.
Another fan of Love Is Blind shared on Reddit that if Jessica and Barnett had ended up getting engaged, it's possible that people would have liked her more.
The fan posted that Jessica "did not get the ideal relationship she wanted on the show" and continued, "I genuinely think she did try to make things work with Mark, but that obviously did not happen."
Starting another Reddit thread, a viewer sympathized with Jessica, saying that it really seemed like Barnett would ask Jessica to marry him. Barnett did say that he wanted to propose to her, so it made sense that she would have expected this.
It was definitely dramatic watching Jessica and Barnett like each other, and then watching him propose to Amber instead. Even if some people didn't support Jessica bringing up the age gap between her and Mark, they can empathize with her hurt feelings here.
The Age Difference
Jessica shared that she felt the age difference really was a big deal for her and Mark.
In an interview with The Daily Beast, she said, “I want somebody that I can grow old with and resonate with. You know? I'm gonna be planning my retirement sometime in the next 10 years, [and] he's just getting started. ... It’s two different places in life, and it hit me really hard. Everything in me was just saying, ‘You got in way over your head.'"
Jessica also commented on the way that people talk about her online, and she said that she tried to make the best of it. She explained, "I’m perfectly honest I wasn’t super happy with it, but I’m trying to have fun with it... People poking fun at me and things like that, I'm trying to be a good sport about that. It’s not the end of the world.”
Jessica is now in a relationship with Benjamin McGrath, according to E! News, and fans can see sweet photos of the couple on Instagram.