Imitation might be the most sincere form of flattery, but that’s not what happened on Love Is Blind.
After Zanab Jaffrey turned down fiancé Cole Barnett in the Love Is Blind season three finale, saying he “singlehandedly shattered my self-confidence,” she earned comparisons to Deepti Vempati, who rebuked Shake Chatterjee with a similar message in Love Is Blind season two.
Deepti has heard the rumblings of fans who claim Zanab was simply looking to follow in Deepti’s footsteps for the sake of a positive edit—but that’s not exactly how she sees it.
“There have been a lot of comparisons,” Deepti exclusively told E! News at the 2022 API Excellence Celebration. “I think our situations are so different. Cole and Shake are different people. There’s a side of Cole that’s a little bit immature. He’s young, but hopefully he can see himself and it seems like he’s growing and learning from it, honestly.”
Zanab previously clarified that their weddings were filmed about a week apart, so she hadn’t seen Deepti’s powerful speech on Netflix before delivering her own.
Since season three aired, Deepti said she has actually been in touch with Zanab, but she’s giving her some space after the explosive season three reunion, saying, “I just want to give her some time to get through all of the things that she’s getting through without us bombarding her with messages.”
