‘Love Is Blind’ Star Deepti Vempati Says It’s ‘So Shocking’ to Hear Bartise Bowden Is a Dad
Love Is Blind season 3 cast member Bartise Bowden recently announced he is a father, and his fellow Netflix star Deepti Vempati called the baby news “shocking.” Here’s how the self-proclaimed reality TV “villain” revealed his new family member and how Deepti reacted.
‘Love Is Blind’ season 3 star Bartise Bowden announced he is a dad
On April 7, Bartise shared an Instagram post announcing he is a father. The baby news came as a surprise because the Love Is Blind season 3 star, who is very active on social media, had not shared any details about expecting his son before.
“Might’ve been the villain on tv, but I’m gonna be the hero for him,” Bartise captioned a carousel of photos and videos showing himself with his adorable baby son. “Instagram, meet my little man [red heart emoji] #bigfella.”
Many Love Is Blind fans criticized Bartise during and after his appearance on the Netflix show due to his treatment of his then-fiancée, Nancy Rodriguez. He ended up saying no to her at the altar after several episodes of saying he wasn’t attracted to her, despite their initial physical connection.
Other Netflix stars, including Love Is Blind season 2 alum Deepti Vempati, have reacted to Bartise’s baby news.
‘Love Is Blind’ season 2 star Deepti Vempati called Bartise Bowden’s baby news ‘so shocking’
On the April 10 episode of the Out of the Pods podcast, which Deepti co-hosts with fellow Love Is Blind alum Natalie Lee, the Netflix star called Bartise’s baby news “shocking.”
Deepti shared she was recently in New York City with Bartise and other Love Is Blind stars, including season 4 cast members Kwame Appiah and Bliss Poureetezadi. She and Bartise spent some one-on-one time together before the other Netflix stars arrived.
Deepti said she and Bartise had “so many heart-to-hearts,” and she “actually really like[s] him.” She also said they “came to the conclusion that he is a good friend but not a good boyfriend,” and Bartise hadn’t mentioned anything about becoming a father.
“Did he tell you that he has a baby?” Natalie asked.
“No. That was so shocking to find out,” Deepti answered. “I was like, ‘Excuse me, I was with you for two days straight and you didn’t tell me you had a kid?’ Yeah, he didn’t tell me, I think he just wanted the media to break the news.”
Natalie Lee said her ‘jaw actually dropped’ when she saw the baby news
Deepti wasn’t the only Love Is Blind star blindsided by Bartise’s baby news – Natalie said she was so surprised she was “in shock.”
“When I saw his Instagram post announcing that he is the father of a baby boy, I was… my jaw actually dropped,” Natalie said. “I was in shock. First of all, he was just on Perfect Match. I know it filmed last year in March, but I was like, ‘I just saw you on the show being single and dating Izzy [Fairthorne]. And now you’re the father of a baby boy.’”
Natalie went on to say that although Bartise has not yet shared any information about the mother of his child, his son appears to be a few months old due to the St. Patrick’s Day apparel in his Instagram post.
