The Viall Files - E649 Going Deeper with Izzy Zapata - Love is Blind Season 5 Plus Insider Tea From Taylor’s Suite

Episode Date: October 5, 2023

Welcome back to The Viall Files: Going Deeper Edition! First, the household gets together to discuss some recent pop culture headlines - like Special Forces Premiere Episode 2, the Kardashian’s acting careers, and Taylor attending a second Chiefs game. Then, we are joined by Izzy Zapata to talk about his time on Love is Blind Season 5. What led to his decision to propose to Stacy? Does he regret how he talked to Johnie at the barbecue? How has it been watching it back? We also have a Texting Office Hours caller whose best friend is skipping her wedding for a bachelor party, and she’s not sure how to move forward.  “We’re not there to find friends, we’re there to find love.”  VOTE for Nick as Sexiest Podcast Host here: https://people.com/sexiest-men-alive-poll-2023-7964300 Start your 7 Day Free Trial of Viall Files + here: https://viallfiles.supportingcast.fm/  Please make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss an episode and as always send in your relationship questions to [e-mail] to be a part of our Monday episodes. Join us for our new LIVE show on Thursdays at 9PM ET/6PM PT on Amp, available in the Apple app store. Android User? Listen here: https://www.onamp.com/   To Order Nick’s Book Go To: http://www.viallfiles.com  If you would like to get some texting advice on Office Hours send an email to [e-mail] with “Texting Office Hours” in the subject line! To advertise on the show, contact [e-mail] or visit https://www.advertisecast.com/TheViallFiles  THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS: Hullo Pillow - Get fast, free shipping on every order. Go to https://www.hullopillow.com/viall  Peloton - Try the Peloton App today for free for 30 days.New paid memberships only, starting at $12.99/mo after trial, unless canceled. Terms apply. Shopify - Go to https://www.shopify.com/viall to take your business to the next level today. Drizly - Drizly is the go-to app for drink delivery. Download the Drizly app or go to https://www.drizly.com/gifts and use code VIALL to receive $5 off or $0 delivery fee off your first order. Vessi Footwear - Thanks again Vessi! Go to https://www.vessi.com/VIALL and get 15% off your first order! Free shipping to CA, US, AUS, NZ, JP, TW, KR, SGP.   Episode Socials: @viallfiles @nickviall @nnataliejjoy @izzyzapata_ @alison.vandam @liffordthebigreddog @dereklanerussell @genevievegoodman 

what's going on everybody welcome back to another episode of the vile fouls going deeper edition i'm your host nick joined by the. It's a full household this episode. We got my lovely fiancee, our pop culture correspondent to my right. We have Allie, we have Genevieve, we have Derek. We also have Amanda on this episode. Do you want to address what you just told me? Apparently this alleged feud between you two? Allie and Amanda hate each other.

Apparently, not only did something happen between us, but we've... What happened? Who knows? Something happened between us to the point where we can't sit at the desk together. No, we can't be on episodes together. And even when we are on episodes together, we can't sit next to each other, which I found funny because one... Where are you reading this? Is this one comment?

Yeah. Okay. Nothing happened. And two, the fact that... What episode was this on? That something so dramatic would have happened that we would have gone to Nick and been like, Hey, it's me or her. You cannot be in the same room.

Not at the desk. Genevieve's in the middle. But other than that, I will be back in that chair or on that couch. Do not make me sit next to her. The household grows. And that's all it really is. I've been here. I've just been back there.

Allie does so much that y'all just don't even understand. We have a hit show for you today. The one, the only, Izzy Zapata. Well, he has like a nice ring to it that I can't quite do. Anyways, we have a lot of questions for Izzy. Most importantly, why was he such a dick to Johnny the drawer? Lots to talk about with Izzy. He definitely was a very giving guest.

A lovely gentleman. Did your opinions change? Yeah, I would say mine did. He definitely made up for the way he spoke to Johnny. Okay. Yeah. That was my biggest beef with him was how mean he was to her. And I was curious to know if he felt bad, if he had remorse, if he

regretted that and he seems to do very much well. Well. Well. Won't you just keep on listening? Why don't you just decide? Get it out of us in the intro. But you didn't.

Decide for yourselves. Breaking news. We have some information from inside the suite. You know what suite we're talking about. Yeah. Taylor's. And for those who don't. The fantasy suite.

The fantasy suite. The C-suite. Already. Inside the star-studded suite that was Taylor Swift watching her man, Travis. I've started falling asleep to the New Heights podcast. Wow. To dad's voice. Started falling asleep to dad's voice.

Yeah. No, no. Just dad. Just dad. Yeah. I had two questions for my friend who was also in the suite. I wanted to know how Brittany Mahomes was. And did you find out?

Yeah. And how is she? Lovely, apparently. Brittany Mahomes was. And did you find out? Yeah. And how is she? Lovely, apparently.

For any thoughts that somehow Brittany has inserted herself into Taylor's group or, you know, kind of bulldozed her way into the suite, so to speak, that would be inaccurate. She was welcomed with open arms and invited and taken out on the town by Taylor and the girls. You know, it's interesting because it seems like Brittany Mahomes has gotten, she's been in the press, she's gotten some bad press in the past. And this is my speculation after talking to my friend. But the read I got was, again, the takeaway is she's very nice. But the read I got was there was a lot of empathy towards what it might be like for Brittany Mahomes, who is married to Patrick Mahomes, currently the best quarterback in the NFL, the quarterback of the Kansas City Chiefs, who Kansas City is not a huge city.

So imagine being Patrick Mahomes. He's a big fish in a small pond. He's a huge fish in a small pond. Patrick Mahomes has a problematic brother. Well, he's got his issues. We don't need to get into that. And it seems like instead of people going after Patrick, it's almost as if Brittany is a convenient scapegoat.

And my read, again, this is coming from me. I couldn't help it. You know, you look at the Sophie situation. Taylor has gone after a way to look after Sophie after clearly like the Jonas brothers trying to get ahead of the divorce and the press and things like that. And it seems like Taylor is going out of her way. She seemed like she got, there was this after party after the Kansas City Chiefs game. There

were reports that her and Brittany got to know each other. And I can't help but wonder if Taylor has, you know, grew fond of her. Taylor is using her power, her stardom, to kind of protect women who through maybe whether it's no fault of their own, Sophie is on the receiving end of certain type of vitriol from the Jonas Brothers fan base.

And then Brittany Mahomes is on the receiving end of vitriol from certain football fans. I think Taylor having been kind of the underdog, having been like the the woman who was like put in the spotlight and like just got nasty, nasty comments for like an entire year that she was forced to go like underground, essentially. I'm sure she like really feels for those women. But I also she strikes me as the type of person where she's going to do her own research. She's going to talk to them directly and she's just going to pick the side that she thinks is right. I don't think she's just willy nilly going to say I'm always going to defend

the woman. She goes to dinner with Sophie Turner. You know, it's like she hears sides and then she very clearly takes. But she's not afraid to go out of her way to protect people who might be misunderstood totally or misrepresented in the press. And she has no problem using her power and her stardom to protect, you know, those people that she wants to help. I'd imagine Taylor has like gotten really good at telling what's smoke and what's fire in the gossip columns. I'm definitely sure that like, you know, it's like she went into the first game, like being

besties with Brittany. I mean, I don't even know if they're bestiesies now but it seems like she's really liked the person that she got to know other people who also got to know britney and that sweet really think she's wonderful um and really like enjoyed the person they got to know and i think there's some empathy towards britney and how she has been treated in the press. And it seems like a really nice gesture for Taylor to go out of her way. She's in the midst of dating Travis and all this press. And in the midst of this new love affair, she's also kind of made a friend and taking that friend under her wing to help someone out who she may feel like has got

a bad rep. While on the other wing has Sophie Turner. Her wings are full. Her wings are so full. Oh, yeah. Stacked. She was there with her backup singer, too. Did you see that?

No. That's one of the women that she brought to the suite. Like, I love that. You know, like, I love that Taylor has, like, normal friends. Taylor seems like someone who being a good friend really matters to her. She's also loyal. Like you look at her band that she's on tour with and you can point out the people who have been there since the beginning. For what it's worth, I said, I hope the Travis and Taylor thing is real.

To which I got a reply. I don't understand the comments about real or fake. Like they just started dating. There's a genuine interest there. there's no fakeness to it but i don't know you know they just started dating she doesn't know if they're gonna get married it's like like most people who just start dating it's like yeah did they they seem like there's a genuine interest there the rumors are that this is pr it's to help him it's to help her with her movie sales not that she needs help with that It's to like get over the Maddie Healy controversy,

which like that was a while ago and we'd already stopped talking about it. Yeah. I just don't think like Taylor needs to be in a PR relationship anymore. Like I can say with confidence that it is not love that it is. I didn't think it was anyway, but love and it's very early stages, but the interest is mutual and genuine. They're probably not boyfriend girlfriend yet, but that's fine. Yeah. I don't know. I didn't pry. bit love and it's very early stages but the interest is mutual and genuine like they're

probably not boyfriend girlfriend yet so that's fine yeah i i don't know i didn't pry but certainly not certainly not fake and certainly not for press i love them i saw the kansas city chiefs were playing the vikings on sunday and i debated flying home yeah i wanted to come with you so anyways yeah it makes me more interested in getting to know who Brittany Mahomes is. Because I do think Taylor has impeccable taste. And I think she is very careful about who her circle

includes. As nice as she is in outreaching to certain people, I don't think she does that with just anyone. And I think she's incredibly careful and incredibly safe. And I think it says a lot for the people that she is inviting to dinner and who she's inviting into her suite. And I think she's incredibly careful and incredibly safe. And I think it says a lot for the people that she is inviting to dinner and who she's inviting into her suite. And I think just people out there should, if you're a Taylor Swift fan, you should trust Taylor's taste. Don't trust Taylor, but then criticize the people she's hanging out with.

What do we have to get into? Well, we had special forces that, you know, that happened. Tom and I raced down a wall. I was really pissed because technically he beat me. I screwed because if you watch it they didn't air it at the very end you see me get jerked and i like stopped they pulled you back i was literally going so fast down the wall that the safety team yanked on it and then billy said you got scared and you stopped and then what they didn't show is him winking at me uh when he said that how did you not just like a wink they did just show nick and tom both like smiling like weirdly

smiling after it so it's like well something happened yeah i was pissed because it was i was tom and i were both flying like we were actually last to go they didn't air it that way and so we had the benefit if you go last because you, because you don't get any fucking training. They're literally like, go figure it out. Go do it. And on the way up, Tom bet me a hundred. He's like, do you want to bet a hundred bucks? They didn't show that.

He's like, I side bet a hundred bucks. I was like, sure. So we had a hundred bucks riding on it. Did you pay him? I paid him. Yep. As soon as I got off. Then I got my phone back.

