Lauren admits it was a tough transition after filming for ‘Love Is Blind’ wrapped
Viewers watched as Lauren struggled with the idea of giving up her independence in her marriage. In one scene, she spoke openly about her fears of leaving her apartment and the life she built for herself to merge her life with her potential husband. She even asked Cameron if he would be upset if she kept her apartment and moved into his home!
In an exclusive interview with Madame Noire, Lauren admitted that she kept her apartment for a while, despite moving into Cameron’s home after their wedding. “I kept the apartment for three months after the show wrapped. It was for that bumper, transition time, but after that three months, I gave it up. I let it go.”
Looking back on the situation now, she chalks it up to being single for so long. “I did go through a hard time right after the show because it was such a drastic change in my life,” she said. “Like I said numerous times on the show, I had been alone for a long time. I was really used to having my own space and I was set in my own ways, so having to do a complete 180, for me it was definitely a transition.”
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Luckily, she had Cameron by her side to support her as she went through the motions.
“Cameron was very patient with me throughout that time. Even just coming off something like filming a show like this, which is so emotionally deep, and like you said, we didn’t have therapists throughout that, so it’s something I really had to work through myself,” she explained. “I’ve never seen a successful marriage. My parents are divorced. So I kind of had to learn how to be a wife. I had to still learn how to double my personal time and be strong on my own and also grow into this partnership and share a space.”
Source: Instagram
Source: Instagram
How are Lauren and Cameron doing today?
A year and a half after filming wrapped, fans were thrilled to learn that Lauren and Cameron are still married and figuring out life together. They were bound by contracts to keep their status under wraps until the finale aired. Though it was difficult to do so, the privacy helped the two to work through any issues out of the public eye.
Source: Instagram
“That’s a lot to go through and transition into, but that’s also a good reason then that we had this buffer time in between the show coming out,” she said. “We needed that time to grow into each other and reflect on everything and get comfortable with our experience and our relationship before the hot light hit us. So that’s why I can talk about that type of stuff in this interview now because I had that time to go through that transition. I’m grateful for it.”
Source: Instagram
They celebrated their one year anniversary with a tropical vacation in Mexico and have been side by side at events in promotion of the show. Thankfully for fans, they are finally able to showcase their love on social media!
Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott are back together ... at least that's the signal she's giving, and pretty clearly giving at that.
Kylie posted a bunch of pics from the Houston Rocket's Western Conference Quarterfinals back in 2017. It's when she was pregnant with Stormi. Kylie and Trav certainly look couply. She captioned the photos, "It's a mood."
She posted pics of Travis whispering in her ear, another staring into each other's eyes ... get the picture?
Kylie also modeled shoes Travis released last Saturday ... Nike SB Dunk low-top trainers. BTW ... they've gone from $150 a pop online to $1,000.
In case you forgot, Kylie and Travis started dating at Coachella in 2017 and it wasn't long before she was pregnant with Stormi. They broke up last year but remained close and were super-into co-parenting, but it clearly started getting romantic, and he surprised her on Valentine's Day with a bunch of flowers.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s announcement in early January that they intended to step down as senior members of the royal family has caused plenty of problems for Queen Elizabeth. But, how are Prince William and Kate Middleton handling the unprecedented change? Of course, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will never speak publicly about how the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s bombshell decision has affected them. But a new report claims that the “out of control” Prince Harry has caused a “nightmare” for William and Kate.
Prince Harry | ANDREW MILLIGAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Prince Harry is causing serious problems for royal staff
It was revealed earlier this month that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s office at Kensington Palace had been closed and their staff was fired. This means the Duke and Duchess of Sussex no longer have anyone working for them who is familiar with royal protocol.
Last week, it was announced that Middleton and Prince William would be visiting Ireland at the same time that Prince Harry and Markle are scheduled to return to the UK together. And, an insider told Express that this would have never happened if Harry wouldn’t have caused so many problems.
“This sort of diary error would simply not
have happened in the days before Harry decided to bale out of royal life,”
explained the source. “That’s why members of the royal family have private
secretaries – and a grid system, similar to the Government’s method – to ensure
that coverage of important events doesn’t clash.”
The insider went on to say that it’s been a
“nightmare” for the staff because there is no longer any control over Prince
Harry. Now, he doesn’t have anyone working for him who has “proper experience
of the methods and protocol of the court system.”
