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Love is Blind season 2 alum Nick Thompson has called out Netflix for its exploitative business strategy. In an interview with the Daily Mail, published on Tuesday, August 1, Nick revealed that despite being a VP in software companies for the past five years, he lost his job after the reality TV stint in November 2022. He is struggling to find a new job and has just two months left to pay his mortgage.
"I burned through my savings that cashed out my 401(k)…. I can't get a job because people don't take me seriously," Nick Thompson said.
He said he has a "track record of experience or success" but is still facing a financial crunch. Nick claimed he was just given $10,000 for 10 weeks in the experiment, which is $7.14 per hour. This is less than the minimum wage.
"When you think about the amount of money that's being made... and the fact that anyone can go on and watch me [and yet] I'm going to be homeless," he said.
He compared his treatment on the show to being "held captive like a prisoner."'
Nick Thompson says that Love is Blind "ruined his life"
Because of his employment issues, Nick Thompson said that he has burned through his savings and his 401k. The network allegedly did not even contact him for residuals despite making a lot of money off the contract.
He also slammed the network for unfairly treating its employees.
"You are filming 18 to 20 hours a day... And that doesn't necessarily mean that you're always going to be on TV, but you're mic'd up from the moment you get there in the morning, and you're mic'd up all the way until you leave," he said.
Nick also claimed he was not given any hotel key or money during the shoot. Thompson said that Love is Blind "ruined his life completely" and wished he "could just go back to having a nice life that I had built for myself, instead of wondering whether my mortgage is gonna get paid."
He announced on Instagram in April that he is the co-founder and executive director of outreach for the UCAN Foundation, which works to "provide mental health and legal support" to reality TV stars.
Nick Thompson says he wanted to go to a show "different from other reality shows"
In a caption for his position in the UCAN foundation, Thompson explained that he and his Love is Blind co-stars did not sign up to be food and water deprived.
"I signed up for a 'psychologically-based' love experiment sold as 'different from other reality shows… I went with good intentions and stayed true to myself," he said.
He revealed that the "vetting" process included a lot of stuff to check if he was "ready for marriage," which was all baseless, like background checks and psych tests. He was also told that the psychologist talked to his therapist, which later turned out to be a lie.
“I lost 15 pounds in the three weeks in the Pods and Mexico from limited access to food and water. Aside from the 'psyche evaluation,' there was no mental health support before, during, or after," Nick Thompson said.
Fans can stream all the seasons of Love is Blind on Netflix.
