'Love Is Blind' Couple Announces Break-Up

Jarrette Jones and Iyanna McNeely are calling it quits on their marriage less than a year after fans watched them fall in love in the Love Is Blind pods. The reality personalities, who met and married in Season 2 of the Netflix smash hit, announced Wednesday in a joint statement that they had separated and planned to divorce.

"After much thought, we're saddened to share that we have separated and will begin the process of divorcing," McNeely, 28, and Jones, 32, captioned their joint Instagram statement. "While we have love for each other, our lives are going in different directions and that's OK. Coming to this decision was far from easy and we will always wish each other the absolute best."

Their statement continued, "We hope you all will give us some space as we close this chapter of our lives. Thank you to our close friends and family for loving us both through our experience. To the Love Is Blind family and Netflix, thank you for this unforgettable opportunity and support." The two Chicago residents found a quick connection in the Love Is Blind pods, and while Jones was initially torn between his feelings for McNeely and Mallory Zapata, he eventually proposed to the former, with the latter leaving the pods engaged to Salvador Perez.

Viewers thought there might be trouble in paradise for Jones and McNeely when he first met Zapata in person in Mexico during a flirty encounter, but McNeely told Us Weekly in March she wasn't holding onto any grudges after watching it play out. "For me, watching it was really awkward," she told the outlet. "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."

"I was constantly reminding myself, 'That's not who he is.' And he's proven for almost nine months now who he actually is," McNeely said in defense of her husband, insisting that she wasn't making "excuses" for his flirtations. "I think it was just how fresh everything was," she added. Zapata's Love Is Blind experience also ended in heartbreak when Perez declined to marry her at the altar, revealing he wasn't ready to take that next step with her.