Prince Harry has asked attendees at a tourism conference to call him simply "Harry," as he begins his final round of public engagements before beginning a new chapter away from the British royal family. https://t.co/gilUX3ocXS
The source says that the Sussexes are now relying on “some flash PR person” who is used to working in the American entertainment world. The insider described Prince Harry’s new employee as “more Hollywood than Windsor,” and accused them of not respecting the views of the rest of the royal family.
Harry and Meghan’s return to the UK will overshadow William and Kate
After Queen Elizabeth ruled that Prince Harry
and Markle could no longer use “Sussex Royal” as their worldwide brand name for
their post-royal business and charitable efforts, tensions among the royal
family were apparently heightened.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex agreed to not use the word “royal” after their official exit from the family on March 31. But, when they made a comment on their website that Queen Elizabeth didn’t have any jurisdiction over the word outside of the UK, they were accused of “humiliating’ the Monarch.
To make matters worse, Prince Harry’s new life
is causing problems for his brother and sister-in-law. The Duke and Duchess of
Cambridge’s final day in Ireland will now be overshadowed by Prince Harry and
Markle’s return to the UK after their move to Canada with their son, Archie
Harrison. These will be the final royal engagements for the Duke and Duchess of
Sussex.
“While William fully respects Harry’s
right to come back whenever he wants – indeed he is glad that he is returning,
however briefly – he wishes that it wasn’t at the same time as his Irish trip
because he knows what will happen is that the spotlight as far as papers and TV
are concerned will be fully on Harry and Meghan,” explained the source.
Prince William and Middleton are fully aware that Prince Harry and Markle’s brief return will be “the big story.” The insider made it clear that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge aren’t jealous of the Sussexes and the coverage they will receive. Prince William hoped that his tour of Ireland with Middleton would get its due “media prominence.”
Queen Elizabeth didn’t appreciate being ‘blindsided’
Prince Harry and Markle’s comment about the Queen not having jurisdiction over the word “royal” did not sit well with the British press. Former BBC royal correspondent Peter Hunt wrote in an editorial for The Spectator that Queen Elizabeth “doesn’t take kindly to being bounced or indeed being blindsided.”
Hunt explained that the Monarch does have
government regulations and royal rules on her side, and the Sussexes are going
to have to deal with the restriction in their “self-imposed exile.”
Megxit’s Financial Aftershocks: Queen Elizabeth Reported To Forbid Meghan Markle And Harry From Using Their “Sussex Royal” Brand. Forbes lauded their dynamic duo just a few weeks ago touting their marketability. Now this, oh my. https://t.co/uBggxbELDg
“Sussex Royal can be no more. A freshly
branded website will have to be re-branded,” wrote Hunt, making it clear that
the Queen’s ban of the world “royal” will “hurt” Harry and Meghan.
“Nothing is left of their half-baked plan to
change what it meant to be a senior member of the royal family. The status quo
has been sustained,” said Hunt. “What’s
striking is that Harry, with his deep insider knowledge of how his family
functions, clearly thought they might succeed.”
Hunt said that Prince Harry convinced himself
that he could move to Canada and earn his money while remaining the
Captain-General of the Royal Marines. Unfortunately, says Hunt, a “harsh
Windsor reality has replaced that misguided optimism.”
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex will lose their Canadian security protection when they step back as senior members of the royal family next month, the country's government has said. https://t.co/5WogsUimrQ
However, Queen Elizabeth didn’t completely shut the door on the Sussexes, as she allowed a 12-month transition period where Harry can keep his honorary military titles. And, it’s possible that Prince Harry and Markle could change their minds between now and then.
“No one could have predicted these last few
months, not least those enmeshed in it,” said Hunt.
“So only the foolhardy would wish to say with any certainty that this is the last we’ll see of Prince Harry and Meghan as full-time royals.”
"When I went into it, I was like, is anyone going to get engaged? Is anyone going to find love?'"
If even the creator of Love Is Blind had that thought heading into Netflix's three-week event series, which launched an experiment, it's understandable that many viewers would be skeptical that the experiment would actually wok or that any of the five remaining engaged couples would actually get married heading into the finale.
And yet...two of the five couples actually went through with it, exchanging vows. (Spoiler alert!)
