'Love is Blind' Couple Say Show Restrictions Negatively Impacted Their Marriage

Nick Thompson and Daniell Ruhl say getting adjusted to marriage post-Love is Blind was made complicated by restrictions put on them by show producers. The show was taped nearly a year before becoming available on streaming services for the Season 2 newlyweds. To keep the status of all relationships under wraps, Thompson and Ruhl agreed to keep a low profile. 

"We were trying to figure out a marriage that wasn't even a year old [and] navigate the struggles that we had," Thompson explained on an episode of his podcast Eyes Wide Open alongside Ruhl, where they dished on their time on the show and thereafter. "We couldn't be seen in public. We couldn't go anywhere. We couldn't go out to dinner." Ruhl said she stayed in the house, with Thompson adding they were "basically trapped in." She added, "I felt like a shell watching my life from afar, not actually living it." 

In addition to not being seen publicly, the now-former couple was forced not to post anything together on social media before all of the Love Is Blind episodes were released on Netflix. But fans remained curious and imposed on their "privacy" regardless, going as far as stalking the cast member's Venmo accounts to try to figure out which couples were still together.

Once the restrictions were lifted, things didn't get much better. Ruhl added that once they could be seen out together, they would "get interrupted all the time" on their dates, even on their anniversary. "We couldn't even have a conversation with one another," she said. "It was just sad." Thompson added: "You're not used to having hundreds of thousands of people commenting on you, your relationship, your family, your behaviors, your job."

Things culminated with their own anxiety and marital troubles, leading Ruhl, 29, to file for divorce from Thompson, 37, in 2022 after just a year of marriage. It was heartbreaking for both of them. "Doing that in the public eye was the hardest thing I've ever done in my entire life," he said. "I'm still reeling from it to this day." Luckily, they remain close friends.

Unfortunately, the same can't be said for Iyanna McNeely and Jarette Jones who also married in Season 2. The two announced their split around the same time as their co-stars. McNeely accused Jones of partying like a bachelor and even cheating on her in their home.

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