A clean break. Love Is Blind season 2 alum Nick Thompson detailed where he stands with estranged wife Danielle Ruhl amid their split — and it sounds like things have definitely been better.
“We’re still going through it,” the “Conversations” podcast host, 37, exclusively told Us Weekly on Monday, October 17. “I’m doing OK. I’m not gonna lie and say, ‘Oh, it’s easy,’ or, ‘I’m doing great,’ but I’m doing OK. Losing a relationship that was so meaningful and with someone that you deeply love and care for is never gonna be easy.”
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign graduate, 29, filed for divorce from the marketing pro in August, two months after celebrating their first wedding anniversary. The estranged duo have since made headlines for their social media activity, which Thompson said is a big part of why they’re not currently speaking.
“For my own mental health and healing, I had to create a boundary with her that I’m not engaging anymore,” the Netflix personality told Us on Monday. “I’m choosing to leave the past behind me and focus on all the stuff I have going on. I don’t wanna live in the past. I don’t want to be in any kind of position where I’m having to defend myself.”
Ruhl recently posted a cryptic Instagram message about not letting a partner make you feel “inadequate.” She didn’t specify who her post was about, but Thompson said he felt like it was meant as a dig at him.
“The sad thing about all of this is that there wasn’t a catastrophic event [that caused the split],” Thompson told Us. We just weren’t compatible. I know in my heart that I did absolutely the best I possibly could in that relationship, and I gave it everything that I had. … I think it’s unfortunate that you have to disparage or stay stuck in this place.”
Earlier this month, Ruhl said she heard that her estranged husband was planning to do an Instagram Live to “talk s–t” about her and other female Love Is Blind contestants, but he told Us that wasn’t the case.
“I know that hurt people hurt people, and I know that this is really hard,” he explained. “My heart hurts when I see that stuff, because I don’t know who said I was gonna do an Instagram. If you follow me on social media, I don’t talk about the show. I don’t talk about the cast. All I’m talking about is things that matter to me and my journey, because I hope that maybe someone can learn something from it, or I can help someone in their moment by seeing me go through mine.”
One month after Ruhl filed for divorce, Thompson told his Instagram followers that he was “working through my own mental and emotional challenges to overcome feelings of anxiety and depression.” He noted that the weeks following the split were “especially challenging” for him. “Like many of us going through a loss or life-altering event, we experience cycles of grief while we navigate our emotions,” he wrote. “Most importantly, I’ve learned it’s OK to not be OK and that staying true to myself is essential to find my way forward.”
As for how he’s feeling now, Thompson told Us that “some days are better than others,” but he’s not yet ready to start pursuing a new romance. “Dating seems like the furthest possible thing from my mind right now,” he explained. “I honestly don’t even know where to start. I think it’s something that I’m just gonna keep moving forward and then let it come to me when the time is right.”
Season 3 of Love Is Blind premieres on Netflix Wednesday, October 19.
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
