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Love Is Blind‘s third season had a pretty heated reunion episode. There, Nancy Rodriguez and Bartise Bowden unpacked their tense split at the altar while Zanab Jaffrey accused Cole Barnett of body-shaming her.
But instead of getting fans’ sympathy, they though Zanab just “distorts reality” and is trying so hard to be season 3’s Deepti Vempati. Here’s why.
Are Love Is Blind’s Zanab And Cole Still Together?
After the reunion, it was clear that Zanab and Cole were no longer together. Leading up to their canceled wedding, the two constantly fought a lot. They even had an argument where Cole asked Zanab if she was “bipolar.”
The realtor later talked to Women’s Health about that scene. “I don’t love that for me. I don’t love that for any woman that’s ever questioned,” she said of how Cole — who’s also a realtor — handled that situation.
Zanab also admitted that she was guilty of escalating the spat. “I just—I hate it… I was putting him in the hot seat for something he had said and he had done,” she explained, “and he didn’t like it, and so it was deflection, it was projection, and I hated to see it play out again.”
In the same interview, Cole expressed his regret over his viral statement.
“I mean, the way it looks, I regret that massively,” he said of using the term “bipolar” to refer to Zanab’s mixed feelings about their wedding.
“I don’t think you should question anyone’s mental health or ever ask that question. It sounds really bad. When I heard it, it broke my heart to see that play out and to see her face afterwards. But I didn’t just out of the blue like, ‘Hey, I’m gonna go and ask a very difficult question or just like a question that shouldn’t be asked.'”
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Love Is Blind’s Zanab Accused Cole Of Body-Shaming Her, But The Show Proved Otherwise In The Final Clip Thanks To Cole
During the reunion, Zanab opened up about Cole “[trying] to control what [she] ate” when they were living together. “I stopped eating. I was eating like a banana and a teaspoon of peanut butter just so I wouldn’t pass out on the long days of filming,” she revealed.
She also recalled a scene that didn’t make it to the series wherein Cole criticized her for eating Cuties after filming for hours on an empty stomach.
“The Cuties story that didn’t make the cut, was, one day, at 2pm, we were still filming,” she shared, “I hadn’t had a chance to eat, so I grabbed two Cuties, tiny oranges that fit in the palm of my hand, and he looked at me and he goes, ‘Are you gonna eat both of those?’ And I said, ‘Well, like, yeah, that’s a serving.'”
She continued: “And he goes, ‘Well, we’re going to eat out later, maybe you should save your appetite.” After hearing Zanab’s feelings about that scene, Cole asked the Netflix show producers to add the clip, which they did at the end of it.
Why Fans Think Zanab ‘Distorts Reality’ About Cole Drama
In a Reddit post, a fan said that “Zaynab’s [sic] Total Lack of Self Esteem Distorts Reality.” They said it’s the reason the reality star seems like she’s lying about the body-shaming claims.
“I can see why a lot of ppl here think Zay ‘lies,’ but I think her total lack of self worth distorts how she perceives EVERYTHING that is said and done to her,” they wrote. “Cole could say up, and Zay would hear down. Zay is by far her own worst enemy.”
Still, the opinionated viewer thought that both Zanab and Cole have “good intentions” and that they just weren’t a good match for each other. “It’s sad bc I think both she and Cole meant well and had good intentions,” they said.
“Unfortunately Cole is young and immature, and Zay dissecting his every move/word would always lead to a ditch. The biggest ‘lie’ she said was at the altar telling Cole he destroyed her self esteem, bc it’s obvious that was destroyed long before she even came on the show.”
The Redditor concluded the post by claiming that it’s probably “why [Zanab] probably hasn’t found a match” and that they “feel for Cole and Zay, and I hope Zay finds a way to improve her confidence and self worth.”
