The latest season of Love Is Blind has been a rollercoaster of emotions, but one contestant’s journey has particularly caught the attention of viewers. Jessica “Jess” Vestal, a single mom, has been stirring up debate about when and how a person should disclose they are a parent during the dating process.
Jess, a contestant on the Charlotte, North Carolina-based season, has been open about her journey as a single mom on Love Is Blind. She started the season “nervous” to tell the men she has a daughter. The 29-year-old executive assistant had a plan to let guys get to know her as an individual before learning she’s a mom.
Her connection with Jimmy Presnell, 28, was a highlight of the season. After their first chat, she referred to him as “Jimmy with the juice.” However, their progression halted halfway through the episode when Jess opened up about having a 10-year-old daughter named Autumn. Jimmy, who was also getting to know contestant Chelsea Blackwell, reacted by asking why Jess didn’t share that information with him earlier.
Jimmy later said motherhood isn’t a “deal-breaker” for him. However, online, viewers shared their suspicions that it was, in fact, a deal-breaker. Jess fell for him, but Jimmy wavered in his feelings. Jess confronted him about his lack of “directness” in their relationship in Episode Four and he revealed he wants to pursue his connection with Chelsea.
Despite the experiment not ending in an engagement, Jess tells she wouldn’t change the decisions she made. She stands by waiting to open up about being a mom. “I have no regrets,” she says. “I really wanted to, like I said (on the show), give someone the opportunity to get to know me first and not lead with the fact that I’m a mother. Because although that is the most important part of who I am, it doesn’t define me.”
After leaving the pods, Jess returned to Charlotte, North Carolina, and reunited with Autumn. She describes seeing her daughter for the time after filming Love Is Blind. “It was amazing,” she recalls. “Like, I’ve never been away from her for that long, even though I wasn’t even on the show for as long as I had originally anticipated. I’d never taken a vacation away from her.”
She says it was a moment of “euphoria” when they reunited and embraced. “I think we hugged for like 10 minutes straight and then we were just attached at the hip for like the next couple of weeks. Actually, we still are. We haven’t recovered,” she jokes, laughing.
With the release of the first six episodes of Season Six, Autumn will now have an opportunity to see what her mom was up to while she was away. Jess confirms that she will let her daughter watch some of the show “within reason.”
“As far as my story goes, I plan to share all of it with her,” Jess says. Prior to going on Love Is Blind, the executive assistant says she showed Autumn clips of Lauren Speed-Hamilton and Cameron Hamilton’s love story from Season One so that her daughter was familiar with the show.
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‘Love Is Blind’ is stirring debate about dating as a single mom. Jess has ‘no regrets’
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‘Love Is Blind’: Jessica’s Daughter Had ‘Hard Feelings’ About Breakup