You Venmo'd Tom Sandoval a hundred dollars? Yeah. I'm a man of my word. Did you go through his Venmo history? It's like the greatest way to stalk someone in this day and age, I think. Can you pull up Tom Sandoval's Venmo? I'm not going to go through his Venmo history on the show. It's like Raquel Levis.

We'll do it after. Raquel Levis. Ariana. Ariana. Half of rent. Half of mortgage. I'm assuming his would be on private. Anyways, we were flying down

the thing and other people you know there was when you got to the bottom of the wall there was a cliff you had to jump down and when jojo raised brian there was a a bit of a dispute between who won because brian made it to the edge of the wall first but jojo made it down to the the safety people first so then it was decided you had to make it not only at the edge of the wall, but you had to get down onto the steps. So I'm flying. Tom got a bit of a headstart. I really got momentum.

I'm flying. I'm a good 10 feet ahead of Tom. And that towards the end, I was like, you got to just keep fucking going. And I went to like jump off and in the air, I just felt a pull. And if you watch it back,

you see me get fucking yanked. And I was like, what the fuck? And Tom's just like, I was trying to pull. And if you watch it back, you see me get fucking yanked. And I was like, what the fuck? That seems dangerous, too. I was trying to win. And Tom was just kind of laughing. And I was just laughing back. And then, yeah, Billy said I chickened out.

And I got real pissed. And I just decided to take it and smirk and whatever. I really felt bad for Des, though. Because Des really, when he kept saying, I got to go, staff. I got to go. go like he had to go number two he really got screwed because when you were in that equipment when you were down facing the wall with it was just pulling on your guts it was just all that it was I don't know how much pounds of pressure was pulling when when Angela aka Black China was deciding whether she

wanted to go or not and in the middle of quitting that took several minutes so he's just literally hanging there ah for probably a good two or three minutes maybe even longer and he really like had to and then we were in a place where they were like well go use the bushes if you want but we don't give a shit you know that was literally the attitude you know and so he really got screwed pooping your pants was never a pleasant feeling did you get the uh obviously not i pooped my pants when i was wearing skinny jeans once figure that out how old were you 18 19 it's too old too old to be doing that too old to be wearing skinny jeans They were out of style at that point And I would agree

They're death out of style then Well University of Minnesota frat house I have definitely out of my skinny jean era Of which I was I really was a big part of for a long time Men really held on to that They still are

Oh my god I hate it The grip they have on skinny jeans It must be released. I mean, I have Natalie to thank for, for saving me from the skinny jeans era. That's like 90% of like a girl's job in a relationship,

you know, not to love and care to make the style better. And the house. Well, it's not only better, but just to keep it, keep it progressive, keep it changing.

Men will like to lock in to a certain era of fashion. Like we're currently trying to get Nick out of the cherry t-shirts. That was your fault. I thought you put them in him. Yes,

and now he only wears them. But when I, when I grab a hold of something, I really grab a hold of it. Yeah, you're a loyal man. Yeah. That's one thing.

I challenged him the other day to put together an outfit that did not involve a cherry t-shirt. How'd he do? I don't think it happened, I'll be honest.

No. Yeah. What do we have to get into before we get to Izzy? Why are people being mean to Kendall for her walk at the Shibriely show? I don't know.

Because she has a good walk. I think it's like, also with some of these things, isn't it more of a stylistic thing? I would assume they give you some sort of note. Yeah, some, like, creative directors want you to... They specifically said it's how a door would walk if it had legs. Oh. A door.

People are so fucking mean. I know. She's just walking slow. She's modeling. She's a little stiff I'll say it yeah but it looks like a very stylized

she has her hands on her hips she has this huge hair I don't know I think it was a style stylistic choice listen people are always

gonna hate on them no matter what they do Travis Kelsey's ex-girlfriend Kayla Nicole unfollowed former close friend Brittany Mahomes how close were they

and we're basing this off of what did they follow each other on Instagram yeah I don't know I only just learned about this man

I mean I certainly just heard about Kayla Nicole so true and the fact that every article she pops up on starts with

Travis Kelsey's ex she's really milking this yep so apparently Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas were planning their forever home in England. So apparently Joe penned the heartfelt note on June 16th, which was just three months before he filed for divorce, in an effort to persuade a homeowner to sell their property in Wallingford, Oxford.

When my wife and I decided we were going to spend more time in the UK and search for a permanent home, our daughter expressed three unwavering requirements. And obsessed with these. Having chickens, a pony, and a Wendy horse. House. House. Doesn't that kind of just prove how quickly he either changed his mind, and also she was trying to take her kids back to England and he's holding their passports,

but three months before he's trying to buy a house in England. That's us. And he's penning a letter himself trying to convince these people to sell them their home. Yeah, which is pretty typical in the buying a home process, you know, especially if it's competitive. You're like, hey, this is why I want this home. And I, you know, these are the memories I have because people sometimes who sell their home are attached to it and they want to they want to know that they're selling their home to someone who's truly going to love it as much as they do.

So that's pretty common. But the fact that he did that, yeah, you know, shows that he must have truly wanted to move there. It was very serious about it. While many of the houses we viewed met this criteria, the moment we turned the corner and caught sight of the charming blue shutters, we experienced a sense of magic unlike anything we had felt before. This is Joe's words. The requirements of their daughter. Yes.

How old is she? Sounds like Sophie has a case. So it is a 7.5 million pound estate with a beautiful walled garden. I think it's about nine mil and a dollars ish. My father-in-law is an incredibly keen gardener, and he was suitably impressed by your vegetable garden to a very important sign off. He's really including a lot of detail in this letter. Wait, so wait, our friend of show, Cammie Crawford, she thinks the Taylor and Travis are is all for PR, huh? Yes.

Again, I just don't like we stopped talking about Matt Healy as soon as Taylor stopped hanging out with him. I don't think Taylor needs to do any type of rebrand or PR saving. Yeah, like, this would be pretty

a delayed response if this was, like, in response to that. And I don't think she'd be so delayed. I think it's more likely that that one theory we talked about was true of taylor using this as a distraction from the sophie and joe divorce because that's at least more

current if this is being used for pr as she's doing things at least a bit more publicly to create headlines i could see it but then she obviously released like someone from her camp released the fact that sophie's staying in her new york place yeah you know and then she was at the game yeah but that's not that hard i mean they all have friends people talk and like all it was confirmed is that she let her stay there i mean i mean literally that's what's happening with you and your friend exactly you know and it's just like i literally call her up i caught up with her i asked her some basic questions it was very vague you know what i'm saying and it was just like you know again when i was like hey is it real the response was that's from the pov it's such a silly question i get like we all think

everything with taylor has got to be like all produced and yada yada or at least some people we don't think that but she's a real human being who has a genuine interest in meeting people and making connections just like anyone else would and i I don't think Taylor Swift's at the point of her life, to your point, is that she needs to... She's so successful right now. They are literally moving movies. The new Exorcist movie literally moved. They were like, we bow to Taylor. He didn't need to date Travis Kelsey for Taylor Swift's movie about her tour, like he didn't need to date Travis Kelsey for Taylor Swift's movie about her tour like making the whole movie industry re like do their schedule what's more believable that or that Taylor Swift actually like has a genuine interest in a successful good-looking charming guy who's

got a good family close with his brother there's a lot to like about Travis Kelsey so no did y'all um hear about the Lady Gaga? What's going on with Lady Gaga right now? Remember when her dogs got kidnapped? Mm-hmm. So she basically was like,

there's a reward for $500,000. No questions asked if like my dogs get returned. Then the woman who returned them was the kidnapper herself.

And Lady Gaga was like, I'm literally not paying you. Like, go fuck yourself. And a judge just ruled that she does not have to pay good nor any money for alleged damages and emotional distress so the dog napper is saying

she has emotional distress i mean the sad reality is anyone can sue anyone for anything that is a flaw in our court system and uh you can claim anything if you want to and so yeah this lady could easily claim i got emotional distress after i came forward and her fans harassed me i don't know people can make whatever shit up crazy unfortunately but could you imagine if lady gaga had to pay the kidnapper you know how many kidnappers would then be like, okay, I'll go kidnap and then return it. Thank you to this judge who had the wisdom

to do the right thing. Well, maybe before we get to Izzy, the Love is Blind creator commented on what the reveal that they knew each other prior to going in the pods. What has he said? Uche and Lydia.

We had absolutely no idea. The intention is that we have a pool of people that don't know each other. We have had a few instances in the past with people on the same side, like two women who know each other a little bit, but we haven't had people, to my knowledge, on the other side of the pod that knew each other.

And we've never had, to my knowledge, people who have had a relationship in the past. It's just mind-blowing that that was the case and truly shocking on day one that that information was delivered to me. It's time to get to Izzy. Also, don't forget to send those questions at AskNick at TheVileFiles.com. For all things AskNick, texting office hours, we have an amazing episode of Better Date to Never live tonight at 9 p.m. Eastern, so be sure to check that out as well.

Can we talk BDSM? Sure. That's Genevieve on my IT. Amazing. Next week we have the one and only Gabby Wendy on Reality Recap to break down The Golden Bachelor, Love is Blind,

and Bachelor in Paradise. And then we have Heather Dubrow from Real Housewives to talk all about Housewives of Orange County, the reunion that we'll just have wrapped. So lots to get into with Heather. Excited to have her. Also, don't forget, we had an update

classic drop last Friday that is available to all. We have our Ask Nick episodes every Monday. And if you love those updates, don't forget we have a new update dropping behind Vile Files Plus this week, Friday. That's tomorrow. So if you're dying for more updates from some of your favorite stories from Ask Nick texting office hours and sweating the wedding,

be sure to check them out behind Vile Files Plus. Let's go to VileFiles.com. It's free to sign up. Do not miss out. It's a stacked month. It's a stacked month. Yeah, we have a lot for you. Excited to share with you.

All right. It's time stacked month. It's a stacked month. Yeah, we have a lot for you. Excited to share with you. All right. It's time for Izzy. I struggle sleeping. It is the type of thing where I want to make sure I have the best bedding, sheets, pillows, all that good stuff. And I've always struggled with pillows for some reason. I don't know if I just have a very heavy head, but I usually end up using two pillows. I need support.

