Exclusive Interview
‘Love Is Blind’s Ali Lima Reveals What ‘Alarmed’ Her the Most About Fiancé Anton Yarosh
Love Is Blind stars Ali Lima and Anton Yarosh seemed like one of the most compatible couples to come out of the Season 9 pods. However, the introduction of Anton’s friends had fans questioning everything they thought they knew about the couple.
During Episode 8, Ali and Anton caught up with his friend Joe and Joe’s girlfriend, Melissa, who shared some insight into Anton’s life prior to the pods that caught Ali off guard. According to Melissa, Anton was quite the party animal, regularly going to strip clubs only months before joining the experiment.
After the latest Season 9 episodes dropped on Netflix, Ali sat down with Swooon to chat all things Love Is Blind, revealing why she applied for the show, who else she dated in the pods, and how meeting Joe and Melissa impacted her perception of their relationship.
Netflix
How did you cross paths with Love Is Blind?
Ali Lima: I’ve been watching it since Season 1, so I’ve been following it this whole time. I had several friends send [the application] to me and say, like, “You should go on this. You’d be great, you’d have so much fun.” I ended up applying based on my friends’ recommendations that I should go. And then I got reached out to on Instagram multiple times as well. So I was like, “Okay, maybe this is a sign I was meant to do it.”
In the pods, you ended up choosing Anton Yarosh. But before we dive into that, who were your other connections in the pods?
Ali: It’s strange, because everyone’s been like, “You and Anton got engaged so fast, you didn’t even, like, discuss anything.” But both of us definitely had other connections. I dated Chase [Navarro] and Patrick [Suzuki]. But I very early on knew that it was Anton for me.
What about Anton stood out to you in the pods?
Ali: There were so many things about culture, religion, our upbringing, our experiences, our outlooks, everything that really often wasn’t shown in the episode. There was a little bit of the backstory of what we discussed, but we had so many deeper conversations outside of what was shown, and that’s really where we found our compatibility, like his traditional morals and his outlook on caring for his family and leading his family. He cares for his mom in a big way, so that was very, very much what I would look for in a partner.
That McDonald’s connection was absolutely adorable, too.
Ali: Yeah, McDonald’s was our biggest compatibility.
As a former employee, were you shook when Anton and his friend Joe talked about shutting down McDonald’s?
Ali: I am such a goody two-shoes. I don’t do things that I’m not meant to be doing. And so having him discuss shutting it down to drink, I was like, “Oh my gosh, how could you! I’m not that bold! I would never be brave enough to do that.”
Courtesy of Netflix
When you finally met Anton face-to-face. Was he how you pictured him?
Ali: No. Me and him actually drew each other on little pieces of notes that we had. We tried to guess without giving too much. We did discuss nationalities because I thought that was an important part of who I am, and obviously ended up being an important part of who he is. I feel like both of our nationalities can go a lot of different ways, physically, and so I think for me, I drew him with blue eyes and blonde hair. And I don’t quite remember how he drew me, but I thought he was going to be blonde. But ultimately, I was very happy with how he looked, and we kind of hit it off at our reveal.
Once you got back to Denver, when did you first start to take note of the differences in your and Anton’s lifestyles?
Ali: I think it was just the drinking. The thought of coming home from a shift and then, you know, having a couple of beers to wind down. That was kind of the main thing that I was like, “Okay, this is a very different way to live.” My family hardly drinks, and I wouldn’t say I’m not a drinker. I definitely like to drink and have fun every once in a while, but it’s not like after a shift, you know? That was a major difference in our lifestyles that I noticed right away.
As far as monetarily, I know that’s been kind of a big discussion online. We did have discussions in the pods, too, about what our life would look like. That wasn’t anything I was worried about. I don’t know that that was really something that I felt was a difference between us. It was just something that we’d have to kind of compromise on.
Courtesy of Netflix
Of course, when you met Anton’s friends, Melissa dropped a major bombshell on you. How did it feel to learn that Anton was a bigger partier than you originally thought?
Ali: I think what stood out to me the most during that conversation was that Anton, at the time, made it seem like it was just his friend who really liked to party and drink. And so when he told me, we were meeting [his friend, Joe] and who this guy was in his life, he kind of made it seem like [Joe] was the instigator and the one that was leading all of these events or these activities that they were doing together.
Hearing from Melissa, obviously, she’s a third source. I didn’t know her. I knew Anton much better, but it is kind of, you know, alarm bells ringing in your head when you hear that about your significant other. I guess I was alarmed that Anton was sharing it as if Joe was the instigator, whereas it seemed like it was very much both of them, which obviously tends to be the case for most friendships.
Comment below on if you think Ali and Anton will say “I do,” and be sure to check out our full recap of who’s still together!
Love Is Blind, Season 9, Episodes 1-9, Streaming Now, Netflix
Love Is Blind, Season 9, Episodes 10-11, October 15, Netflix
Love Is Blind, Season 9, Episode 12, October 22, Netflix
