‘Love is Blind’: Shayne Jansen Says the Dating Experiment Is ‘Dead’
Love is Blind star Shayne Jansen recently spoke out in defense of Season 4 star Irina after being labeled as the season’s villain. He knows all about it from his previous on the show. While he doesn’t regret participating in the show and taking a risk at finding love, he’s not so sure the dating experiment still works.
Shayne Jansen says ‘Love is Blind’ experiment is dead
The show is currently in its fourth season since first airing in 2020. It became an instant phenomenon, mostly in part to the pandemic quarantine restrictions of having to stay inside. During that time, the show garnered millions of views and was the talk of social media, despite having premiered a month prior on the app. After the first season’s success, more followed.
But fans have some criticism. Some have voiced that the show now feels contrived. Both married couples from Season 2 have filed for divorce, and Season 3’s couples remain together, but fans don’t believe one will make it. Jansen says the show’s believability has gone down, and its producers and fans are partially to blame.
“So I’ll say this, again, I’ll say this, I always tell people this. I would do it 1,000 times over again. It was the best experience of my life. I learned so much. I grew so much from the experience, I would do it 1,000 times over,” he told PopCulture.com. “But yes, I agree, I think the experiment’s dead. I think it’s completely dead. I think the timeframe from when the show ends to when it airs, I think it’s too long. They need to do a quicker timeframe. And then you need to do a better job promoting love than what they’re doing right now. I think they really try to push drama too much, which I know they have to for the show, but I think people already know the system. I think people already know what they need to do. People know they need to get to a different level so they can get on TV more. So yeah, I think the show is kind of dead now, but again, it’s not dead because so many people are loving watching it. I mean, dead as authenticity-wise, I think it’s kind of dead, yes.”
He was painted as a villain on ‘Love is Blind’
Jansen had a difficult time after the show aired. He seemingly had a love triangle with his fiance, Natalie Lee, and another woman he was attracted to in the pods, Shaina. Shaina professed her love too late, after he’d already proposed to Natalie, and he turned her down. But Shaina was persistent. And according to Lee, Jansen, and Shaina had inappropriate contact during and after the show. Natalie ultimately said no at the altar.
Jansen says he tried to make things work with Lee even after filming ended. But he claims she ran with false narratives in the media about his friendship with Shaina that hurt him. Shaina is now married, and he says they keep in contact. But it’s nothing compared to the lies he says Natalie spread.
But he’s done clearing things up. “That has been completely cleared up 100% [about me, Lee, and Shaina]. If anything, it’s on her [Natalie’s] end, because she might not think it’s not cleared up yet,” he said. “But me and Shaina, we hang out as friends now. I hang out with her husband, and we go to events together and everything. That is completely cleared up. People still want to talk a little bit because they need the stuff to talk about still days, but that’s about it. People just do it because it was a huge storyline. So people talk about it because they just need something to talk about.”
The Netflix alum is now focused on other projects that don’t include reality TV
After Love is Blind, Jansen appeared on Netflix’s other dating experiment show, Perfect Match. He’s recently partnered with the Best Fiends game’s newest campaign. The national campaign encourages fans to break up with their old sugar habits and meet their new crush, likening it to breaking up with their old dating habits.
Jansen is also focused on his physical and mental fitness. After a bad breakup he recently experienced, he opted to pour energy into self-love.
