Love Is Blind contestant Jessica Batten admitted she regretted letting her dog drink wine, as she opened up about the responses she’s had to her appearance on the show.
The Netflix dating series seems to have taken over the world, or at least my Twitter feed, since it was released last week, as baffled viewers witnessed contestants get engaged without having ever set eyes on each other.
The premise of the show was enough to get people talking, but there was one moment in particular that sparked an angry debate online.
In the sixth episode of Love Is Blind, Jessica could be seen having a serious conversation with her new fiancé, Mark, about their relationship, their 10-year age difference, and what it would mean for their future and kids.
Jessica was drinking red wine at the time, and mid-conversation she casually leaned down to let her golden retriever, Payton, glug some of the alcohol from her glass, while saying: ‘She loves wine’.
Check out the bizarre moment here:
The shocking scene was met with a lot of backlash online. However, despite insisting her pet was a fan of the alcoholic beverage on the show, Jessica has since claimed she’d never let her dog drink it before, and never would again.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Jessica commented:
I definitely have never done that before; I won’t do that again. I love my dog more than anything and that was not something I would ever recommend anyone to do.
I think I was just really uncomfortable. I don’t even remember doing it. I don’t know why I did that but it was definitely unnecessary for sure.
Jessica opened up further about drinking in general, explaining she ‘overdrank’ a few times on the show when she was uncomfortable. She believes alcohol is sometimes used on reality shows to catch the moments contestants ‘loosen up’, and in hindsight she admitted that, if she could do ‘anything differently’, it would be to drink less.
Jessica found herself receiving a lot of hate online after the show debuted, though she believes the comments have become less negative as viewers watched more of the show, and got to see more of her.
She explained:
I was on a plane when a lot of people started watching it. I landed and got some really negative comments on Instagram and it was just a shock.
It was the first time I had really ever experienced anything like that. Initially, I had a lot of negativity and hatred. But honestly it’s gotten a bit better as of late.
Hopefully Jessica will be sure not to give her dog alcohol in the future – no matter how much the pup might love it.
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.