Hannah from Love is Blind season 7 is Chelsea 2.0—but not for the reasons fans are suggesting.
Last season, Chelsea Blackwell was relentlessly ridiculed for saying she’d been told she looks like Megan Fox in the pods (I still maintain she does). This time around, Hannah Jiles was declared “Chelsea 2.0” for daring to call herself “hot” during a blind conversation with her
Despite the fact that Nick compared himself to both Henry Cavill and Travis Kelce in the pods, Hannah caught a ton of flack for “catfishing” after expressing concerns over how her weight might be perceived by her future partner.
“Hannah is very slick because she did what Chelsea did,” 90 Day Fiancé’s Stephanie Matto said in one TikTok video, which has 2.7 million views and over 100,000 likes. “She didn’t come out and say she was conventionally attractive, she just keeps talking about the fact that she used to be a cheerleader [and] that she dated the quarterback in high school, which obviously insinuates that she is attractive.” Huh?
“I never said I was insecure about what I look like,” Hannah tells me over Zoom. “I said I was insecure about my weight.” Any correlation you make between those two things, dear viewer, is on you…and deeply ingrained societal fatphobia.
Interestingly, both Chelsea and Hannah from Love is Blind had two strong connections during their time inside the pods, and they were accused of settling for the first person who proposed by their second choices (walking red flags Trevor and Leo). After leaving the pods, both women were also accused of projecting their insecurities onto their partners—Chelsea via “clingy” behavior and Hannah through admittedly harsh criticisms—though neither Jimmy nor Nick showcased their commitment beyond lip service.
Both women, of course, had questionable moments on the show. But the greatest similarity between the two women is that they’ve had their looks and personalities gleefully picked apart by viewers while misogyny shields their male counterparts from similar levels of scrutiny.
Perhaps that’s why Hannah doesn’t mind her Chelsea 2.0 title. “I wear it like a badge of honor,” she says.
Hannah chatted with Glamour about this intense online scrutiny, her relationship with Nick, and that kitchen conversation with her brother. Plus she drops a bit of context about her fight with Nick in the promo for next week.
Glamour: As someone who has gained and lost weight throughout my life, I really related to your thoughts on dating in the pods. However, some viewers seemed very confused about the fact that you discussed insecurities about your weight while also expressing concerns that Nick reminded you of men you’ve dated before, specifically saying you were “just hot to them.” What’s your response to that?
Hannah Jiles: I think you can only understand it if you’re someone who fluctuates in weight or you’ve been bigger and you’ve lost weight. If you’ve always been skinnier your whole life, or a certain size, you’re not gonna understand. It’s sad that society is like that, but it is a fact that if you are skinnier, you’re deemed more attractive in society.
I never said I was insecure about what I look like. I said I was insecure about my weight. So you can still have confidence. The reason why I wanted to talk about it in the pods was just because that’s part of my journey and they don’t know if I’m 300 pounds, they don’t know if I’m 150 pounds. They have no clue. Like even the cheerleader comment! Have you guys never seen a fat cheerleader before? I think this is a perfect example of how weight really, really affects you, and how it’s deemed in society.
People also have a lot to say about what you look like now—what’s it been like to see so many comments and posts about your body?
It’s actually insane. I’m really proud of myself because I’ve realized I have way more of a backbone than I thought. At first I was like, “Oh my gosh.” But then the more they come, you just get used to it and it’s just like, this is just what it is.
I’ve been seeing think pieces, basically, in my comment section where it’s just like, we’re gonna woman hate. Before they saw that I had lost weight, it was, you’re a big back, you’re so fat, plus-size. And then they saw that I lost the weight and there’s something else that you need to talk about. So it’s just interesting. It’s an interesting conversation.
How are you dealing with the responses?
In the past year, I’ve done a lot of internal work, and I’m very secure in myself. At this point, I think they have made a comment about every little part of me, from head to toe, and every little comment you can make about someone’s personality. You just have to realize, at the end of the day, it’s just sad. It’s really sad because it doesn’t really make sense for that to be the outcome, but it is.
Are you in therapy?
I’m not in therapy but, after reading the comments, I have been looking. [Laughs] I’m open to therapy. I’m medicated, I do all those things, I journal, but I haven’t done therapy. But therapy is coming. Don’t worry.