And half the time, I feel like my pillows just go flat within days or weeks of me buying them until I discovered Hello Pillows because they're made out of buckwheat. So unlike a traditional pillow that's really squishy and might go flat, it is filled with support and it's going to last in the exact same condition that you get it. And honestly, I've never slept better. It stays cool and dry. I tend to be a night sweater and I have not sweat since starting my Hello Pillow. Hello is made in the US with quality

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1% of all profits are donated to the Nature Conservancy. Give the gift of better sleep. Hello is a unique gift your family and friends will appreciate every night. Peloton! All you workout whores out there, if you are looking for a fast and convenient way to meet your wellness goals, you got to check out the Peloton app today. I know you've heard of Peloton probably because they're amazing bikes and treadmills and things like that,

but they have an array of different cool workouts that require no equipment, no weights. You can do it from the comfort of your home, your hotel. If you are constantly on the go, imagine how much time you can save by just getting your workout done from the comfort of your living room. And what's great about Peloton is they have such, again, a variety of classes from yoga to meditation to bar to boxing. You can do classes with your friends virtually, right? So you can compete with people that you know. You don't have to live in the same neighborhood. They can live across the country. It's a great way to stay in touch. They also have great playlists, great trainers, such a variety of

ways to stay in shape. And so much about like, you know, working out can be mundane and boring and, you know, such a grind. Mix it up with Peloton with all different types of amazing classes they have available to you. Try the Peloton app today for free for 30 days. Just try it for free. You have nothing to lose. New paid memberships only start starting at $12.99 a month after trial. Unless canceled, terms apply. Again, try the Peloton app today for free for 30 days. You won't regret it. Izzy, welcome. Thanks for having me. I need you to get close up in there.

We want to hear that beautiful voice of yours. Sit back, relax, get up there. There we go. There we go. Now, how are you doing, Izzy? I'm great. You're doing great. Great.

We're excited to have you. We really are. We are enjoying this season so far. It's been a juicy one. It's been wonderfully messy how do i want to do this because we have to make sure we go in sequential order with you so i want to ask him how his heart is but then i don't want to give too much away you know because we don't know how your heart is are you married are you in love that's true we don't know honestly

right now i'm like i'm very locked in with Stacey. You know, like my fiance, obviously madly in love. It's growing more every day. But, you know, kind of hitting the hiccups, like noticing, I guess my efforts sometimes aren't satisfying. Let's actually go back to the beginning. How did you end up on the show? I didn't even apply. Like, I don't know how i ended up i just

well i mean you ended up somehow and do people apply i'm not really sure i don't even really know how the the casting process i was uh working out one day on my lunch break and i just got this phone call from like an la number i thought it was a telemarketer okay so i ignored it twice and then i got like a long text saying hey this is this is so-and-so. I'm casting for Love is Blind. You've never seen it. We'd love to talk to you. And I was like, there's no way this is real. And so I called her and she was like,

add me on IG right now so you know I'm real. And so I added her and I was like, holy shit, yeah, you are real. So she's like, I love your profile. I would love to get like a Zoom interview with you. How does kind of Instagram stalk you? How did they find your number? I'm thinking, I think what I saw,

I don't really know, but I think, because I like YouTube and like was researching, someone said from like a previous show that sometimes they'll make fake like bumbles or hinges or something and go and kind of like scout you out that way, which is actually pretty smart. Interesting.

Yeah. I'm not sure if that's how they did it with me. You heard a rumor. I heard a rumor. It was like someone I saw from something online. Okay we have we've we've received confirmation in the room that that might be true all right yeah it seems to be a tactic smart it is smart because we're all single looking for love right and so and you live in houston houston yeah and that's where this season takes place because it doesn't really seem like previous, they don't seem to make a big deal about that as much as other seasons.

Like other seasons, I really knew it was Chicago. Oh, yeah. I keep asking myself while I'm watching, I'm like, where the fuck are these people? Yeah, yeah. So are you from Houston? I've been there about six years now. I'm from Corpus Christi, so it's like four hours south of Houston.

Okay. But I've been in Houston about six years now, so I feel like I'm a Houstonian. Okay, so Bumble profile. Which app do you... Hinge has better quality, in my opinion. What are your prompt answers? Which ones did you pick?

What were your prompt answers? Before you went on the show. So I think it was like, this year I really want to. I love country music. So I did Skydiving, Rocky Mountain Cl. And it was a Tim McGraw lyrics. And if you actually caught on, if you knew the lyrics and then it's like a green flag, a lot of people actually took it literally serious and were like, I want to go skydiving or why would you want to ride a bull?

I mean, I would do all of them. But yeah, that green flags that you're looking for, that one I tried to be like sincere about. So like, you know, good communicator, emotional communicator emotional you know intelligence kind of like all those things and then I think it was like what I'm weirdly attracted to like goofy laughs and like pretty smiles like I love a dorky girl sometimes it's cute alright and I guess why did you go on the show I mean obviously you got asked but what was Izzy's love life prior to going on Love is Blind? Honestly, man,

I was dating a lot. Like in Houston, I was having a good time. You saw the drawer, yeah. Yeah, you saw the drawer. I was enjoying myself, but I was engaged once. You were?

Before then, yeah. How long ago was that? Oh man, I think that ended in like 2019. So hopeless, romantic, looking for love, like I want to get married, it's a dream of mine.

How long were you engaged for? What happened there? About six months. Six months? Yeah. How long were you engaged for? What happened there? About six months. Six months? Yeah. How long were you dating prior to that? About like two, a little over two years. Okay.

Yeah. And what happened? I caught her doing some sketchy stuff. And so. Like what? You know, just. You were cheated on? Pretty much.

Yeah. Okay. So. Did you catch her like mid-act or? No. One of those iPhone situations. Just on her phone. I'm super respectful.

I never go through any of my girlfriend's phones and it was just a gut feeling. I noticed things like passcode was changing. I looked over to the side, but I was just like, huh? And I just had this gut feeling. She became cold, distant, you know, all the signs. It's obvious. And one day we're on a cruise and she was passed out drunk on tequila. And I opened it up and there it was.

On the cruise. It was a seven day cruise. We're on day five. Oh, two more days. Yeah. I mean, what? So, I mean, on the cruise, you're in the middle of the ocean. You find out your fiance is partaking in extracurricular activities.

What was that like i mean devastating obviously yeah i ended up getting like we i got another room it's on my own and we got home moved stuff out called it a day and see you later damn yeah it must have been hard oh dude that messed me up for about a year for sure i can imagine i felt like i was never going to be able to fall in love again i was just like super jaded dating around trying to like fill a void and i just hit a point where i just like stopped and yeah because it wouldn't be fair to you know somebody else did you feel like you developed some unhealthy habits in your in your healing process actually i felt like i i did a lot of self-work like i put myself I still tried to save that even after.

I put us in premarital counseling. She didn't want to do it. And so I just kind of stuck with it myself. So after you found out separate rooms, you get back, you were willing to explore. Try to fix it. See if you guys could heal. Yeah. And so I put us in premarital counseling.

I didn't have the best example growing up as far as like, you know, my father with my mom. So I was like, you know what? I'm breaking the chain. I want to learn like what it is to be in a healthy relationship. So I did that while doing like therapy on myself as well. So I would say to that time, it was like a lot of self-love and like self-development. Good for you. And so even though after she opted out, you stuck with that.

Wow. Good for you. So now I make a great husband what did you learn about yourself in that in that period um establish boundaries and stick to them i think that's something that i'm working on being more present sticking to my boundaries i'm a very big giver um i forgive a lot and i'm learning to just like put my foot down keep my foot down and have someone respect me. Okay. That makes sense. And I'm assuming that was something that you were mindful of going into this process. Oh yeah. I felt like I was perfect to go into this process. I knew what I wanted. I'm well seasoned for it. I knew, you know, the qualities to be a good

fiance and husband. So, so when you went on the show, I'm curious, I've never really had a chance to interview, I mean, someone from Love is Blind at this juncture. And so I never really asked in terms of like, it's a crazy show. Dude, it's insane. I was on The Bachelor. They're like, hey, you know, if we make it to the end, like, you know, which is almost unlikely, like you might get engaged, but like, whatever, you know, you can get out of that.

That's kind of like a conversation that's happening on the show. You know, they downplay it. But love is blind. It's like, hey, if you do this. We're doing it. Two weeks in, we're going to ask you if you want to get engaged to someone. And then four weeks later, we're going to ask if you want to get fucking married. So what was your mindset like going into this?

So realistically going in, I was like, there's no fucking way this is going to work. Okay. Like, there's no way. I'm glad to hear that. There's some. Yeah. Cause it's a TV show, you know, it's like, you don't know that mindset, but then I got there and then Chris, um, talked to us every morning and kind of gives us like a pep talk

as we go through the day. And I was like, you know what? I'm here. Um, no distractions. I just fully submitted myself to the experiment. And I was like, you know what? If I'm here, I'm going to do it. let's just give it a shot and i did dude and it was honestly the best way to date in my opinion and chris chris being the developer of the show yeah yeah yeah wow so

he's hands-on oh yeah dude he interacts with us like he gives his guidance through the way which i've appreciated because i followed his advice the whole way. And I felt like I did the experiment perfectly. What was the best advice he gave you? The minute you feel an instant connection with somebody, don't just latch on, like explore everyone till the end. Because a lot of people on that show did do that. Like I would go into some dates and some girls would just be like, well, I already found my person. It's like day two or three. They're like, you can either stay in here if you want or like leave but i'm pretty much set on this guy i was like if you're thinking of marriage you should explore every option every person all the way you know through that was kind of lydia with you she was like you're my like very very soon and you're my person yeah

and it was the very beginning she's kind of a like put your claws in she loves hard yeah she's very passionate what was it like for you when she was kind of a like put your claws and she loves hard yeah she's very passionate what was it like for you when she was kind of expressing that you were her number one and it was clear she kind of wanted to escalate things and then you were in a position where you weren't there and you were made to kind of explain why like how did you approach that situation going into the show you're just excited to find love right and so it's super exciting to have people want you, you know what I mean? And they're interested, but you never go in thinking that you're going to hurt somebody. And that was the hardest part, honestly. I kept my options open. Like, she's a great girl. I love

that she loves hard because that's the way I am. But I still kept exploring my, you know, my options and I had stronger connections, you know, connections were developing later on down the road that I didn't expect. And yeah, I felt horrible to have to, you know, let her go. Um, but I didn't want to lead her on, you know what I mean? Um, so in that situation, yeah, it's very uncomfortable. I think anyone would be in a weird spot. Uh, I want to rewind a little bit to the beginning of the pause, but before I, were you well fed and hydrated? Absolutely. Okay. Oh dude, I ate so much in there. It was great.

And they have food all the time. Like there's food all the time. So it was good. Yeah, it was, yeah. Actually felt like I gained some weight when I was there actually. Right, yeah. There we go.

What was it like going into the pods? You know, that just going in there, who was the first person you spoke with? Um, man, I can who was the first person you spoke with? Man, I can't remember the first person. I remember Johnny was my third person. Johnny was your third. Okay.

I remember that. She was like the first standout. How long are like the sessions? So first day, it's 15 minutes. You'd see all 15 girls. Oh, okay. So it's quick. It's speed dating.

