Jessica Vestal finally met Jimmy Presnell in person after their pod romance on Love Is Blind season 6, and she’s giving Us the behind-the-scenes tea.
Jessica, 28, connected with Jimmy, 28, inside the Love Is Blind pods during the Charlotte, North Carolina, experiment. Jimmy, however, ultimately broke up with Jessica in favor of pursuing his relationship with fellow contestant Chelsea Blackwell. Jimmy proposed to Chelsea, 31, sight unseen.
Jimmy was surprised to see Jessica at the cast’s lake party during an episode that dropped on Netflix on Wednesday, February 28. He even quipped that Jessica was still his No. 1 despite his engagement.
“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,” Jessica exclusively told Us Weekly, adding that she “didn’t really think anything of” his comment. “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.”
While Jessica had moved on after Love Is Blind, she previously predicted her looks would wow Jimmy.
“When you see and realize what you missed out on, you are going to choke,” Jessica declared in the pods after he broke up with her. “You are going to need your EpiPen to open up your airways because you are going to be in disbelief of what you missed out on.”
Jessica later explained via her Instagram Story on Tuesday, February 20, that she does not own an EpiPen — but Jimmy does.
“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,” Jessica said in her social media upload. “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.”
Jimmy, however, asserted to Us that he did not need an EpiPen after he saw Jessica for the first time.
“I was excited to see her, but let’s quit making this about looks,” he told Us ahead of the season 6 finale, nothing that their lake party conversation stirred up “old feelings” between them. “I think we’re blowing the comment about ‘You’re my No. 1’ out of the water just a bit. I was only level-setting with her, letting her know that the day before proposal day, she was my No. 1 going into that date. But 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.”
Jimmy explained to Us that his final date with Chelsea, which was three hours long, helped him realize that the flight attendant was “[his] person.” His last date with Jess was only 10 minutes because “she walked out on [him].”
“The way she handled conflict was not for me,” Jimmy added. “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.”
When asked if there was a chance of reconciliation with Jessica, Jimmy shot any potential down.
“I mean, there’s always a what if or how things could have been, but no, I mean, out of respect for Chelsea, I don’t plan to go down that road,” he said. “And [Jessica and I have] spoken a little bit, but not in a relationship type of way.”
Love Is Blind season 6 is currently streaming on Netflix.
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