Did you see the last season of Love is Blind before you went into the pods?
[A publicist points out that season 6 and 7 were filmed simultaneously.]
Ah, that makes sense. I couldn’t help but think of Chelsea’s viral controversy when celebrity doppelgängers came up between you and Nick—but that brings me to my next question. Have you seen the Chelsea 2.0 comments?
I have, yes.
What are your thoughts on that?
I wear it like a badge of honor. I think she’s a wonderful human being. When I watched it, I saw nothing wrong with her. We all have insecurities, we all have problems. Call me Chelsea, I think that’s wonderful. I think she’s a wonderful human.
It’s such a tricky thing too. Something I want to say about the pods is you don’t want to talk about your looks, but you talk for so much [time], it’s really hard not to have something that you’re talking about allude to what you look like. It’s really difficult because you talk a lot, and sometimes it slips out, or you don’t even realize that what you’re saying kind of gives away what you look like, you know?
I did find it interesting to see all the Chelsea 2.0 comments, but Nick literally compared himself to Henry Cavill and Travis Kelce. People didn’t seem to have as much of a problem with that.
I’ll defend Nick in that I do think he was joking. But the problem is there’s a wall there. And so when you have dry humor it’s a great thing, but you can’t really get dry humor when you can’t see the person. So even though [he may be] joking, I’m like, “Oh my gosh, really?”
The controversial contestant opens up about her one regret, love triangles, and starting therapy “immediately” after filming.
One thing that did seem to confuse viewers was that you were very vocal about not wanting to be defined by your looks, but you talked a lot about Nick’s physical appearance after the reveal. How did you feel watching that back?
When I look back on it, I was honest. That’s how I felt in that moment. I was in shock. And I think my delivery and how I say things [could] be a lot kinder. I’m learning that about myself and reflecting on that. So I do regret the way I talked about his height.
But in the moment, you’re so—you can’t even explain the feeling of it—it’s such a crazy feeling, and you’re so shocked. I’m not a foot taller than Nick, but at that moment I felt like a giant. But I wasn’t! And when we got to Mexico, I’m like, “Okay. We’re fine.”
And I was wearing heels, because I’m 5'9" without heels, so he is probably 5'11". Like, he was right. But in that moment, you’re like, “Oh, God, I’m being lied to. It’s not Henry Cavill.” You’re just in shock.
I feel like episode seven was the first time we really got to see you and Nick have fun together, because so much of your story in the pods was about Leo and Brittany as well. Do you wish more of your early relationship with Nick was shown?
Yeah! I think one thing about Nick and I’s relationship that was so special is we were fun, and that’s why I liked him so much, because I was like, “We’re so fun!” But they’re following six couples this season. They had the seventh couple, which is Leo and Brittany. So it’s just a lot of people to follow.
Was there a part of you that wished Leo and Brittany made it to Mexico? Did you want to see how that played out?
Yeah! I actually understand the decision because they were following a lot of couples and I think [LIB creator Chris Coelen] wrote that they were the weakest couple, so that’s why they didn’t go. So I understand that, but to me, of course, I was freaking dying to know what Leo looked like! I was dying!
I still had no clue what he looked like. Would it be completely different? Would me and Brittany still be normal? You just don’t know, but I think it would have been interesting to see
What was your reaction when you looked him up on Instagram?
He looked exactly like I thought he would look like. I imagined he’d be tall, lanky…dark hair. I did imagine a flow. He doesn’t have the flow. Also, I cracked up, because I was like, “Why do the two guys that I was trying to pick look alike?” It was just weird.
Any regrets?
No, not at all.
In episode nine, your brother and Nick discuss how your words or jokes can be “cruel” but you can have a problem if that energy is returned. Do you think that’s accurate?
That is something I’ve been working on. My entire life it’s been a problem me being overly harsh. And I know it’s an issue, and trust me, I’m working [on it]. That’s why I journal. In my mind, I’m like, Think about it before you say it, or, Write it down before you say it.