Okay, interesting. You got 15 minutes to like really make an impression so you have to like be very strategic how are you gonna go into this you know so you're gonna go shoot the shit and just be like eh or did you have like a talk track like uh hi i'm izzy oh dude i just went in like obviously you know what's your name where are you from you kind of get the vibe off the voice and like how their personality is i wasn't fucking around i went in deep i'm like all right why are you here what are you looking for like let's get to it i got 15 minutes with you like i'm not gonna go in there and like shoot the shit and you know just act so so you were pretty earnest about the process i'm assuming oh yeah you didn't get the same vibe from everyone you met

oh yeah i uh there's one uh scene in there that it's actually not shown but it was my very last date of the day of the first day that was the first day and i uh walked in the girl's like you're asking too many deep questions right now and i'm like well what the fuck that's what we're here for so i was like see you later i ended up getting out and just walking out mid-date you should have been like well let's just stare each other in whole oh wait we can't even see each other it's like sit here in silence like what do you want to do were there uh any out there questions that you were asked earlier on whether it was day one or day two i don't even think there would be an out there question because i'm just like an open book i don't care but they're like after a couple of days like we do get um i would say the fun the fun day was like the sex day so we you know sex day

well like you just like uh like how do you yeah what do you, like dancing with the stars has like Disney day, you know, like through the process, like they kind of give us guidance on what to talk about. Like one day will be finances. One day it would be like values and family. One day there's sex. And so there's little holes in the wall.

Glory holes. But yeah, they have like a day like that. so we get to explore and get to know each other as far as kinks and lights on, lights off and kind of stuff. So that's where those questions come from. They don't just come out of nowhere of someone just being freaky. Well, they do. Some of the girls are curious. We'll say.

But yeah, so we do have a little bit of help along the way. That's cool. What was the most curious question you got? What was my kink? What was the kink of mine? Did you answer? Absolutely. What'd you say?

I see a spit in my mouth. Oh, okay. The first time I ever heard of the spitting in the mouth was from a friend on paradise and it was from someone I did not expect it from. It's honestly kind of hot. I was like, whoa whoa there's a time and a place and a way to do it a lot of people think it's like hockey and a loogie it's like you've got to be in the moment nice and slow yeah you're uh yeah you have you have some friends

i'm gonna introduce you to some people. There's a community. There's a community. A spit community. Izzy, did you have any conversations with Miriam? Because we are so goddamn curious what her job is. Did you get to the bottom of that? Yeah. Does she live in Saudi Arabia? I honestly don't know. Wow.

I know she taught some of the other cast. I think she's like a chemist. We all think she's a chemist. She does skincare on the side. She was so confusing about it. Skincare on the side. Yeah. Interesting. But she's an amazing girl.

Awesome. Awesome girl. Okay. Johnny was the first lady you met that you connected with. You had basically three connections. Lydia, Johnny, and Stacey. And the timeline of when you connected with them, was it all kind of sequential on the same day?

Like, timeline-wise, like, how did it all start? Day one, Johnny was, it was like, oh, you're my number one. Like, it was an instant, you know, connection with her. What was it about Johnny? We bonded over the fact, like, she was married, I was engaged. So we had, like, understandings as far as, like, that. And it was just more of, like, an emotional trauma bond is what it was like. So, I was like, yeah, definitely for this girl.

And then Lydia down the way, like, I would say even with Stacey. Stacey was, like, number eight on the list day one. I was like, cool girl. She seems fun. But, like, I'd be all right if I didn't talk to her, you know? Really? Okay. Then Lydia was up

there what was it about lydia very passionate very like loving and she was direct i like when someone's like direct and straight to the point on what they're looking for um so yeah that's what i loved about her as well that makes sense from you know from someone who's been through it oh yeah yeah it's like i need someone who knows what they want even if it stings a little bit you know they're being honest you know yeah you know that that kind of feeling of not knowing if you're being told the truth. Yeah. It's crappy. Yeah.

Yeah. All right. So Lydia's honesty. And then when, when did Stacy really shine for you? So Stacy's usually the girl that I go for, like in the real world, as far as like the personality,

she's out there. Cause I'm very like out there and fun, but her vulnerable side wasn't coming out yet. pod dates were fucking awesome with her we were always having a blast but it's like all right i need more of you like it can't just always be fun like shit's about to get real so let's see that vulnerable side now and you know she's tough to be vulnerable but i finally like got those walls down and once once that vulnerable side came out, it was just like, fuck yeah, this is like, it's a well-rounded thing. Like this is it.

Okay. And how, how many days did you kind of build your connection with Stacy before you realized I got to let Johnny and Lydia. So Lydia, that was, I want to say, cause it gets exhausting having to like juggle multiple people and memorize

a lot about them. Cause you have your, you know, your pod book where you write your notes, but it's just like, okay, I really want to just like focus on the two that I, you know, one, it makes no sense to lead somebody on that long. Two, I always want to really narrow it down to the two girls and like weigh it out. Um, so Lydia was pretty, that was pretty, I want to say it was like after day four, um, that was gone and then johnny and stacy i stayed with them too till the very end like last day is when i um really yeah the day before a proposal is when i cut it off with johnny wow yeah it doesn't it seems like

there's more time in between but you really took it to the end yeah what you have to man it's marriage what was your no i hear you what was your deciding factor johnny kept telling me she was in love with me um but couldn't tell me why and honestly i was just terrified at the fact that and a lot of people were saying like you ran away when she dumped her trauma about her you know her ex being an addict when you say a lot of people you're talking about the internet or your peers uh the internet okay yeah and it's like, man, I've gone through some shit in my life. Like if someone comes to me with a sensitive subject like that, like I'm not the type to run away. It was more so she basically told me that she's never been in love with anyone since that ex who passed. And she married somebody as a rebound, ended up finding out she wasn't in

love with them. So she divorced them. So I asked her, I was like, is anybody ever going to be able to fill that role? She's like, I've always dated guys. I've always been with the nice guys. And she's like, I just can't fall in love. And so I'm like, well, that's a huge red flag for me. I'm not going to risk my heart and marry you just for you to divorce me a couple of years down the road because you're not in love with me. So just to rewind, so she had a relationship, that person passed away. Yeah, years ago. Very traumatic for her.

That affected her. She admitted to you in the pods that as a response to that trauma that she experienced, she rushed into a marriage, realized that she wasn't in love with that person, got a divorce, and then told you,

I don't know if I'll ever be able to love again. Also, by the way, I love you. Yeah like what yeah okay i'm curious for you because you know and granted i had so much more of a limited like window into what went on um but in terms of after you broke up with johnny watching her kind of go from what she said to you when she was really kind of shooting her shot in a more final way and saying like, take this leap with me versus what she said to Chris. Like I saw that as, oh, like sometimes in therapy, I'll have a really strong framing of a story this way. And then I'll talk it through the therapist and I'll be like, oh no, I was actually repeating a pattern. But granted that was like with the limited insight. I'm curious when you saw kind of both what she said to you

and then what she said to Chris back to back, like what did you make of it? Did you still feel like it was pretty contradictory? Yeah. I mean, I feel like she proved her point. She's like doing the same thing, just going to somebody else as a rebound. You know what I mean? Like, and that's why I told Chris, like, the truth. I didn't.

He didn't ask. Well, he did ask. And but I gave him the option. I was like, hey. And I got to know Chris, like, in the we developed a friendship that guy's amazing so genuine and sweet and he reminded me of myself a lot so after like seeing that i'm like we go back into the pods i had just cut her you know cut that off and out of nowhere productions like chris she wants to see you now so i'm like this happened almost simultaneously immediately like when I got back into the lounge after that date, she called him in.

Well, I guess I want to rewind a little bit. So Johnny told you she loved you multiple times. At what point did you address that with Johnny? Did you, I mean, I'm curious, what did you say to her when she is saying, I love you? I didn't tell her I loved her yet. But she told you, right? And what you're saying makes perfect sense you know what i'm saying i would be concerned that would be a red flag to me it's

like wait like thanks for being honest with me about your past and your fear of opening up and hey i'm glad you love me and that's great to hear but you know i've been doing some work on myself i don't want to rush into things like i love that you asked the question why do you love me i mean we give that advice to people all the time because I just do is not an acceptable answer You need to be able to articulate that feeling. I'm assuming you asked her that. Mm-hmm. What did she say in response? She just said I don't know why but I just know I love you. She know and then I like Stacy I Can ask her and it's like a list like she can give me a list She knew me like everything about like she can give me a list she knew me

like everything about me so she made you feel more seen yeah like it was more like at that point it was more logical for me

I was like this girl actually knows what she wants she knows why she loved me versus like a girl that just loved bombing me but can't really tell me why so you tell Johnny

she's upset you go out and then you are back in like the common room eating all the food and and all of a sudden you hear someone call for chris and we knew he was going back in there with her so he was

like he's already devastated because she had cut him off and i never she took the initiative to do that on her own like i went into the date not knowing well i knew because i saw chris come back like devastated and he was like my date just cut me off and then Johnny we went into a date and she was just like I just cut him off and I was like oh well I didn't I'm not cutting off my you know other match yet and so it was a sweet gesture but like I never asked her to do it and so yeah I never asked who to do what Johnny to cut off her other person and was that the same day or day before that she told you she cut things off with chris it was the day before i want to say yeah so she cut things off with chris you didn't know that or have anything to do i didn't know until i went into there you were

still talking to stacy then you broke up with johnny she goes back and tries to mend things with chris now when i was watching it back and natalie let me know if you agree we watched it together i get your point like i understand because you're it's all it's a weird thing because you're not only making connections with multiple people you're also making friends with some of these guys and then you're all kind of sometimes dating the same person very messy stuff yeah so i can understand the complications but i'm watching it back and i'm thinking like i i get it like there's a part of me as a viewer that watches it and goes, Oh,

like he was clearly, he or she was clear. Your first choice. Now this is like a second option. It feels kind of yucky on the flip side. I'm thinking what a crazy fucking experience. These people are encouraged to make multiple connections. Yeah.

They're told to basically rank these connections in their head, but how do they even know that they're right? So when someone gets broken up with, is it that big of a deal? Is it so wrong for any of those people to sit down and go, I don't know, maybe this is an answer that I didn't think about or even want, but for all the people who like things happen for a reason, or I'm just going to follow the signs. Was it that much of a crime for Johnny to explore the possibility of something with Chris? No, absolutely not. Like I highly encourage it. But what, so what rubbed you the wrong way? Because at this point, Chris is my friend. Johnny just told me she can't like fall in love with anybody. And she told me in the pods that you know I can see a future with Chris he's a nice perfect picture she's like but I'm not falling in love with him so it's like how are you gonna call my boy back when you're not and you're gonna ask like try to get him to propose to you when you clearly just told me you're not even falling

in love with him like you just went into like protective friend I was protecting Chris I was not salty I obviously cut her off unless a lot of people were like saying i was like oh you're salty you're trying to you were jealous and i'm like i'm not jealous like the whole point is to date everybody i just don't want to see my friend get screwed over did they i don't feel like they aired johnny telling you that she isn't in love with she did it's on it's on air they aired that yeah she's like she's like she tells me that you know

he's the safe route he's the guy that I would go with I remember that but I'm not falling in love with him I feel like she said something about a friend

like she can see like her and Chris could be like best friends it's like a friend relationship or something yeah I mean yeah

I don't remember like I it's a lot but i can vividly remember her saying all the good things about him but i'm not falling in love with him hmm okay all right it's like more of a friendship yeah i think she said yeah i remember that yeah nevertheless i am curious if you still i guess watching it back stand by how you approached confronting johnny at the barbecue i honestly that was so out of character me how drunk were you you know i don't want it it's not an excuse but i am curious as to... I was pretty intoxicated, but yeah, my delivery was poor. Looking back at that, it's so cringe. That's not how I am.

