Love Is Blind star Danielle Ruhl has hit back after being “dragged down on the internet”.
The 29-year-old fell in love with Nick Thompson in the pods of the popular Netflix show, and the pair got engaged after just days of talking.
The season two finale will join the streaming giant this Friday, and viewers will finally find out whether Nick says “I do” at the alter or if he walks away from his whirlwind romance with Danielle.
Danielle and Nick’s journey to the altar has not been smooth-sailing, and cracks in their relationship began to show during their trip to Mexico.
During the vacation, Nick went out socialising while Danielle stayed in the hotel to recover from food poisoning and when Nick came home, the pair got into an argument.
Many viewers took to Twitter to criticise Danielle’s behaviour on the show, with some branding her behaviour “toxic”.
#LoveIsBlindS2 #LoveIsBlind
Nick: *breathes*
Danielle: pic.twitter.com/c9U5p11tvw— malab 🍯 (@justmalabthings) February 18, 2022
Danielle creating relationship issues out of thin air #LoveIsBlind pic.twitter.com/kvFExIQLi9
— oz (@burkakween) February 18, 2022
Danielle every damn episode on love is blind: pic.twitter.com/VcrB1V8OhO
— Normal Person (@normalalienn) February 19, 2022
Nick: *blinks*
Danielle: #LoveIsBlind pic.twitter.com/GJLlf9s19V— Maggie L (@maggiebachstuff) February 18, 2022
Taking to Instagram on Monday to address the backlash, Danielle wrote: “One thing that is being inaccurately speculated about is the panic attack I had in Mexico. The true story is that I told Nick about a traumatic experience I had in college right before I encouraged him to go to the couple’s party without me to represent us as a couple.”
“While I was lying there sick, I started to get in my own head, and wondered whether I had shared too much too soon and I started to relieve an event that I had repressed for so long. This caused me to have a panic attack and I went into the closet so that no one could see me in such a public environment.”
“I also looked outside at the couple’s party. This was not because I was jealous, but because I needed support and wanted to see when Nick would be coming back. Nick had no idea what happened, but when he found out what happened behind the scenes, he was more than supportive and we were able to learn from it and get past it.”
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She continued: “I want to reiterate that I am fully aware that I can project my anxiety onto others and it is something I am constantly working on.”
“However, being dragged down on the internet for my mental health and being ‘diagnosed’ with every disorder in the book based on an hour of footage taken from months of filming is not only damaging to myself and my family, but to anyone else who have had similar experiences.”
“How I was represented on TV is not an accurate representation of who I am as a person. I understand that I have things to work on, and I was in a great mental space before going on the show. However, the stressful environment brought me back to a place that I never expected.”
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Danielle concluded the post by writing: “I hope that in the future everyone will get to know the real me—as a human being—and not a character on a reality TV show. I am not looking for sympathy or saying that I did not make mistakes throughout my experience.”
“I am looking for understanding for every single person who may have demons they are facing behind closed doors, for everyone who feels misrepresented, or for anyone who is triggered by those who attack others for having feelings that others may not understand.”
The finale of Love Is Blind season 2 joins Netflix on February 25.