So the “cruel” thing is like—I’m just direct. In my head, being direct is being kind, but other people don’t like it like that. So I’ve realized that. Now, the thing about me not being able to take it back—I think I can, but sometimes I probably do get upset. And if you dish it, you’ve got to take it, right? So maybe that is a flaw that I have…. Maybe that’s something else I can reflect on and try to change.
When it came to living together, did you think you gave Nick enough time to prove himself before critiquing him?
Nick and I are the younger ones. I’m young, he’s young. We absolutely still have flaws. We still have so much room to grow up. But when you’re together, how special would it be to grow together? I’m getting nitpicky and so aggravated because I need you to grow.
At a normal speed, you would grow slower than that, but I need you to grow in three weeks because we’re walking down the aisle and saying, “I do.” So I think that was the biggest [reason I was] so harsh, because I was so stressed out. Because I was like, This is so serious. And so I was being so serious.
In the first batch of episodes, you called Nick “Mr. Suave” and repeatedly expressed concern that he was saying the right things but didn’t mean them. Then in the second batch of episodes we see him call himself a good cook in one scene before struggling to boil water in another. Was that an example of what you meant?
That’s what it felt like. It felt like he would say one thing and do the other. That’s why [I called him] Mr. Suave, because like, you say it, do it. You say you’re a good cook. Show me you’re a good cook. Like, can you boil water? Things like that.
Do you still feel that way?
Yeah, I think for me my frustration was because he’s saying the right things. Looking back, I’ll be like, “Why was I so mean?” But in that moment, I felt like I was being so mean because I was being open and honest about all the problems that we were having because we’re getting married soon, so we just have to throw it out there. And he would just be like, “It’s amazing!” And maybe that’s how he felt. But for me, I was like, What’s going on? I was just very confused, because I just didn’t know what was going on his mind most of the time.
Obviously, a lot has been made of you getting “the ick.”
Some people get it and some people don’t, and unfortunately I get it, and I’m working on trying to, like, not ick myself out so much. [Laughs]
And so is everyone else in pop culture.
It’s not just you. Before the cheating scandal even happens, Monica says “Everything [Stephen’s] doing is pissing me off.” I saw a post that boiled down to “the women this season don’t like any of these men.” Do you think that’s fair?
This is my theory on it: I think that all women in every city are educated, beautiful women. DC is a very unique place. It’s a grind, it’s a hustle…. LinkedIn is the place to be. I think we are all so confident in ourselves and we know exactly what we want, and if a man is not as fierce as us maybe that’s when you start to see things crack. I think that’s what you’re seeing. We know what we want, and if you’re not there, we’ll tell you exactly what’s wrong. We’ll just speak our mind.
How did you feel about what happened between Stephen and Monica?
I was flabbergasted. I knew that they were a little bit rocky, but in the pods I just imagine that the relationship was just this sweet Cinderella story. Like Mom and Dad, they’re just gonna have such a beautiful love story. Then we’re in Mexico, and there’s little cracks and stuff, but it’s just normal. So when I found out that he cheated, I think it really crushed me the worst because that’s Monica’s trauma and that’s what had happened to her previously in relationships, and to have that done to her…just the disrespect. I felt horrible.
In the teaser for episode 10, we see you and Nick having a fight over a girl named Katie after a party. She’s a Love Is Blind cast member who didn’t make it to Mexico, correct?
Yes.
Did they have a connection in the pods we didn’t get to see?
[Long pause] Small, but yeah.
Regardless of whether or not you’re currently together: You dropped the L-word very early on in your relationship but also had some rough moments right out of the gate. As you’re watching a year or so out from filming, do you think you were actually in love when you first said it?
Yeah, absolutely. I think it’s hard for viewers to see, and I watch it too, and it’s hard for me to understand, because how’s that possible? When I’ve dated past boyfriends, it’s like six months to eight months and I say, “I love you,” right? But this experiment—I can’t even describe how these emotions are just so intense, where you really do feel it.
And when I said it, I meant it, and I think it really shows too, because immediately I was being mean to Nick and having problems with the duck stuff, but we stuck [with] it. Because we were trying to figure it out. We wouldn’t have done that if we didn’t love each other, you know?
This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Episodes 1–9 of Love Is Blind are available to watch on Netflix. Episodes 10 and 11 will be released on October 16.