Cameron Reid Hamilton and Lauren Speed, the pod squad's first engaged (and arguably most solid) couple went through with it, despite some reservations on Lauren's part. Also becoming man and wife? Mike Barnett (aka Barnett) and Amber Pike, despite his slightly chilly cold feet, almost pulling a Big in the Sex and the City movie.
That leaves three couples that ultimately had one party decide they didn't want to get married, with Jessica Batten—surprising no one—by leaving Mark Anthony Cuevas at the altar, Kelly Chase deciding the spark just wasn't there with Kenny Barnes, and, in the most shocking decision, Damian Powers sending Giannina Gibelli running off in tears on her wedding day.
Harsh and a little cruel to have the couples ultimately wait until they are standing in front of their family and closest friends to reveal their decision to the person they got engaged to sigh unseen just four weeks prior? Undoubtedly. Was it riveting television? Absolutely.
But did it have to go down that way?
"They certainly could choose to do whatever they wanted to do," Love Is Blind creator Chris Coelen told E! News of the wedding day decision-making process. "Again, being there on the wedding day, I personally, knowing these people and their stories, I didn't know what was going to happen."
Just take a look at what went down during the first wedding that went down between Damian and Gigi.
The crew was just as surprised by Damian's last-minute change of heart as Gigi was, with Coelen admitting, "With Damien and Gigi, it was like 'What?!' Literally, no idea. People are just gasping in the control room. Like, anything could happen with any of them."
They weren't even sure if Barnett would show up for the ceremony, with the creator saying, "It was crazy, the fact that Barnett…he's texting Amber on his wedding day and I was like, 'What is going on?!' We're hoping, hoping, hoping somebody is going to go through with it."
And while viewers thought Kenny and Kelly were well-suited, as did her entire family and group of friends, Kelly ultimately felt there was a spark missing and left poor Kenny at the altar. "Kenny and Kelly were a big surprise to everybody," Coelen said.
With all five of the weddings providing drama in their own way, Coelen assured, "It's so not contrived," explaining the mix of happy endings with bittersweet partings is what makes the show work.
"I love that it's sad, I love that it's stakes because when you then have a success story like Cam and Lauren, it's real. It's real and they are in love and that love is going to bond them for the rest of their lives," he explained. "It's incredible to be a part of that. It's super high stakes, it's the highest stakes in a relationship standout you can have, so you heighten the stakes t o that level, you are going to have this amazing rush of success but you're also going to have the crash of it not working out and people being devastated. It's all real."
And it all happened over a year ago. Yes, that's right: the weddings filmed well over a year ago, meaning the two couples that actually exchanged vows have had over 365 days together, if they've even remained married.
While fans will get an official update from all of the six inaugural couples when Love Is Blind's highly anticipated reunion special drops on Thursday, Mar. 5, we've managed to assemble some intel on where the relationships stand now heading into the reunion:
Love Is Blind is currently available to stream on Netflix.
Hilary Duff has unleashed a war on Disney for a good cause. The actress broke her silence on the issues with the Lizzie McGuire revival that halted production after only producing two episodes. After the star of the series seemingly shaded executives, Duff posted a more extensive response explaining the struggles in continuing the show. Fans are now worried that she reboot will be canceled altogether.
Hilary Duff | Sarah Morris/Getty Images
Why did they stop production?
At the beginning of this year, news broke that the Lizzie McGuire revival had halted production after only two episodes. At the same time, it was announced that the series’ creator Terri Minsky was always stepping down as showrunner.
“Fans have a sentimental attachment to Lizzie McGuire and high expectations for a new series. After filming two episodes, we concluded that we need to move in a different creative direction and are putting a new lens on the show,” a Disney spokesperson told Deadline in a statement in January.
There were no further statements made by Disney or anyone involved in the series. Production for the show stopped as Duff took time off for her honeymoon.
Another Disney+ series moves to Hulu
Everything in the Lizzie McGuire universe was quite, until this week. Disney+ announced that the Love, Simon spin-off produced for the streaming service would be moving to Hulu.
The 10-episode show would make the change because the themes that Love, Victor would tackle were not “family-friendly.” Disney+ has a very specific demographic that they want to target for the digital platform and executives believed the series was better suited for their sister streamer.
Duff was one of many that reacted to the news and made her reaction public on her Instagram Stories.
“Sounds familiar,” she wrote along with a screenshot of the article she read.