And I apologize to her for that. You did? Yeah. After the show, I saw her in person. So yeah, I definitely apologize to her. But yeah, I regret my delivery, but I don't regret the message. So how would you have handled it differently? I think one of the meanest things someone can say to someone,

and it's a bit, I guess, in the category of bullying, is when someone says some sort of accusation. You're shady. And then they follow it up with, everyone else thinks that about you. That everyone else thinks that about you, I think is one of the meanest things someone can say to someone because like everyone you know like i'm sure you've had someone say that to you about something it's just such a panic attack it's a panic attack it's

just like oh my god i'm trying to deal with the fact that you fucking hate me and now i have to like get this knowledge that everyone feels about me and And it's just, it's such a vicious manipulative thing that someone does. Yeah. Would you agree in hindsight? Oh yeah. I mean, I definitely take, you know,

responsibility for that. That was harsh to her. And yeah, like watching back, I felt, you know, I felt disgusted with myself, but where that came from with the everyone is that,

so obviously like we're engaged we go to mexico um so me and stacy are just like gone and so the cast comes back home and they're all like hanging out so when we get back i hear the stuff that like she was saying about me after like you know i was breaking up how she was like who did you hear it from multiple of the girls from the cast okay yeah not just Stacey. Because it comes across that Stacey fucking hates Johnny. Yeah. And I'm curious as to why that might be.

I mean, but like true. I mean, I get, you know, they don't get along. There's not getting along and there's what, it seems like how Stacey feels about Johnny, which is like, she just can't let it go. And then it comes across watching it back that Stacy is planning all this information in your head and then like kind of taking advantage of your interactions with Johnny and your feelings towards Johnny. And like,

it's, it comes across that Stacy is multiplying your hatred and anger towards Johnny. And she almost like unleashed you on. No. Yeah. So, so what happened there was when we get back home from mexico like they

all hang out so there's multiple cast mates that we had that are like telling stacy and i like all this info like stuff that she was saying about us um that we didn't know and it was crazy because it was like a couple of days before that barbecue so it's just like i was upset one you know how you were talking about me and the things you were saying about me. And then, you know, that Chris scenario, like you basically kind of like lied or tried to play us. I wouldn't say play us, but like you tell him one thing and tell me another.

And then you're talking bad about my fiance when Stacey did nothing to her. Like Stacey played it so well in the pods. And that's one thing I appreciated with the guys. We never, we made it a thing to like never talk about who we the pods and that's one thing i appreciated with the guys we never we made it a thing to like never talk about who we're dating because that's where it gets sticky or your friendships get in the way and it's like no we all need to play it fair keep that to yourself and that's what stacy did and johnny was getting upset at her because she didn't tell her who who she was with and so yeah like so that's why johnny felt like stacy was sketchy too because

stacy didn't want to reveal who her matches were and there's nothing wrong with that but johnny almost took that as her being sneaky or something yeah that's exactly how she took it and she's like you knew everyone knew that izzy was like my number one and i felt like you were sketchy because you didn't tell me that you were also like into him too which i didn't agree with like i think it's very wise to keep keep it to yourself yeah i guess it's just a creative it seems like yeah like johnny like thought because she was talking about you so much the fact that stacy at no point like interjected like she kind of took that as like the shady side do you think because naturally i think when you're forming with multiple connections with multiple people even though you were very clear of like kind of johnny saying i love you and you not saying it back and then cutting things off with her

to what extent do you think with stacy like there was a level of needing to repair the fact that your relationship started when you were seeing multiple different people or kind of needing to reassure her that johnny was not you, on your mind or a relevant factor? I was honestly so honest with Stacey the entire way. So she knew my connection with Johnny. Every pod date I would go in with her, like she knew everything. And I did the same with Johnny. Like I was honest to the both of them.

I'm like, hey, these are both of you guys. And I'm just exploring it. You know, I'm very transparent with them. So they weren't like, well,'t like well how do you how do you how did the guys at least because the guys agreed that you guys wouldn't talk but if the daters are being transparent about it then it's like you guys aren't sharing but your data the daters are am i making sense because you're telling johnny and stacy that you're dating them both stacy and johnny aren't communicating, in theory, each other about the fact

about who they're dating, but because you're feeding them information, it's like this unspoken truth, and that can create drama. It's not like it's your fault, but you know what I'm saying? Yeah, were you using names kind of like when you were, say, for example,

updating Johnny, just being like, hey, I want to be fully transparent. I have another connection. Were you saying it's with Stacey? No, for a while I was just like, I'm having other connections. It wasn't until I want to say day seven or eight. That's what I'm like. All right, this is it. And I said, and I tell that to Johnny, I'm like, look, this is the other person. This is how it's happened. She came out of nowhere. And this is where it stands between, you know, with me and you and vice versa. So, but yes, I did keep it like quiet for a while. Obviously,

don't want to tell them. But then the girls, like the girls would share everything. Like the girls would talk about who they were dating. So, there would be like instances like, oh yeah, like, you know, my friend likes you. So, don't want to pursue you kind of thing. I feel bad. At the end of the day, yes, do you want to have your friendship? We're not there to make friends. We're there to find love. I feel bad. At the end of the day, yes, you want to have your friendship. We're not there to make friends. We're there to find love. It's about yourself at the end of the day. Going back, would you still, obviously you've expressed your regrets, but specifically, if I, just as a friend, I would be like, hey, is he like, oh, Johnny's situation got messy.

But next time that happens, as much as you want to protect your friend, why don't you just have a conversation with your friend a la Chris and just say, hey, man, like friend to friend, here are my concerns. Take it or leave it. Decide for yourself. You're an adult. But I just want to be transparent with you. Why not just do that rather than. So because I in that scenario, I happened to just like talk to Johnny first like I had to have that conversation first on how it went I don't know how you can't say that but I feel like that

was just like a tv moment maybe so I wanted to talk to Chris and I did have that conversation with him I mean it was just unfortunate I had to talk to Johnny first well we I feel like maybe in talking about Mexico and like what it was like arriving there and kind of like yeah like tell me about what it was like to see Stacy to like grow a physical connection to just get to know each other more from spending time in the same room. Honestly, it was amazing. Reveal day. I was definitely very awkward. I was in shock. Like I was shaking.

What did you think she would look like? Man, I don't know. I mean, that's got to be hard not to like imagine or their voice you know you didn't like hair color and also that's another thing i'm curious about in the pods are there rules with certain questions you could tell a story that you know you're able to articulate that maybe you're of a certain height or weight or your hair is a certain color it's just like this one time i was reaching for a bookshelf and thank god i was able to reach it because i'm you know i don't know do people try to kind of like you know

drip that information i mean i would say some other people i can't speak for others i don't know what they asked i mean i'm sure maybe people did as far as for me. I did my best to avoid all that. Like I wanted to do this right. I didn't care about any of that stuff. So I purposely avoided those questions. I wanted to do it like right. But like seeing her, obviously gorgeous girl, I was blown away. I'm very happy with the outcome. And so like I saw her and like, I was just nervous. You know what I mean? Like, it's a big deal. This is my fiance, gorgeous girl. It's like seeing the hot girl in school. I'm like, you know. And so when we got to Mexico, actually, we had a couple of days before we flew out. And so to reassure her, I journaled her every single day until we got there of like how it was feeling. So when we got to Mexico, I read her, we got like sat in a jacuzzi and I read her everything that I wrote her to

give her reassurance because she was like, man, I don't know if this guy's like into me. He was like super awkward. So I wrote her every day just to give her that reassurance. And I read it to her when I get there. And then once we got to Mexico, it was just amazing, man. Like the chemistry was great. It was such a blast. So you were on that kind of reassurance game from the get.

Oh, yeah, dude. Always. That's just the type of guy I am. Like, I'll reassure my girlfriends without even having to ask. Was it frustrating to you? Because it seemed pretty early on that Stacey couldn't get enough of that reassurance, almost. Because it's almost surprising to hear you say that you you know did this whole journaling thing and i can understand from her point of view the awkwardness

could give her doubt but it almost comes across of her saying hey you know you need to do a little bit more here a little bit more there yeah yeah it is frustrating because um did you get an inkling of that in mexico no it didn't happen like till we actually got home until she saw the paper plates and cups yeah and all that stuff i was like she yeah just like the outside stuff and that's the hardest part of the experiment when like real life comes now we're back at work and you know stuff like that like I felt like I did so much to be that emotional rock for her. It is a very intense, in such a short amount of time, planning a wedding, she would have breakdowns and meltdowns

and so I was always there for her. I would always pick her back up. She's like, how are you always so calm through this? And I'm just like, I mean, someone's gotta be. And I'm gonna take care of you and that's what I did, but I still have my own feelings and I'm still like stressed and everything. So yeah, there hits it. There's a point where I do hit, like, I just have a breakdown trying to like take care of her and her feelings. And then my feelings as well. It does get frustrating.

Yeah. What was your favorite part of Mexico? Every night we would, after like filming, we would end the night. Um, we would after like filming we would end the night um we would just get like a bottle of wine and lay out on the patio and just like reflect on the day and just like talk it was just a lot more like vulnerable and intimate and so that's and that's like the stuff that you don't see on camera um and that's what would make us stronger um and closer and that was my favorite part it was just like the calm and the storm we block everything out and just like relax how did stacy reveal that she clogged the toilet oh god uh i remember she walked out she was like um so i think we have a problem and she told me she wasn't very shy about it like she was pretty open so i'm like that's

pretty cool i don't mind a girl that can rip the mask slap on the butt good job so you were a supportive king this is always supportive okay well not every guy would do that yeah yeah yeah do you feel like that was reciprocated like did you just start farting around her right away was that like a green light for you i told i'm a shy pooper um So I was like, hey. Flip that. And we had the conversation before. I was like, all right, so obviously we have to because we're in the room. I was like, we're going to set some boundaries here.

Like, how are we doing the poop situation? Like, do you want me to walk out or whatever? But luckily we had these like really big doors. And then the toilet was still in its own little room. So we had like two walls. I was like, I usually go in a shower when I'm in the shower. So I'm going to leave the shower on, do my thing, and I'll be out. So how did, I mean, after she broke it, how did you, where did you pee even?

Like, how did you use the restroom? We probably called maintenance. I mean. We ended up calling maintenance. Well, she said it was like the next morning that you were like, check out the toilet. They let it sit there the whole night? I think so. I'm trying to remember.

