Exclusive Interview

‘Love Is Blind’s Jessica Says Ex-Fiancé Chris Hid His Political Views in the Pods

According to Love Is Blind Season 10 star Jessica Barrett, her first question in the pods was “Did you vote for Trump?” While she made her strong political standpoint known early on, Jessica revealed to Swooon that her fiancé, Chris Fusco, confronted her about being “so liberal” off-camera.

Having been divorced once before, Jessica entered the pods knowing if somebody were to enter her life today, she “needed them to really bring a thought to the table.” She explained that, ahead of the experiment, she had really started showing up for herself. “I had essentially decided that if that was the rest of my life, I’m good,” she confessed.

In fact, Jessica never applied to be on the dating experiment. “I was so blindsided,” she confessed. “They sent me a message. I had a private Instagram. I still have no idea how they found me. And I literally was like, ‘Oh, honey, you have the wrong person. I am old, I am divorced, I am boring. You do not want me on this show, I promise you.” Ultimately, it was her family that convinced her to respond. Read on to find out what viewers didn’t see between Jessica and Chris once they returned to Ohio. (Warning: Spoilers for Love Is Blind Season 8 ahead!)

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“I think that Chris was really good at saying what he thought people wanted to hear,” Jessica said as she reflected on their time in the pods. “I think that that really is exemplified when you look at the way that he spoke to me versus the way that he spoke to Bri [McNees]. It’s almost like two completely different personalities, as far as what he thought the woman in front of him would respond to. And so, I think I was a little bamboozled.”

When it comes to how she presents herself in and out of the pods, Jessica explained, “Something I always ask very, very early on, and have gotten s**t for asking it so early on, is, ‘Did you vote for Trump? Are you a Trump supporter?’ That is something that has been steadfast for me. I just know how I feel about human rights and the things that are important to me. I can’t control if people told the truth or not.”

Ultimately, Jessica’s relationship with Chris took a turn when he very suddenly admitted that he was not attracted to her physically and had been thinking about his Pod Squad ex, Bri. According to Jessica, this was not the only confession he made during that conversation. “This was not something that was brought up even gently or softly at all at any point,” Jessica reflected.

She continued, “That conversation was, of course, very bizarre, but it was also a lot longer than what you got to see. There was a lot of it that felt like [he was] grasping at straws. That was only one of the things that he brought up. Prior to that, he had kind of mentioned a lot of unrelated things, like, ‘Well, you’re so liberal.’ And I was like, ‘Well, yeah, that’s like, all I talked about. What are you talking about? You agreed with everything I said.’ It felt like he was just looking for something and then landed on the whole physical thing.”

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While their full conversation wasn’t shown, Jessica assured Swooon that her exit was 100% accurate. “When I said, ‘I’m going to go home,’ I took my mic off and left. There was no other conversation. In my mind, I was like, ‘Oh, I could never be with this person. I want nothing to do with you.'”

She added, “It wasn’t until the next day that I realized that he didn’t actually know that. I had already planned my exit interview, but, as a human being who has decency, I was like, ‘I should probably tell him.’ And so we had a very short phone call where I basically was like, ‘Yeah, I’m not doing any of this. I have no interest.’ He actually acted surprised during that phone call, which was even more shocking.”

Love Is Blind, Season 10, Episodes 1-11, Streaming Now, Netflix

Love Is Blind, Season 10, Episode 12, March 4, Netflix

Love Is Blind, Season 10 Reunion, March 11 at 9/8c, Netflix