Why did Nick Thompson equate Love is Blind to a “cult”? Season 2 alum spills the tea

Love is Blind, Netflix’s famous dating reality show, has helped various singles find love, sight unseen. The show has been on air for four seasons and is set to return with another later this year.

However, Nick Thompson, who appeared in season 2 of the social experiment, recently opened up about his time on the show. He described the whole scenario as being in a cult.

While in conversation with Insider, Thompson opened up about the hectic filming schedule and insufficient food and water. He stated that he recently met someone who was in a cult for 10 years, and added that her ID was taken from her.

"This is like that. This is what they did to her."

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Love is Blind alum Nick Thompson shares his experience filming the Netflix series

Nick Thompson formed a connection with Danielle Ruhl in season two. They got married in the season finale of the show and were together until August 2022 when Ruhl filed for divorce.

Nick’s bad experience filming the show inspired him to create the Unscripted Cast Advocacy Network Foundation (UCAN). This aims to provide mental health and legal aid to current and past reality television personalities such as himself.

One of the other co-founders of UCAN is another Love is Blind season 2 contestant Jeremy Hartwell, who is suing the streaming platform and Kinetic Content for “inhumane working conditions”.

During the Insider conversation, Nick Thompson claims that the cast of the show was exploited by production. He added that they were expected to film for over 20 hours a day and were sometimes denied adequate food and water.

He further revealed that he was required to sign a contract that allows production to misrepresent the contestants as well as defame them.

This is not the first time Nick has opened up about Love is Blind. During an episode of Eyes Wide Open with Nick Thompson, he stated that the final segment that aired was edited to manipulate storylines:

"There’s this one scene in the pods, where I’m like, ‘I definitely did not say that to that person, that’s a totally different with a totally different person. It’s so out of context."

Nick and his UCAN co-founder Jeremy are not the only Love is Blind alums who have voiced their opinion about the show. Briana Holmes from season 1 claims that she quit the show because the crew chased her down while she was shaking and sobbing in the middle of a panic attack.

Nick’s ex-wife Danielle Ruhl took to social media in April 2023 to talk about her experience, and stated that the producers would intentionally bring up past traumas:

"To break you down emotionally and get the reaction that they wanted and I also thought that the things I disclosed in the psych eval were confidential."

She also revealed that during the group trip in Mexico, she was told not to attend the group party because she might have had Covid. She added that it didn’t make much sense because Nick, who she was sharing a room with, was allowed to go.

Danielle added that despite making her wishes to leave Love is Blind on account of her mental health concerns, she was encouraged to stay. She revealed that there was no therapist available on set and that she was worried about having to pay a $50,000 fine if she left:

"I really wish that they just would've let me leave in Mexico because not only did that impact my mental health moving forward throughout the entire experience, but Nick's experience as well."

Love is Blind is set to return with a brand new season later this year on Netflix.