Series creator reacts to frenzy
When the frenzy around the future of the Lizzie McGuire series started, Minsky broke her silence. She explained what led to her exit from the show and what she wished Disney+ would do with the series.
“I am so proud of the two episodes we did,” Minsky told Variety. “Hilary has a grasp of Lizzie McGuire at 30 that needs to be seen. It’s a wonderful thing to watch. I would love the show to exist, but ideally, I would love it if it could be given that treatment of going to Hulu and doing the show that we were doing. That’s the part where I am completely in the dark. It’s important to me that this show was important to people. I felt like I wanted to do a show that was worthy of that kind of devotion.”
Hilary Duff makes petition
Following fan reactions, Duff took to Instagram once again to address the controversy around Lizzie McGuire.
“Was incredibly excited to launch Lizzie on Disney+ and my passion remains,” she wrote in an Instagram post. “However, I feel a huge responsibility to honor the fans’ relationship with Lizzie who, like me, grew up seeing themselves in her.”
Duff openly asked Disney to allow the fictional character to be a grown woman and not be stuck in the past.
“I’d be doing a disservice to everyone by limiting the realities of a 30-year-old’s journey to live under the ceiling of a PG rating,” Duff continued. “It’s important to me that just as her experiences as a pre-teen/teenager navigating life were authentic, her next chapters are equally as real and relatable.”
The former Disney Channel star made the petition to allow Lizzie to live on Hulu just like Love, Victor.
“It would be a dream if Disney would let us move the show to Hulu, if they were interested, and I could bring this beloved character to life again,” Duff ended.
Is ‘Lizzie McGuire’ canceled?
With all the polemic around Lizzie McGuire fans feel that Disney might just pull the plug of the series and won’t be able to see the show anymore. However, after Duff’s first message on Instagram, a spokesperson for the company said they were still working on the series.
“We paused production on Lizzie McGuire a few weeks ago to allow time for some creative re-development,” the spokesperson told Variety. “Our goal is to resume production and to tell an authentic story that connects to the millions who are emotionally invested in the character, and a new generation of viewers too.”
As of now it is not known if Disney will move the show to Hulu or keep it PG for Disney+ viewers.
The unlikely pair rocked out while Bon Jovi recorded a new version of his song "Unbroken" for this year's Invictus Games, the sporting competition for injured military personnel that Harry created in 2014.
Battling rainy weather in the UK's capital -- which made surfaces Slippery When Wet -- the prince met with Bon Jovi outside the famous Abbey Road Studios, chatting casually with the mop-topped singer.
The two were then ushered into the control room overlooking Studio 2, where the Beatles recorded during the 1960s, and shared a quick duet in front of the studio's microphones.
"It's gonna be really easy, just pretend you're singing in your bedroom," the New Jersey rocker told his counterpart. "Just shout it out," he added -- an approach Bon Jovi never shied away from during his band's 80s heyday.
Harry shared a tease of the encounter on his Instagram page.
"We've just been gargling next door so we're ready to go," he joked to media afterward.
Never one to Runaway from a photo opportunity, the pair then engaged in one of London's ultimate tourist activities by posing on the road crossing made famous by the Beatles, on the cover of their "Abbey Road" album.
Harry also spoke with members of the Invictus Choir, which has been working with Bon Jovi as he re-worked "Unbroken." Originally released last year, the pro-veteran anthem now features backing vocals from members of the choir.
The stop is part of Harry's final round of engagements before he and his wife, Meghan, step back from royal duties, splitting their time between the UK and Canada.
Rather than holding on to what they've got, the couple decided earlier this year to say "It's My Life" to the rest of the royals -- scaling back their duties and agreeing to a transition period that starts on March 31.
"He's a wonderful young man," the singer told the BBC after the visit, adding that Harry is a "Bon Jovi fan" -- but the rocker declined to comment on his decision to step back from the family.
Bon Jovi is set to release a new album in May, and will tour the United States with Bryan Adams during the summer.
One of the 12 jurors who found Harvey Weinstein guilty of rape and a criminal sex act said they focused on the law and the testimony they heard and did not let the cultural impact of the #MeToo movement influence their decision. Drew, who was juror number nine, said the deliberations took an emotional toll on him and the other jurors.
He told "CBS This Morning" co-host Gayle King that the #MeToo movement did not impact the verdict.
