Season 2 of Love Is Blind may be over — but the drama hasn’t stopped. Controversial contestant Abhishek “Shake” Chatterjee is calling out host Nick Lachey after their tense display during the Netflix dating show’s reunion episode.
“Reunion summed up in a photo. You put a doctor on the show… of course you were going to see some critical thinking,” the veterinarian, 33, wrote via Instagram on Monday, March 7, alongside a screenshot from the reunion special. “Speaking of which, @nicklachey you’re a massive twat for your comment dragging vets. You do realize that becoming a veterinarian considerably more difficult than becoming a human doc right?”
Shake concluded: “Also consider learning how to be an impartial host before the season 3 reunion airs. Sorry I didn’t play along with your narrative like the rest of these puppets. Say hi to @vanessalachey for me.”
In the photo, which has since been deleted, Shake is seen mid-animated comment as costars Shayne Jansen, Kyle Abrams and Salvador “Sal” Perez hang their heads in frustration. Shake’s caption refers to a fiery interaction he had with the former boybander, 48, who claimed Shake didn’t know how to treat people, which is why he became a veterinarian. The DJ later told his castmates that the only person on the set he felt attracted to was Nick’s wife and cohost, Vanessa Lachey.
The married couple put Shake on blast during the reunion for not committing to the idea behind the experiment and for still prioritizing looks above all else, even going so far as to say he went on the wrong show. Shake defended himself, stating, “Love is not purely blind to me. … I want it to be partially blind. I want it to be: ‘Love Is Blurry,’ OK?”
Throughout the reality series’ second season, which debuted in February, Shake was depicted as the central villain and was often seen questioning his relationship with Deepti Vempati after the pair got engaged in the pods. Once back in the real world, Shake frequently confessed that he didn’t feel a physical attraction to his then-fiancée, 31. Deepti ultimately turned him down at the altar.
“There’s a lot of things that he said that he didn’t say to my face and [things] I’ve heard from other cast members,” the data analyst exclusively told Us Weekly following the season 2 finale. “I just don’t have room for anybody in my life that doesn’t see me in the best way. And who could even think those types of thoughts, I guess. … I knew what I had to do.”
During the reunion episode, Deepti’s costars hinted that what was aired was a “watered down version” of what Shake was saying behind his ex’s back. After Shake quipped that he was concerned about getting a “bad edit” on the post-finale special, creator Chris Coelen told Variety that the reality star’s reputation didn’t take as big of a hit as he might think.
“If we were afraid of that comment, we could have taken it out. But I’m not afraid of that comment, because during this process, we want to give people the opportunity to say whatever they want to say,” Coelen said. “Every other member of the cast seems to think that he got a pretty good edit.”
Tensions between Shake and his fellow season 2 stars have been high since filming ended — especially as Kyle, 29, and Deepti fuel dating rumors. During the reunion, the contractor said that his biggest regret was not proposing to Deepti, and the twosome appear to have gotten closer off camera.
“Kyle and I, we are figuring it out,” Deepti recently told Elite Daily. “Not a lot of people know that we had a really strong connection in the pods. … I was really struggling to pick between Shake and Kyle. We’re just trying to figure it out. There’s a lot on our plate right now. We’ll see what happens.”
Kyle, for his part, exclusively told Us that he should have been more open to his other connections in the pods before proposing to ex Shaina Hurley. “I felt like I gave up on one person in particular, and I should have tried way harder,” he hinted. “It’s a huge regret of mine, actually.”
Both seasons of Love Is Blind are available to stream on Netflix.