I think, yeah. Yeah, we woke up. Yeah. That's a woke up. Yeah. That's a scandal for 11 o'clock. And they let the shit stay in the toilet for the entire night. The monsters.

I'm just kidding. Wild. So, all right, you get back from Mexico. You take her back to your place. Did you meet her parents first or did you go back to y'all's houses first?

We went to our houses first. Your houses first. Yeah. Paper plates. plates paper plates i have plates like do you yeah there's a different cabinet um and then that was your paper cabinet and there's a glass cabinet wait you're telling me that that whole episode from stacy it you you had actual plates there just happened to be a separate different yeah different drawer and then in that plate I had hard plastic plates it wasn't like just paper plates what was the big deal then?

did she see the glass plates were you like I have them once we saw those we were just like locked in I mean like growing up like you know I come from a large family we had all sorts of dishware and chinaware or whatever the fuck oodles of it and then mom also had a separate like paper plate plastic cups for like you know yeah if we're grilling out like it's just easier let's just do the paper plate thing you know there's a time and

a situation for yeah for those things yeah and uh like for work so i was like i'm always on the go for work and so and like meal prepping and stuff so i would have like disposable stuff when i'm eating because i'm in my car all day just about so so yeah i have that so how how did you because it's really fascinating talking to someone who had been through some tough situation in the past in terms of relationships you've had your heart broken you use that as a reason to do some work on yourself. You did that. You come into this very unique experiment and it seems like you really took it very earnestly, which is, I'm assuming, a spectrum from all your peers in terms of how you approached it. And you've done the work. You realize you need to do a better

job of setting boundaries and things like that. You're really kind of fighting through the experiment. Hey, love is blind. But I guess my question is, is how did you decipher between is love blind and I'm just going to power through versus like, what are valid red flags for you to start considering? You know, because how did you in that paper plate conversation come to the conclusion you know what this is like a whatever thing we're just getting to know each other we're just kind of an awkward situation versus like do i need to be concerned about you know stacy making mountains out of molehills type of thing and as as she looking for reasons to pick a fight with me is she is she looking to

try to get out of this situation because i don't understand what's such a big deal about the paper play it's like how did you kind of have do those mental gymnastics i just kept reminding myself like it's a short time frame this is gonna happen take a step back it's kind of like don't like advice that i would give someone it's like you don't give up you know um i recognize that it's not that big of a deal it can be easily fixed and so i just i don't know just kind of kept pushing through i didn't really look at anything as like red flags i just felt i attacked it it's like all right there's an obstacle thrown at us let's figure out a solution and let's move on and how did you guys resolve that particular um it was actually one of the best nights we had, man. We, um,

after that, obviously it was a heated moment and we went home that night and she just came and she was just like, you could tell she finally like cooled off a little bit and she was like, let's fix this. I was like, fuck yeah, baby, let's go. Let's hash it out right now. Uh, so that's the best thing about our relationship is that, you know, anytime there's, you know, any conflict or any obstacle thrown at us, she'll come. She sits on my lap. We talk it out and yeah, and move on and resolve everything. So yeah, we resolved it, brought out some wine.

She cooked dinner and it was a beautiful night. All right, Izzy, we're gonna take a little break from all the, from the interrogation. We're gonna get your help. Okay. Offer some sort of relationship advice. And when we come back, I want to ask you some questions about your peers that you're on the show with. The Lost and Found drawer. Deal. We got to get to that. You know, some questions about Uche and Lydia and Aaliyah and things like that, if you'd be so generous. And we'll go from there. All right, it's time for sweating the wedding, Izzy. Let's try to solve some wedding problems. Shopify. I've been a Shopify

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And we've been best friends for like 12 years. Okay. Is your best friend in your wedding party or would you like them to be in your wedding party? No. So the wedding party got really big really fast so we decided to stay like stick with the tradition of just girls on the bright side and guys on the on the groom side gotcha and how long you've been with uh your partner your your fiance four years four years

and what's their relationship like your fiance and your bestie your male i would like to say that it's good but it's you know my it's, you know, my fiance's in the military. So we like our whole relationship up until like the third year was long distance. And then I moved in with him when we got engaged. So my friends, unless they've made like a very like big effort, they don't really have that much of a relationship with him. I'm going to ask the obvious question question what are the chances that your best friend feels slightly more for you than just friends none because he's gay okay there you go that clears that up all right yeah this is the obvious question you know um okay how did your best friend broach that subject i mean and when are you

getting married i'm getting married next november okay so there's some time how did this you know it's a really early bachelor party yeah yeah like how does like what there's a bachelor party the same weekend of your wedding over a advance. Well, because it gets more complicated because it's his brother's bachelor party. Okay. So his brother just was in town and asked him to be his best man. So I guess that's when he broke it to him that the bachelor party is the same weekend as my wedding. Okay. That's also interesting information. I guess, I know you're upset, but I guess given that information, it being his brother and B, he is in fact the best man. And there's very few responsibilities that a best man has, but one of them is planning a basher party. Other than just

being super disappointed, are you expecting him to miss? What are your expectations, I guess, is my question. I guess I can't expect to be treated the way I would treat other people. Personally, I would give The Bachelor a bachelorette party because a wedding to me has more weight to it. But that's my personal opinion. I just didn't like how he handled the situation. He called me and he didn't... He sounded like his mind had been made up. And that's fine. But it also sounded as if he like took the defensive side, like, automatically, he was just like, you have to understand, like, it's my brother, you can't expect me to like pick him over you. So it was one of those things that like, he broke the news to me. And then right afterwards,

he was almost almost attacking me. So I was trying to process being upset that he's not going to my wedding. And then all of a sudden, he's attacking me. So he kind of told you how he thought you should feel about it. Exactly. He felt defensive. He was worried you would be upset with him. Instead of giving you a chance to hear the news, sit in it and respond however you wanted to respond

and then have a conversation about it, he immediately kind of, he went on the offensive and told you his expectations of how he thought you should handle it, which felt dismissive, I guess, from your point of view. Yeah, and I just thought like, there's over a year of wiggle room. Like I just figured a bachelor party can be moved

like i don't expect that but i i would expect my best friend to try something that's an interesting point no if he's the one planning it too like the brother he's the best he's the best man it's literally his job to plan the events he has a whole fucking year but i don't think he's planning it because he already knows what they're doing so he said the cruise they're doing a cruise so he's like the cruise is this day the same weekend as your wedding so that also confused me so i was like okay if you're planning it then that would you know make a little more sense but if you already know what you're doing it sounds like probably his brother is planning it already and just telling him where to be. And I don't know.

Like, I just, I would expect if it was the roles were reversed, I would do anything. Like, I would just be like, okay, is there any way that I could make both? Or like, we can switch the bachelor party because there's obviously more wiggle room with that than a wedding. I just felt very like, like he just didn't care much. Yeah. So I guess what is your, cause it sounds like he's going on the cruise. So what is your goal of the call? Is it to try to like how you should handle it? How do you resolve this conflict and preserve the friendship? I guess, what do you, what do you hope and what do you think is realistic? Yeah. So there's a few

things that I'm like conflicted about. I want to know how to move forward because there's been like, like he's texted me since then and I texted him back and that's where it kind of ended. So I want to know like how to move forward. Cause obviously this isn't like a friendship ending situation. Like I don't want it to be, it's silly um but then also there's the fact that like the same thing happened to my fiance about a month ago where his um best friend decided that he was gonna get married um like 20 days after us so then that means that they're not going to our wedding and we found out through social media after like we told them like hey if you guys are planning your wedding let us know because obviously you're gonna be like the groomsmen in our wedding. So that affects both weddings or

whatever. So a month back when I thought all my friends and my best friend was going to my wedding, I told them like, well, I think that's rude. And if they're going to decide to not go to our wedding, I don't want them at any wedding festivities. So we're doing a co-ed bridal shower. So I didn't want to invite them. So now that this is happening to me, I stick by my statement. I don't want anybody that's not attending the wedding to be invited. Maybe that's petty, but it's a little petty. So is that you enforcing that rule or boundary, whatever you want to call it to your husband, like with your friend, are you saying you're deciding, all right boundary whatever you want to call it to your husband like with your

friend are you saying you're deciding all right if you're not coming to your your my wedding then i'm not you gonna have you in any of the festivities or is your husband being like all right well i can't but if your fiance is like all right if i can't include him at any of the other festivities and you can't include your friend either now that he's also bailing like who's enforcing that boundary you or your fiance no now that he's also bailing? Who's enforcing that boundary? You or your fiance? No, totally me. He's more chill about it. I feel bad because I know he cares that his best friend isn't going.

And I know that he cares about how it all went down because we found out on social media after he tried to have a conversation with him and all of that. So it's kind of me saying like, well, I stick by my statement that I was, you know, that I enforced when your best friend was going through a situation. So I'm sticking by it. He's saying that I'm being a little happy. Okay. But I, but I think that gonna be like, one, his best friend is just annoying. So I don't want him and his fiance there because we kind of got into it after like, she posted on social media, like her wedding date and everything like that. And didn't give us the respect of like, you know, reaching out and being like, Hey, we're getting married 20 days after you guys, we won't be able to go even though like,

we were gonna go he was gonna be a groomsman, all of that. So I don't want them there. But my fiance really wants them there, their childhood best friend, and I'm just like stuck with my best friend, I fully think like, listen, you're not going to the wedding. That's fine. But I don't like, why should I invite you to everything else if you're not going to care enough to show up to the wedding? It sounds petty. Yeah.

Do you want me to be honest? Yeah. It really comes down to, do you want to be right or do you want to be happy? Right? That's the message I'm going to say is going to be around that right you just said to us earlier that you don't want this situation to be kind of the end of your friendships right that's a true statement well my friendship but i don't think that my fiance's best friend is very good friend to him so i don't care about that friendship but that is up for your fiance to decide do you trust do you trust

your fiance to manage his own friendships i do i just think sometimes he can be a pushover so i get like over protective over him and like sure i'm like you know stand your ground or something but yeah also that that pushover quality is probably, and maybe you're right at times, but that quote unquote pushover quality, that thing you want him to work on probably also allows him to be generous and considerate and empathetic to others

and allows him to be a great friend and probably a great partner to you because he is willing to take the high road or, you know, at times not let his frustrations or own pettiness get in the way. And my guess is there's a little bit of balance there. And so I guess that's what I'm saying. It's just like, listen, you can let this be a situation that is frustrating to you. You have every right to be frustrated. I get it. You know, like it seems I would be as frustrated as you are about how my friend chose to handle it. I get it. You know, like it seems I would be as frustrated as you are about

how my friend chose to handle it. I would feel like I didn't get an opportunity to even get mad or frustrated, you know? So you have every right to communicate that with your friend. Now, then you have the other choice of, do I want to make this a bigger situation? Do I want this to bleed into my friendship? And pettiness will allow it to manifest and turn into something else, snowball. Like it could be an opportunity for you to go back in your mind and think of every moment that your friend let you down and disappointed you. And you could use that as a way to say, you know what? Not only did you not go to my wedding, but you did X, Y, and Z, and you're just going to decide not to let it go.

