The Red Flags Cast Members of Love is Blind (Repeatedly) Ignored: Jimmy and Chelsea
Alright, so we’ve hashed out some of the red flags amongst two of Netflix’s Love is Blind stars, Clay and AD. Now it’s time to pivot to one of the most chaotic couples this season: Jimmy and Chelsea.
Brianna McCabe, author of The Red Flags I’ve (Repeatedly) Ignored, outlines and identifies the warning signs that these two have revealed this season:
Photo: NetflixJimmy:
The iconic deadpan stare into the camera once Jimmy met Chelsea in-person for the first time after the proposal told 1,000 words. (It honestly looked like a plea for help.) Was he not physically attracted to her, yet strung her along so that they could get air time? In his confessional not too far after their initial encounter, he revealed that Chelsea had lied about her physical comparison to Megan Fox (and I’ll be honest, I do see some resemblance) – but in an experimental dating show where love is supposedly blind, shouldn’t appearance not be placed at such a high-value, if at all?
Jimmy drunkenly referred to AD as “stacked” in a conversation with Chelsea, which then fueled Chelsea into publicly joking about this commentary with the others as she pretended to shrug it off. Despite having just sexualized her in front of his own fiancée, Jimmy then proceeded to engage in a seemingly flirty conversation with AD.
Although Jimmy said this in confidence to Chelsea in an effort to preserve his friend’s privacy, it was disclosed that Jimmy has had a previous sexual relationship with one of his best friends, with whom Chelsea claimed he is constantly texting and calling. While previously hooking up with a friend may not be a red flag for everyone (I’d admit that I’m not the fondest of it, but it depends on the context), what is a red flag is the lack of boundaries that he appears to set in order to make Chelsea feel as though that relationship is strictly platonic. (And let’s face it, the fact that his one friend even remarked that Jimmy “never turns sex down” is awkward and oversteps a line, especially for the initial fiancée-friend introduction.)
Jimmy apparently branded himself within the pods to be a “homebody,” yet post-show interviews with Chelsea and his other pod connection, Jess, shared that Jimmy had more of a party-boy lifestyle than he led the women to believe. If this is true, Jimmy went into the pods inauthentically – which is a massive red flag for a show in which you’re creating connections based on the core of who you are.
After their date in the amusement park, Jimmy stated that Chelsea has done everything he has ever wanted in a wife and he confidently knew that she was his person. He set the tone for the conversation of their marriage in a positive manner and then asked Chelsea if she would move forward with the wedding. Following her “yes” response, Jimmy then bait-and-switched her by dropping a bomb that he didn’t want to go to the altar with her as he “wasn’t ready.”
Photo: NetflixChelsea:
Chelsea constantly needed validation from Jimmy, whether it be through a steady influx of meaningless “I love you’s,” sex, or an abundance of “reassuring” verbal compliments that she is beautiful in her partner’s eyes. Her insecurities particularly peaked once Jimmy received his phone during the honeymoon and saw pictures of Jess. (News flash: When you’re insecure, there’s parts of you that are psychologically unhealthy. Therefore, no one but you yourself can put in the work to feel full to then trust that your partner is attracted to you for all that you are and embody.)
When Chelsea finally met her other connection, Trevor*, in-person, her constant commentary revealed that he was “her type,” which disrespected her current fiancé.
Chelsea revealed that Trevor was her number one up until proposal day, which begged the question: Would she have said yes to Trevor if he had proposed prior to Jimmy? The biggest red flag here is that Chelsea so desperately yearned to be in a relationship, that she just wanted to be with anyone.
She constantly referred to Amy and Johnny as the power couple, which diminished the value of her own relationship and revealed that she believed that their connection was lacking. (If you feel that you can do better, hunnie, don’t settle.)
Chelsea broke her off-camera agreement with Jimmy to reveal that he had a prior sexual relationship with his best friend. If Jimmy was vulnerable enough to disclose this, yet ask for it to not be revealed publicly, Chelsea had trampled that trust – and once trust is broken, there is no foundation for a relationship to be built upon.
Despite having several blowouts, if Chelsea had the opportunity to go to the altar with Jimmy, she revealed during her last conversation with Jimmy at the amusement park that she was in a position to say, “Yes.” This declaration alone showcased just how weak and insecure Chelsea was at the time. To go into a marriage, you need to wholeheartedly know that you are ready to commit to that person. You need to feel safe, secure, respected, and trusted and believe that you have found someone that you can build a life with. However, the relationship as portrayed on TV looked nothing like the sort.
Photo: Netflix*BONUS RED FLAG: Trevor
Trevor was allegedly in a relationship throughout the duration of the show’s filming, according to tweets from his now ex-girlfriend Natalia Marrero. If Trevor was looking for a true, monogamous relationship, emotionally cheating on his girlfriend and leading another woman into wanting to marry him is a huge deal-breaker of a red flag.
“This relationship was not set up for success from the start based on what we’ve been shown,” explains McCabe. “I hope that both Jimmy and Chelsea took the much-needed time to heal and evolve once the show wrapped so that they could build a healthy relationship with their own selves first before dating anyone.”
Stay tuned for Part 3 featuring Jeramey and Laura ahead of this week’s reunion episode.
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT DATING, SELF-LOVE, AND RELATIONSHIP RED FLAGS, GRAB A COPY OF BRIANNA MCCABE’S SELF-HELP BOOK, THE RED FLAGS I'VE (REPEATEDLY) IGNORED.