Love Is Blind’s Jimmy Presnell revealed whether or not he’d consider dating Jessica Vestal after his split from ex-fiancée Chelsea Blackwell.
“Out of respect for Chelsea, I don’t plan to go down that road,” Jimmy, 28, exclusively told Us Weekly while discussing season 6 of the Netflix show. “And we’ve spoken a little bit, but not in a relationship type of way.”
Although Jimmy said he has “no regrets” over his decision to propose to Chelsea, 31, he did note that there is a sense of wondering “what or how things could have been” if he had chosen Jessica, 31, instead. The pair formed an instant connection in the pods but had a heated breakup when Jimmy ultimately decided Chelsea was The One.
The duo came face to face for the first time in episode 11 during a cast lake party. While chatting about their split during a private one-on-one, Jimmy told Jessica that she was his first choice until the final day in the pods — a confession he believes got blown out of proportion.
“I will say the way she was looking at me and the way she was talking to me, it definitely brought back some old feelings, but I was only level setting with her, letting her know that the day before proposal day, she was my No. 1 going into that day,” he explained to Us. “But [that’s] because she made it this whole deal that I didn’t love her and I didn’t want things to work, and I already had a decision made.”
Jessica, for her part, told Us that she didn’t “think much” of Jimmy’s comment either, noting that he acted appropriately when for someone who had a fiancée at the time. (Jimmy and Chelsea ultimately called it quits before the altar during the season 6 finale.)
“I’m not sure the context that that was said in, but I will say he did conduct himself well and respectfully [at] the lake party,” she said. “He made it known that he felt like he made the right decision and he was excited to be marrying Chelsea. I didn’t get the thought that he was wishing it had been me.”
Jimmy and Jessica’s relationship issues began in the final days in the pods when Jessica gifted Jimmy a letter she once wrote herself about her hopes for a future husband. When his reaction was underwhelming, Jessica stormed out on their date within the first 10 minutes. It was that interaction — plus a 3-hour date with Chelsea the same day — that ultimately led Jimmy to his final choice.
“Because [Jess] walked out on me, the way she handled conflict was not for me,” he told Us. “I got a glimpse of what I might have in the future. And I personally don’t care if she’s the hottest girl in the world. If someone’s going to talk down to me and be disrespectful to me, I’m going to.”
While arguing in the pods, Jessica had warned Jimmy that he would need “an EpiPen” when he first saw her in person, a comment that quickly went viral after it aired. Jimmy, however, told Us that no medical assistance was needed during their interaction, stressing that not everything should be about “looks.”
Jessica, meanwhile, explained her reasoning for the dig, which she claims was unplanned and stemmed from feeling hurt over their split.
“He told me that he had to keep an EpiPen on him at all times because he had such severe allergies [that] his airways would close if he didn’t have it,” she said via her Instagram Story last month. “So, it had been top of mind for a couple days. … When I was giving my breakup speech, which wasn’t planned or rehearsed, I was just heartbroken and I blacked out and the EpiPen line just fell out.”
She continued, “So, it had been top of mind for a couple days. I was thinking, ‘Jeez, if I’m going to date this man, I’m gonna have to learn how to use this EpiPen on him so he doesn’t choke.’ And so, when I was giving my breakup speech, which wasn’t planned or rehearsed, I was just heartbroken and I blacked out and the EpiPen line just fell out.”
New episodes of Love Is Blind season 6 air Wednesdays on Netflix.
Reporting by Christina Garibaldi
