Warning: This contains spoilers from the Thursday, February 27, finale of Love Is Blind.
Mark Cuevas is telling all. Season 1 of Love Is Blind came to a dramatic end with five weddings — and only two couples actually said “I do.” Unfortunately for Mark, 25, his fiancée, Jessica Batten, said no.
“I went into the wedding day just being like, ‘I’m going to be in the moment.’ I, like, blacked out, I think I was just so nervous,” he said on the latest episode of the “Watch With Us” podcast. “Everyone’s just staring at you until she walks in. And then I’m like, ‘Oh, damn.’ I still remember it. I’m playing it back right now in my mind. I just felt what I felt. … I refer back to when we first saw each other and that was, like, the best moment. That moment will always resonate in my head because I felt like I was on top of the world. I kind of felt the same thing when I was up there. I was on top of the world.”
When Jessica, 36, said no at the altar, Mark was a bit “taken aback,” but knows that everyone that participated in the show was just trying to figure it all out.
“At the end of it, she didn’t want to [get married] and it’s OK,” the trainer told Us. “I look back at it now and it’s like, everything happened the way it’s supposed to happen.”
Mark also shed light on his friendship with Matt Barnett — the pair were actually closer than what was shown on the series.
“We were actually really close. He was my roommate during the pods,” Mark said about Barnett, 28, who also had a connection with Jessica, but ultimately got married to Amber Pike. “We essentially got really close talking about life, talking about family and talking about decisions.”
Something else that was left on the editing floor? An emotional gift that strengthened Mark and Jessica’s relationship.
“I wish they would have shown when I gave her my grandmother’s bracelet as a gift. It was like me letting her into my life [and] my family, which is why we connected so easily,” he explained. “We were just, like, literally two peas in a pod. It is really lame to say but, you know, it was great. I wish they would have shown that.”
Ultimately, Mark has no bad feelings toward anyone, including Jessica. Plus, this prepared him for an even better relationship down the road.
“I’m such a direct communicator now. It’s helped me set healthy boundaries,” he told Us. “Not being mean, but being very upfront with my intentions and just understanding who I am. All of those things that go into a relationship — trust, communicating and all that stuff. I’m way better after it. It was a boot camp. Whether I ended up with Jess or not, I think it ended up the way it was supposed to and I’m way better for it.”
The Love Is Blind reunion special will air on Netflix’s YouTube channel on Thursday, March 5.
For more exclusive TV news and interviews, listen to the “Watch With Us” podcast on Spotify.