"That's not the job, and it's not what we were asked to do," he said. "It would be an adulteration of the process to take outside factors and have that weigh on our decision-making process and eventual findings. And, you know, I have no appetite or aspirations to be the voice or face of both the jury and the larger movement. It's, you know, this case, these people, this is our decision."
He said it didn't mean anything to him that some of Weinstein's alleged victims thanked the jury publicly.
"I took no joy in any aspect of it, you know, this is a serious matter for serious crimes," he said.
Weinstein juror says #MeToo movement didn't impact verdict
Drew said the jury took the five-day long deliberation process seriously and that coming to a unanimous verdict required a close look at the legal definitions of the charges.
He said actress Jessica Mann's testimony was compelling enough for a guilty verdict of third degree rape, but not enough to convict Weinstein of the most serious charges he was facing.
"It wasn't rape in the first degree. There was no physical compulsion with the threat of bodily harm or death," he said. "But there was no consent given, despite a lack of physical resistance, and a reasonable person should have known that there was no consent given in that instance."
Mann testified that Weinstein sexually assaulted her several times during their yearslong on-again-off-again relationship.
Describing how Mann's testimony affected him, Drew said, "On a personal level, it affected me very deeply … But that's not what we were there to do. We were there to do a job and to interpret the law and make a decision based on evidence and testimony."
Asked if the testimony that women can be sexually assaulted but still maintain contact with their attacker factored into the decision, Drew said, "In the earlier parts of the deliberation, there was huge discourse about things of that nature."
"I ask that because so many people have trouble understanding that. Did that factor into your decision-making process?" King asked.
"The decision making, no," Drew said. "It's an alleged incident, not kind of this whole canvas of relationship. It's, you know, husbands can rape their wives. And it's a complicated issue, for sure, but it was our contention that it's one incident."
Three of the five charges stemmed from Mann's accusations. The other two focused on Miriam Haley, a former production assistant who testified Weinstein sexual assaulted her at his apartment in 2006.
Mann and Haley both took the stand after "Sopranos" actress Annabella Sciorra testified, as the prosecution tried to show a pattern of behavior to the jury. Weinstein was charged with predatory sexual assault, but was found not guilty.
Drew said Sciorra's testimony was "compelling in and of itself."
"But these are serious allegations, and that's a very high burden that the prosecution took upon itself in bringing these charges," he said. "It's 27 years ago, and in this country, you know, you and I and even Harvey Weinstein are innocent until proven beyond a reasonable doubt of the opposite."
Asked if it influenced him that Weinstein did not take the stand, Drew said, "I wanted him to. And I could hypothesize as to the whys that he didn't, you know, that he could lose kind of his shield of representation once he goes up there."
But, he said, Weinstein not taking the stand did not influence the verdict.
"The only thing that influenced mine and our collective decision making was what we had in front of us," he said.
In their fourth day of deliberations, jurors sent a note to the judge asking if they could be split on some counts, but unanimous on others. Drew explained the jury was simply looking for clarification, but outside the court, he said it was mistaken as a sign that a verdict was imminent.
"Maybe that's our fault for the syntax of the note. But I know now that people kind of deduced that maybe he was guilty somewhere along the line, and I'll tell you, I was sick about it. Because, he's a human being and he's going home that night and knowing that he's walking into court Monday morning and potentially not leaving," Drew said. "Regardless of what any other human does to any other human, for me to affect another person like that really took a toll on me."
Asked if he thinks Weinstein should go to jail, Drew said, "That's not for me to say."
"I could say that a man of his age and of his current health, general population at Rikers sounds like a pretty dangerous place. That's really all I can say about that," he said.
Drew also said the jury was not trying to send any type of message.
"We were there to do a job, to make a decision based on the information that was presented to us, and we have absolutely no stance or voice or opinion as to any type of larger movement," he said.
Weinstein juror reveals the emotional toll of deliberations
Thinking back to the start of the trial, Drew said it was "mind-blowing" to be in the jury.
"What are the chances, you know, that of the people who were subpoenaed for jury duty," he said. "The happenstance was mind-blowing."
He said he knew "some" about Weinstein and the case, but "probably not as much as others." He knew about "Ronan Farrow, The New Yorker, The New York Times, things of that nature," he said.
Drew told King that a lot of people have asked him how he could be impartial in the trial.
"I take absolute pride in my objectivity," he said. "Judge Burke instructed us, he said, 'You can know who Harvey Weinstein is and still be impartial,' and I agree with him 100%."
