'Love Is Blind' Star Nancy 'Blindsided' Over Bartise's Decision

“Love Is Blind” star Nancy Rodriguez didn’t expect her wedding day to end the way it did. After saying “I do” to Bartise Bowden, and viewers being left at the cliffhanger moment waiting for his response, we finally got to see that Bowden, 27, chose to say, “I don’t" in the recently released finale. 

After Bowden’s decision was voiced, Rodriguez, 33, visibly upset and shaken over the turn of events, left the room. Bowden followed her in the hopes they could speak privately, but they were interrupted by Rodriguez’s angry mother. Bowden talked her into letting them speak privately, but then returned with Rodriguez’s equally angry brother. 

Now that the two have moved on from this experience, fans probably wonder if they are on good terms or if they are strangers once again. Rodriguez told PEOPLE that she has moved on and the once-couple are now “respectful” with one another.

“Right after the wedding, we took time apart. I think for me, you saw me, I was like, ‘It’s black and white. You said no. I’m out,’” she said. “I had to do that to protect myself, because at that point I was so blindsided that I needed to process how did this happen?” 

Rodriguez took the time to rewatch the show and said she understands how it happened now. “Rewatching it, it was like, ‘Oh, that’s how it happened. I would hope that Bartise and I could be friends at some point and later on in life, maybe in his 30s, we can be friends,” she said. “But I don’t see the benefit of us being friends at this point.”  

During the drama-filled wedding, while speaking alone, Rodriguez told Bowden, “I did not think you were gonna say no…you f—ing gaslit me,” to which Bowden replied, “I didn’t know what I was gonna say coming into today. If I don’t know, that’s my answer.” He suggested that they try to pick up where they left off but Rodriguez was not at all on board with that idea. 

“I chose you. You didn’t choose me. How is that not black and white? I’m not gonna backtrack,” she told him. She told the cameras, “My heart is shattered, it’s broken. He blindsided me. There’s no point to love someone who doesn’t love me.” 

Despite things ending the way they did for the reality couple, Rodriguez said she doesn’t really have any regrets about the journey. “I think for me, the person I did the experience with was the person that I was supposed to be with and I wouldn’t have changed that,” she said. “So would I do this all over again? Absolutely. Would I do it with a 25-year-old? No thank you.” 

Bowden also said he had no regrets about the journey the two shared, and that he understands why her family was so angry with him about how things turned out. “I have a younger sister, so I would have the same emotions that they’re having. However, I wanted me and Nancy to have that moment so I could explain to her everything that was going through my mind and my reasonings behind saying, ‘I do not.’ And her mom and her brother were not letting me do that,” he explained. “So I was getting very frustrated because that was me and Nancy’s moment. That was our experience.” 

Rodriguez shared much of her journey on “Love Is Blind” with her Instagram followers. She recently posted a video montage of her favorite “final dates, events and shenanigans.” Many of her fans and followers hopped into the comment section to leave their thoughts.

One follower wrote, “You’re so out of his league babe, and deserve so much better. He has so much growing up to do.” Another added, “It’s like… I want him to say no, so you can be free and realize you deserve so much better. But I want him to say yes, because I do not want to see you heartbroken ??” another added, “When he kept speaking on the physical attraction my jaw dropped. You are drop-dead gorgeous type or no type he should’ve been lucky to have you. He’s NOTHING special. Just a little boy with a huge ego.”

Bowden also shared some of their journey on his Instagram page. A recent post had his followers jumping into the comment section to let him know how they felt about the whole situation. “The way you talked to Nancy’s family after the alter was so disrespectful,” one follower wrote. Another added, “I hope you said no because you know Nancy deserves someone who is 10000% into her, in every way and you know you aren’t. I’m surprised she said yes. I was hoping she would be like Deepti, know she deserves more, and say no.” 

So where are the two now with their relationship? “Right now, we are, I would call [us] acquaintances,” he said. “Our depiction of "Love Is Blind" was very much a rollercoaster. It was up and down, and that's continued to be what it has been — but not romantic. So we've gone from friends to acquaintances, to no communication to disliking each other, back to friends, and right now, I would say we're acquaintances."