And then what is he going to do? You know, he could start doing the same thing. These are how friendships can fall apart. If you want to go back and litigate every moment in your friendship about the times you let each other down, this is a great way to instigate that. Or you could maybe write your friend a note or ask them out to coffee and sit down with them because you've been best friends, and by your words, for the past 12 years with this person. And you can say, listen, you've made made your decision but can i just say it really like i just it really disappointed me how you handled it and they could be like well what do you mean it's just like you just told me what you

were going to do and ultimately you're going to do what you wanted to do but like you didn't you didn't even give me a chance to respond or get mad or talk with you about it and it felt very dismissive and i did that that just hurt my feelings more than anything. You know, it made me feel like, you know, I wasn't a priority at all. Like it didn't even seem like you were willing to try. And I'm guessing that will allow him to acknowledge, well, I felt offensive.

I was worried that you'd get upset and yada yada and things like that. I also don't think that it's that he doesn't care. I think he does really care, but he's choosing between a rock and a hard place. It's his brother and it's his best friend. And I think allowing him to be at all of the other wedding events that he can be at is just as good because he can't be at the wedding and that sucks.

And I'm sorry, but like he, I mean, he does have to be with his brother, but I think having him at the bridal shower and having him on your bachelorette trip, if you haven't taken it yet, and having him kind of be involved as much as he can will fill that void as much as possible. You know, his failure in his response to you is a product of him caring. It doesn't feel that way, but that's why he handled it so poorly. That's why he got defensive. That's why he went on the offensive because he knew how upset you

would get. So that's not an excuse for how he handled it, but I'm letting you know, it's not because he doesn't care. He very much cares. That's why he was so shitty in his response. Often when we, that's usually a catalyst for why we handle situations poorly. It's because we don't know what to do. We get bad advice and we just, I don't want to deal with it. So like, let's just be dismissive. Yeah. I mean, I know he cares that it was just more like, I also know him really well. And I know that he can't stand having anyone be mad at him or like upset at him so I kind of like felt rushed I felt like okay he called and I I think I handled it well enough in the point like I didn't start screaming or yelling or anything like that I just told him

like hey it's obviously not friendship ending but I need a minute. Like I need a second. And then he was like, okay, bye. And he hung up. And I mean, I get it. Like maybe he was nervous or whatever. And then the text message was kind of just a word vomit of like, you know, that I care about you and I love you and blah, blah, blah. And you don't think that this like makes me so upset. And then just like, but you have to understand. And it just felt like he was trying to rush it and be like, please don't be mad at me. Like, please, like, you know what I mean? And like, this happens when we have big fights in our friendship. It's like him rushing it because he doesn't like me being mad.

But I also need time to like process. And like I told him, I'm like, in my opinion, it feels like you made the decision right then and there. And I and if the roles were reversed, I feel like I would have tried to do anything to make it work out. And I don't feel like I got that from him. So that's the most upsetting part because I know it's a destination wedding. I know I'm asking a lot from the guests and it's no problem. If you can't make it, that's okay. But for my best friend, I would have expected him trying to just work something out. Yeah, I know. I hear you on that. But for my best friend, I would have expected him trying to just work something out.

Yeah, I know. I hear you on that. But just because our friends don't meet our expectations doesn't mean they're bad friends. It just means they didn't meet our expectations. And I'm not saying they didn't do anything wrong. You have every right to be upset. But your fiance at some point is not going to meet your expectation and you will get mad and you will be justified for getting mad. But that doesn't necessarily mean that you're 100% right and he's 100% wrong. Or maybe there are situations where that happens, but you work through those times too. You're going to handle some situations differently than your friends will and your partner will. But we sometimes, it's that kind of main character syndrome

because I would handle it this way. Apparently that's how everyone should handle it. Like you become judge, jury and executioner for every situation because, well, this is how I would handle it. And I like how I would handle it. And even if you put a lot of effort in consideration for how you're handling a situation,

you know, like I want to be thoughtful. Hey, I'm really giving this the consideration it needs to do it the right way. And then that makes us feel more justified to stand our ground, you know, and well, I would handle it this way because I'm not only handle it this way, but I've thought about how I should handle it.

You know what I'm saying? And then because you feel like he was reactive, you feel more right. And I'm not saying you're wrong. I'm just saying that's just your perspective. Yeah. So should I just like let everything go and kind of just invite the best friends to the wedding shower and just like let them be there and kind of take the higher road and like

put my pettiness aside? I mean, I think give your time, give yourself time to be upset. I don't know exactly how long it's been since you've had this conversation with him, but give yourself time to mourn the fact that he won't be there. That is sad. And that is like,

I know that feeling. I have best friends who won't be at my wedding and it does suck. I don't think when his brother told him the weekend that his bachelorette trip is, he was like, like oh it's the same weekend all right yeah no it's fine like i'm sure he pushed back and i'm sure he asked like is there any other weekend we can do like is anything you know this is my best friend's wedding weekend i'm sure he tried to fight it yeah i feel like if both of you had some like a little bit more

faith in each other and if you do want to address this as like uh if this is something that you feel like is a real reoccurring pattern in your friendship, and it's something where it's like, it's not just about kind of like hashing out or making it fair for this one scenario, but it's more like to grow our relationship and be better friends moving forward. Like if it is something you choose to address, I think a lot of it could just be both of you having a bit more faith in each other, where it's like him having faith in you that you will get to the place of forgiveness, but like, you just need time and a little bit of space to get there. And it would be really helpful if he could like be there with you and like be a presence for that and then

also kind of conversely like you having faith in him and like giving him true benefit of the doubt because i think as soon as you see him at your shower and he's there to celebrate you i think it will feel really really good but like i sure as shit wouldn't be thinking about that where you know in this stage like it's hard right now because it's like feelings are hurt but i feel like you know once there is that level of like forgiveness and connection it's just like such a relief for everyone is he what would you how do you how do you see this situation uh i agree with you guys i mean it's a very tough scenario i kind of had one similar i would say and yeah it's just at the end of the day how'd you handle it what happened was the situation it's kind of the same thing.

Like my buddy had to go, yeah, he had to leave. I had like a, it was like a graduation thing. I mean, not a wedding, but it was like a graduation thing. And I ended up choosing just like a silly trip

with a girlfriend. You know what I mean? It was a big deal. It was like back in the day, I was like in the fire academy and I graduated from that. And so like I wanted him there and like, yeah, he chose it.

But at the end of the day, I mean, we're best friends. We've been best friends since we were four. And, you know, I there and like yeah he chose it but at the end of the day I mean we're best friends we've been best friends since we were four and you know I didn't agree with this decision but at the end of the day like you're my ride or die um and yeah so it sucks but I love the guy and in the end I'm gonna choose our friendship over everything so like what do how do I move on from this because I obviously love him so I don't want to I don't want it to be friendship ending. But I also am having a hard time explaining to him why I'm so upset and having him understand that it's not just about not attending the wedding. It's how he handled it.

So how do I have that conversation and tied up in a nice little boat and move on? I think you have a face-to-face conversation with them, sit down with them over dinner. I don't know what you two do and just say, Hey, listen, can we talk about the whole wedding stuff? And you got to come from a place of,

you know, you have to bring it up in a non-confrontational way. Not like, all right, let's fucking, you know, hash this out. Let's hash this out.

You know, it's just like, can we just talk about it? Let's just talk. Let's just talk. As a person from experience going through this, it's just like, can we just talk about it? Let's just talk. Let's just talk. As a person from experience going through this, it's all about your delivery.

From experience, it's just going nice and easy. Obviously you want to be heard, but yeah, just like don't go in overbearingly. And I think you start by just accepting his decision. I know you're not going to be there.

And reassuring him. I've accepted that. And then yes, reassure him. Do the thing that you want him to do with you. Empathize with his situation because that's what you want from him. You want him to consider and empathize with how he's disappointing you. So as disappointed as I am, I understand that you want to be there for your brother. I get it. I understand that you were put in a very difficult position and it must have been really hard for you knowing that you would disappoint me. And I know that you don't like disappointing other people. I understand all that.

Despite that, it did hurt my feelings. We've been friends for 12 years and it was one thing for you not to be there. It was another thing that you just like, you didn't even like, you literally told me I couldn't get upset and you told me that I'm just supposed to be fine with it. And that was frustrating. Because don't you want me to be upset that you're not going to be there? Don't you want me to care that you're not going to be at my wedding? And if the worst thing that I'm doing is being disappointed that I can't be there for you, you're not going to be at my wedding, so be it.

But I love you. And in the future, can just like talk to me about this stuff and like let me be disappointed i'll promise to do a better job of handling my disappointment in the future but like i want you to allow me to you know i want us to be able to talk through stuff you're my best friend i love you you know and just go from there okay so should i give it time to see if he even answers the text that i sent him? No, you know what you want to do. So this is not, don't test him. Yeah. This isn't someone you've been dating for three weeks. Like you can double text each other. He's your best fucking friend. And especially like going into this with the energy of like,

I'm talking about this because I want our friendship to heal. Like, I think like framing it that way is going to be good. And please like, let us know how this goes. Cause like, this is your best friend. You really, I feel like from what you what you've said like it seems like you're really willing to like be the bigger person have that perspective once you get this closure so like please keep us updated because i'm sure well it will hopefully be a positive one one other note as far as your uh the other wedding going on and it just to say this with love from her this other girl and their wedding and hit your buddy's best friend. You know, you're planning your wedding and it feels important to you. And obviously it is.

You're the main character in your story. Well, they're the main character in their story. And I don't know, it's challenging to plan a wedding venues. There's a lot of like, it's stressful, all the stress that you're going through, they're going through too. And like, don't be petty just because they planned a wedding three weeks before and you weren't the center of their attention. And it feels... You have the right to want to be the center of attention. It's your wedding, but they have a wedding to plan. So don't make life harder on your fiance just because you have a bone to pick. Just let it slide. It wasn't the fact that they're not going or anything like that. It was more of the lack of respect that my fiance reached out and, you know, but, but yeah,

I just, I have to let it go. Let him pick his own battles. Life will be a lot easier. All right. You're right. Okay. Well,

we definitely want an update after you talk with the friend. Okay. Okay. All right. Thanks so much. Thank you. Talk to you later. Okay.

