“Is Love Blind?” “Love Is Fast,” perhaps. The Netflix reality show accelerates the dating process to the point where couples get engaged after only days of knowing each other — without ever seeing each other.
But for Season Two cast members Deepti Vempati and Kyle Abrams, romance was a slow burn that began after the show wrapped and their other engagements fell through.
Now, with “Love Is Blind: After the Altar” premiering on Netflix on September 16, Abrams is telling TODAY about his current relationship with Vempati.
In the special, which follows the cast members’ lives after the show, Abrams and Vempati admit what social media sleuths have long suspected: they are a “thing.” It’s a real thing. As other social media users speculated, it was not a hoax.
“People don’t realize we’ve been talking nonstop for two years,” Abrams explained. Abrams explained that after filming, they began hanging out nearly every day and became “really good friends.” They even spent Christmas together while COVID-19 quarantined them.
After the show ended, Abrams and Vempati were frequently seen together on social media, teasing a relationship. But what exactly were they?
They try to answer that question for themselves in “After the Altar,” tiptoeing up to the cliff that separates friendship and romance.
“The issue with dating your best friend is that when the relationship ends, you lose your best friend.” “It was difficult to take that risk,” he admitted.
Finally, in the third episode, Abrams and Vempati succumb to their attraction (and “sexual tension,” as they both admit) and kiss.
They might have taken even longer to “define the relationship,” as the kids say, if it hadn’t been for the three-episode reunion special that followed the dramatic reunion episode, according to Abrams.
“It would have taken much longer.” I’m not the type to jump into a relationship. “This was the right time,” he said.
Clearly, he’s correct: Abrams explained that their connection dates back to the pods. Despite the fact that they were both engaged to other people — he to Shaina Hurley, who recently married Christos Lardakis, and she to Shake Chatterjee, with disastrous results — they almost chose each other.
“It was kind of between me and Shake for her at the end,” he said, then remembered an exchange they had in the pods that weren’t shown on the show.
“I was like, ‘You’re going to pick someone with a safe, professional life.'” ‘I know what my life will be like in ten years,’ she said. ‘You’re going to pick me, and I’ll be like a wild card because you don’t know what I’ll do or say,’ I said. But, to be honest, it was the opposite at the en do fit. I was the safer option. “His true colors emerged,” Abrams explained.
Chatterjee was chastised for his comments about Vempati’s body as well as his post-show behavior, which included aggression during the reunion. He did not appear in the special “After the Altar.” Many cast members, according to Abrams, declined to work with him. When producers asked if he wanted to have dinner with Chatterjee, he declined.
Abrams wanted to tell Vempati she was “making a bad decision” after getting to know her in the men’s living quarters for “Love Is Blind.”
“I couldn’t possibly be that person.” That was impossible for me to do through the wall. You were imprisoned. “Plus, I had other interests,” he explained.
Abrams and his “other interest,” Hurley, divorced shortly after getting engaged because they couldn’t reconcile their religious differences.
He asserted that he and Vempati are more compatible. “She is one of the most amusing people I know.” It’s a lot of fun just talking to her. She has a lot of knowledge. That is ultimately what I believe dating and life are about: getting along. And I get along so well with her,” he said. “She’s someone I’d like to spend my entire life with.”
Hurley told TODAY that she wishes her ex all the best. “I only want the best for Kyle, and Deepti is such a beautiful soul.” I want everyone to be content. “And if that’s what makes them happy, I’m happy,” she explained.
Vempati is a favorite of Abrams, as are the show’s legions of fans. Following Chatterjee’s controversy and her decision to “choose herself” at the altar during their wedding, fans rallied around her. Vempati now has one million followers on Instagram.
Abrams admitted to feeling the pressure of fandom while pursuing a relationship.
“I was under a lot of pressure. That’s another qualm. When someone wants this for you, you begin to doubt whether you want it. “Are we going to irritate people if we don’t do what they want?” he wondered. He claimed that even their families were skeptical. “‘You guys spend a lot of time together,’ they said. ‘What’s up with you guys?'”
“This is a one-of-a-kind situation that makes every decision difficult,” he explained.
Is it true that they are still together? Abrams stated that they are waiting until September 19 to tell the world what has happened since the show debuted in order to maintain control of the narrative. “We’re going to announce everything that happened from there as soon as the show airs,” he said. “We didn’t have control the last time, but we now do.”
He’ll say this: While walking around Chicago with Vempati, “Love Is Bind” fans they meet will sometimes cry when they see them together.
“They simply lose it. ‘Why do you cry?’ I ask. “I’m just so happy,” they say.
