[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
Three former reality stars are feuding right now — and the topic couldn’t be more real.
As we previously reported, several former contestants from Love Is Blind — including exes Danielle Ruhl and Nick Thompson — came forward to accuse producers of mistreatment while filming the show in a piece published by Business Insider this month. Danielle specifically shared that she told producers she was struggling with her mental health and could not continue with the show. It got so bad that she ended up hiding in a closet while experiencing a panic attack at one point. Awful. She recalled to the outlet that she’d repeatedly asked to leave, saying:
“I kept telling them, ‘I don’t trust myself. I’ve tried committing suicide before. I’m having suicidal thoughts. I don’t think I continue in this.’”
Yeah. Serious stuff.
Related: Amber Pike Throws Shade At Love Is Blind Amid Mistreatment Allegations
It’s unknown what, if anything, producers did to help her out. However, Danielle stayed on the show for the rest of Season 2. Danielle also claimed she fainted in the pods due to a lack of sleep, food, and water. Despite contestants allegedly passing out from the conditions, producers did not take action? Clearly, it sounds like the Love Is Blind team potentially turned a blind eye to what was happening on that set.
The accusations from the Netflix personalities quickly made headlines and sparked a conversation online about their treatment. Bachelor Nation star Nick Viall even addressed the allegations on his podcast Viall Files this week … and let’s just say his take was… attention-grabbing. He began on the Tuesday episode, saying:
“Blanket statement, I think it’s crazy for any of these production companies to cast someone who has ever said that they thought about or considered suicide. I would take that stand. If anyone has come forward and said, ‘Hey, I once was suicidal. I struggle with some pretty dark mental health,’ I don’t think they’re fit for reality TV.”
Then on Thursday’s ep, talking about Thompson’s mental health nonprofit organization for reality stars, UCAN Foundation, he blasted the “entitled” personalities:
“If you don’t want to do it, you don’t have to. There’s literally nothing special about you when it comes to why you’re on the show other than your willingness to show up and be recorded and be vulnerable and do something as insane as get married in a few weeks. No one made you do it. I just think this is pathetic. I think these people are incredibly entitled and they are weaponizing words like ‘mental health’ and things like that.”
Seriously, Nick? You would think he would take a step back and have a little more sympathy about this serious situation, especially since one of the cast members said the show brought them to such a low place. He’s pretty certain with his accusations for someone who doesn’t know Danielle or what she’s going through.
Check out a clip from the podcast (below):
After the podcast episode’s release, Danielle made it clear she wasn’t standing for Nick’s comments! She posted and deleted a video slamming the former Bachelor lead for supposedly wanting to become a therapist when he’s mocking them for speaking out against mistreatment. She then shared and removed several Instagram Story statements, including one that read:
“This is disgusting. In his most recent reel/podcast Nick Viall jokes about suicide and says: ‘If anyone has come forward and said they once were suicidal I don’t think they’re fit for reality TV.’ Doesn’t this align with exactly what I’ve been communicating? That I was questioning why I was cleared. Also that when I expressed that I was having these thoughts in Mexico they should have provided support and let me go home? Also, just because I wasn’t mentally fit – doesn’t mean that everyone who has these thoughts are incapable.”
Spot on! People with mental health struggles need to be given the extra care they need — not thrown away! Danielle continued:
“Instead of sympathizing @nickviall is making fun of the fact that I had been suicidal? For laughs? Really? Poking fun at suicide? @nickviall did u think twice about anyone else who has been suicidal before using it in a disgusting, judgmental joke? It isn’t funny. If you are as triggered as me let @nickviall know. He is just continuing the stigma that we are trying to eliminate.”
She then added in a follow-up post:
“Please let @nickviall that making fun of those who have experienced suicidal thoughts, attempts, is not okay. I am open about my mental health to connect with others NOT to have someone from the bachelor try and make me (or others) feel less than bc of their mental health. Make fun of anything else. Not this.”
And she wasn’t the only one who called him out. Her ex-husband Nick called out the podcast host on his own Instagram Story, writing:
“@nickviall is doubling down on his horrific take. This is pathetic. Keep defending reality TV productions for their inhumane cast treatment from your studio and I’ll keep doing the right thing.”
Nick Viall hasn’t responded at this time, but we are sure he has more to say on this subject. What are your thoughts on the situation, Perezcious readers? Do YOU think they’re “weaponizing” mental health terms? Or is that not even close to his place to determine??
If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, help is available. Consider contacting the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988, by calling, texting, or chatting, or go to 988lifeline.org.
[Image via Netflix/YouTube, Nick Viall/YouTube]
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