Izzy, we're back. We're back. Let's get to the box lost and found the drawer might as well have been a box there was so much in it it was basically like a

conquest drawer I suppose I felt like watching it back you know guy to guy I said this on our episode yesterday I think it started organically you know I think organically someone left a braid behind and you're like oh I'll just whatever I don't know what the fuck's

in that drawer someone's hair fell out and you put it in the drawer a hair tie I don't know what the fuck this shit's called a bobby pin whatever like some eyelashes you know who knows and you had the best of intentions you're like oh I'll just maybe they'll ask for it back yeah i mean and then and then that like accumulated and then one day you looked at it

and you and you're like i fuck i get bitches i get laid and it was a little bit of a like a pat on the old back of seeing your conquests in a drawer a scrapbook a scrapbook if you will and then i had the theory that the reason why you left it there is you got back from the pods in mexico your world's turned upside down you left for a show that you were like i don't know how this is gonna go you know a month later you're fucking engaged you're four weeks away from a wedding your life's turned upside down you get back from the pods you go to her apartment you look in your drawer like oh and you just kind of like didn't do anything and then it festered and you kind of blurted it out and you realize you did something stupid by not throwing it away but you didn't really know how to say to stacy

what i just said to you yeah i um so i honestly yeah that's exactly how you described it like i didn't even expect to come back with anything like engaged or anything like that and so we go to my place and she's going through every single drawer and cabinet and so as we're getting to that point i'm like once she found the paper plate she's like what else is there so she goes to the bathroom and she's doing all that and i'm just like fuck like i know it's there and i know she's gonna see it so i just took the initiative i was like you know what through the entire experience like i'm just gonna be very open and raw i mean what you see is what you get like i have nothing to hide from you and i was like yeah there's a lost and found drawer like I know you're about to see it and so I'm just gonna go ahead and just show you and lost and found and so and so the reason I had

this stuff it sounds like a leave one take one situation I mean like I have you know friends that have stayed obviously girls that have stayed over as well and like I don't want to just throw their stuff away like I have good relationships with these people still it's not like you know it's like an excess what was in the drawer i honestly don't even remember uh i want to say probably just like a like an earring which was like a nice diamond earring that i think i'm not gonna just go chunk some girl stuff like i felt bad you know um why not why not be like hey i got your earring well i did like i text them but it's just like i'll see you when I see you kind of thing.

You know what I mean? It wasn't like urgent. So I'm like, okay, well, I'm just going to hold it. But if we cross paths, cause like, I usually keep good relationships with people. I hear you. I mean, it's like you went literally from one day in your fuck boy era. I don't mean that in the, you know, it is what it is. And then a month later you're an engaged man overnight with no time in between.

So, I mean, I was just open and honest. And then a month later, you're an engaged man overnight with no time in between. Yeah. So, I mean, I was just open and honest. Some people, you know, would appreciate the honesty. Some people are like, dude, you're stupid for that. Like, you should have trashed it. If I would have went to her place and there was a guy's shirt or something, like, I wouldn't have freaked out. I'm like, you know, it's like you had a life before this. I get it.

It's cool. I mean, even if if if like i still wouldn't get like upset even if like she had like an extra show like whatever i'm with you now so how how did she take it though i guess in the moment with you being there like i mean what was her biggest frustration she said she's like why if you knew you like you had that why didn't you like go out of your way to come throw it out and i was just like in my head i was like yeah and i was like i hear you i was like as far as for me like i wanted to leave everything as is so you can just see how my life was before i was is that part true or did you just kind of forget i forgot honestly so then when it was there i was like fuck like i mean i'm i have nothing to hide so i'll just i'm sure i could have tried to like, while she was in there, run away and like, try to go.

It's a damned if you do, because if she would have caught you like rushing to the bathroom to grab the drawer and throw it out, it would, it would have come across as that you're trying to hide it from her. But weren't you there the day before and you were like cleaning up? I went in really quick and went out. Oh, yeah. Cause we were living at the other place at this point.

And I think it was like, I just went in to get something for my dogs or my dogs were there. Yeah. Because we hadn't our dogs hadn't met yet at that point. So like I'm still having to go back and forth with my dogs. And it's like, I'm not thinking of this stuff right now. Like, yeah, I'm living out of a suitcase. Like everything that I would have in that drawer usually was already in my suitcase.

I'm not right. Yeah. Okay. How did you guys resolve things that night? That was the night when the paper plate thing, yeah. Okay. How did you guys resolve things that night? That was the night when the paper plate thing too. Okay, that was all in the same. She comes, she says, yeah, we talk, we have dinner, and regardless whatever we face, we always fix it.

Well, we know, Izzy, you are coming back after the reunion, so so many more questions we have for you. Curious if you're with Stacy, if you're not with Stacy, I'm having a hard time telling. So we're excited to have you back. But before we let you go to this week, I just curious about some of your other cast mates,

obviously the Uche and Lydia fight, the accusation of her knowing, not knowing that he was on the Aaliyah of it all. I guess, how did you see some of those other situations and how involved were you as a friend or just an observer? Honestly, I didn't know any of that was going on. I knew they were exes or whatever, but I didn't know exactly what was going on with like alia and that i will say like in that scenario at the barbecue i was just there for milton it was a very awkward spot i really felt for him i'm proud of him he handled himself so well uh but there was a time where

in that scenario he was just like kind of locked in the bathroom by himself like he was just overwhelmed you know and i was just like so i went in there and milton was locked he locked himself in the bathroom he said he took he was like i just took a it was the longest piss of my life or something he just like yeah he sat in there for a while and just kind of got away from it i don't blame him um and so i just went in there and just kind of just was there for him like dude you got it let's just make it through like talk to her later give her some time she's obviously like overwhelmed but like be there for her at the same time. But yeah, I really didn't get involved with that too much. I just kind of sat back and watched. What's your read on Uche? Because listen, I'm a strategic guy and,

you know, I like to think things through. I've, you know, I like to calculate things, so to speak. So I don't, I don't fault people for being strategic or calculated to a certain degree. I don't fault people for being strategic or calculated to a certain degree. But yeah, what is your read on Uche? Because there's being calculated and then there's being calculated. And he seems like he wants to litigate everyone's misfortune so that he can... He seems more focused on winning breakups rather than developing relationships. That's my read. I don't know what your read...

Obviously, you've watched it, but you've also got to live with them how does the watching it back change your perception of uche versus living and getting to know yeah so watching it back like i mean now i'm not so shocked but like i was kind of shocked watching it um because he was the oldest of all of us he was kind of like the one the most wise is giving the advice, you know, in the lounge. He was like really cool, level headed. I thought like we were all good friends after the show. I was in shock. He was kind of talking bad about me to a lot of the cast people.

He was. Yeah. When did you find that out? Same time he found out Johnny was talking bad about you? No, this was like after filming. Like this was like everything's already done. Yeah. And I'm like, what the hell?

What did you do to these people? I was like, what did I do to you? I thought we were boys. What were some of the things he said? He would just tell Johnny that I was like kind of like a shit guy. Because me and Johnny ended up meeting like after the show. We talked everything out. I apologize.

We got some clearance. And like we're good friends after that. So yeah, like he would get mad at Johnny for like hanging around with me. and then he would tell like some of the other cast mates like why are you hanging out with them he's a shit guy he would say like you're so superficial i have a lot of friends at home and like a lot of friends that are girls too and like you know i'm with my friends on their birthdays and stuff and he sees me with all these girls and he's like yeah he's like he's so superficial look at all the girls he's around all the time and then me and stacy we all ended up like going for drinks one time uh stacy him one more person from the cast it was like four of us i walked to the bathroom and he's

like trying to bad mouth me to stacy like as i'm there and i'm like dude what did i do to you do you think he's a bit two-faced? I mean, he's a good... I'm just confused on the situation. He is a good guy. I saw him interact with all the other guys. I just don't... I don't know. I've never approached him with it.

You just let it slide. Yeah. I'm just like, look, I didn't do anything. If you have your opinion, that's fine. It wasn't that big of a deal to me. Can you help us understand JP? Oh my gosh did anyone ever ask him why he only wears red white and blue um i think some of the guys did but literally everything i don't think i ever saw him one time over there without something

american flag what is his name he's just like he just loves America. He just loves America. He just loves America. Yeah, he's like, America, fuck yeah. Fuck you, America. That's what I always say. America, fuck yeah. And did you, has anyone talked to him about the whole lack of dialogue between Taylor or makeup gate or any of that? Again, like, I felt he handled it incredibly poorly. Oh, yeah. I think he came across as a dick. Yeah.

I also felt bad for him because i saw a guy who didn't quite understand how he was coming across yeah uh and again not an excuse he needs to learn how to communicate but i i really felt bad for him it sounds like this guy's been through a lot he was pretty open about his traumatic childhood and i just i really i pitied him because i he seems like beneath all his lack of communication and his poor social skills there there's it seems like a good heart oh yeah underneath at all and what would you have to say to that yeah he's a really good guy like i got to hang out with him one-on-one um i believe he's been like seeing a girl for a year now so i mean obviously he's doing something right but um i think yeah i think

sometimes a lot of guys are not very intact with their emotions or can't express them very well um and i think that was just the case with him i did talk to him in mexico and he was like taylor's beautiful i love the way she looks you know without her makeup like she has such natural beauty obviously the way he worded it to her was completely horrible why don't you just say that yeah you should have just said it that way so i mean he comes from a good spot he has a good heart i think he just needs to work on his presentation on how he delivers things. I feel like that's kind of a trend for season five or deliveries are poor. Yeah.

Well, yeah. That's what I love about Love is Blind is because it seems to cast regular people with regular relationship problems and everyone has red flags. What would you say to close things out? and everyone has red flags. What would you say to close things out? What would you say are things that you learned about yourself through this process? A guy who has been reflective in the past,

who's done the work. I'm assuming you agree that you're never a finished product. So what would be something that you... From episodes one through seven. Yeah, from one through seven. I would say probably react better in a moment, be more well composed. Yeah.

I would say that's probably the biggest takeaway. Like I saw a side of myself that I've never seen before. It's usually not how I am. I was disgusted with it. So I learned from that and yeah, take the ownership, apologize and move on. Okay. Izzy, it's been a pleasure. Thank you.

Thanks for coming. I feel like you answered a lot of the burning questions. We look forward to having you back in a few weeks post reunion. Lots. Well, I don't know if there's a lot to talk about. I seem like there's going to be a lot to talk about. Oh yeah. There'll be some good stuff in there. So excited for that. But until then, we appreciate it. Where can people follow you? Follow me on Instagram and TikTok. Okay. What is it? IzzySabata underscore. Okay.

All right. Thanks for having me. Thank you. Don't forget to send in those questions for all things Sweating the Wedding, texting office hours, Ask Nick, you know the drill,

at asknickatthevilefiles.com. We are back next week with the one and only Gabby Wendy to help break down the rest of Love is Blind, Golden Bachelor, Bachelor in Paradise. So it's a jam-packed reality recap. And next week we have Heather Dubrow from

Real Housewives of Orange County following the reunion. So right after the reunion, lots to get into with Heather. A lot of burning questions for Heather. And yeah, better late than never tonight. Live at 9 nine don't forget get ready for a jam-packed month we'll see you next time bye