'Love Is Blind's Cole Barnett Talks Falling In Love In 'The Pods'

The answer to the question of whether love is truly blind may vary depending on which "Love Is Blind" contestant you ask. However, there seems to be a consistency in cast members' recollection of their time 'in the pods' as being better or much easier than life in the real world.

The extremely popular Netflix series has partly earned its reputation for its extremely unique premise.

Contestants foster a relationship by having several conversations with other contestants without seeing one another at all; duos have their 'dates' in pod rooms, only successfully exiting the pod after couples come and agree to the series' end goal of marriage.

Contestants may fast-track several elements of the dating process through the "Love Is Blind" process, but the connections they build are endlessly praised and often referred to as being much more authentic than using dating apps by the contestants.

Countless elements of "Love Is Blind's'' process are criticized by viewers, particularly the authenticity of the contestants' connections.

Third-season contestant Cole Barnett recently shared his thoughts about falling in love in the pods, and the role in which the unique entity plays through the experience of falling in love.

Barnett, a 27-year-old realtor, met and fell in love with fellow realtor 32-year-old Zanab Jaffery while in the pods. Despite making a strong connection in the pods, particularly over their mutual relationship with their faith, Barnett and Jaffery wouldn't make it to the real world.

Jaffery said "I don't" at the altar. She was extremely candid about the mental state she was in upon leaving the relationship, describing she felt "pretty beaten down and broken."

The time period before "Love Is Blind" contestants may feel pummeled by the 'real life' experiences of their relationships understandably holds lots of appeals. Relationships are ruled by an endless flow of conversation, not yet influenced or eclipsed by real-life experiences.

In the weeks since season three's reunion special was released on the platform, Barnett has absolutely faced ramifications resulting from certain 'real life' actions on the show.

Jaffery openly discussed her experience with self-esteem struggles resulting from Barnett's attraction to other women, as well as his alleged policing of her eating habits. Jaffery says she developed an eating disorder as a result.

According to our report surrounding season three's explosive reunion episode, Barnett was flabbergasted not only by the news of Jaffery's eating disorder but the ensuing public attention surrounding his time on the show.

"...It is what it is," Barnett would explain to Entertainment Weekly, "you have a lot of people who hate you, and you have a lot of people who love you."

He also added that he has "to try harder to be away from my phone more because you kind of just wants to sit around and read everything online. But I've done my best to disconnect from what the internet is doing and just still be the same self in my life.

Long before the media attention and the endless inner conversations a "Love Is Blind" contestant can have with themselves as a result, there were the pods. Many pod conversations don't get as deep, and even those deeper conversations are safer because they have not been influenced by real life.

Why were the pods so conducive to the contestants finding love on the show and tend to inspire more positivity? Barnett believes they are designed that way.

"People ask me, 'did you really fall in love?'' he explained in an interview with Cliche Mag, "Think about it. When you go to church camp, the majority of the people fall in love with Jesus. Because you're in an environment where all you're going to talk about is Jesus. You almost don't have a choice. That's what the pods were like," he continued. "It's conducive to falling in love. All you're doing is talking about love. It becomes easy to fall in love. It's the goal, it's the thing you're there to do. It's what you're talking about with all the guys and what you're talking about with all the girls. It's the atmosphere and vibe of the whole place. So, yes, I fell in love, but it was different than falling in love in real life because in real life there's not an environment created to lead you to that. To anyone who has ever been to a church camp, it's church camp vibes. That's just what it is. It's love camp vibes, and you're there for love, so it's going to happen," he concluded.

The complete third season of "Love Is Blind" is now available to stream on Netflix.