Drew said any tension "was not person-to-person" or confrontational.
"This is heavy, heavy stuff, heavy stuff," he said. "Twelve people, you know, me and 11 strangers, everybody brings their own belief system and everything, inclinations, inspirations, motivations, but … it was our job that was put to us to be impartial and to interpret the law, and to render unanimous verdict in the case."
Drew described "a rough moment" for him during deliberations.
"I kind of found myself just, you know, I was holding my head," he said. "And I turned actually to one of the other jurors, and I said, 'Thanks for being my friend,' and in retrospect, it's such a silly thing to say."
"It was like I had, like, cut myself open and dumped it all out for everybody to see, and instead of judging me for it, they kind of all put me back together again," he said.
Drew said he suggested to the other jurors that they all take a different seat each day of the deliberations.
"I think it's a change of perspective, quite literally," he said. "But also if you sit next to the same person every day, it's kind of an echo chamber of affirmation."
They wanted to avoid any type of "groupthink" or "subconscious gestures to one another," he said, adding that "to just force yourself quite literally out of your comfort zone might also force you to take a more objective approach to what we're talking about."
Asked if the male jurors felt differently than the female jurors, Drew said they didn't.
"There was no gender bias, there was no race bias," he said.
Drew wouldn't say if it was difficult for the jury to reach a unanimous decision.
"I understand that people have an interest and a desire to know, but this is how we found on these counts, and I see no upside to kind of pulling back the curtain any further than that," he said.
Asked if he is comfortable with the decision, he said, "That is an interesting question, and the answer is yes. And to speak to the respect I have for the people in the room, we have to live with these choices."
The first season of Love Is Blind was full of drama and Jessica Batten was one of the reasons for that. She wasn’t happy with her relationship and often was seen drinking. Now she is answering why she drank so much. Find out what she said about being on the Netflix show and more.
Jessica Batten struggled on ‘Love Is Blind’
Love is Blind | Netflix
Batten hit it off with two men in the pods. One was Matthew Barnett and the other was Mark Cuevas. She was hesitant about getting with Cuevas because of their age difference. Barnett gave her hope that he would propose only for him to change his mind.
In the end, she accepted Cuevas’ proposal and Barnett got engaged to Amber Pike. When they saw each other for the first time it was obvious Batten was more attracted to Barnett than Cuevas.
This led to some awkward moments. A few of them happened when she was very drunk.
She had multiple drunk awkward moments
There were multiple moments when Batten talked about her feelings while drunk. One episode showed the engaged couple after a party with the other couples. Batten was very drunk and got mad at Cuevas. She then said, “I think Barnett is f*ckin’ sexy and like, hot.” He decided to sleep on the couch instead of being in bed with her that night.
Another episode showed her getting drunk with Cuevas again and even letting her dog drink some of her wine. She also was visibly drunk for her bachelorette party, which led to an awkward conversation with Pike.
She answered if she’s an alcoholic
Some fans thought Batten’s drinking might be a sign of problem. She addressed this accusation with Entertainment Weekly.
“I think there’s a reason that there’s sometimes alcohol around during these reality shows,” said Batten. “Sometimes you loosen up and these moments can kind of come out. I really wish that I would have been better about the drinking for me.”
She continued, “I was really uncomfortable and so I had a few moments where I overdrank. I know the first one I took accountability for on camera and then the bachelorette party as well. If I could do anything differently it would be that I didn’t have so much to drink.”
Batten went on to talk about the emotion that led to her turning to drinking. “That is something that I tend to do if I’m nervous, I drink a little bit more,” she admitted. “But actually I’ve had a lot of people reach out to me like, ‘Are you an alcoholic,’ or something like that, and I actually don’t drink very often. I take several months off a year. I think it was just in that moment I was so uncomfortable and unfortunately I was using alcohol a little bit to defer that.”
It sounds like Batten does have one regret about filming this season and that’s how much she drank. Fans will be able to see her talk about the season with the rest of the cast on the reunion, which will be available on March 5.
Love Is Blind — joining Netflix shortly after the premiere of the hit reality show and social media experiment, The Circle — asks viewers if love is truly blind. When a group of men and women “meet” with a wall between them, will they be willing to jump into an engagement and say “I do” at the aisle, or will social pressures and real-life stressors get in the way of their happily-ever-after fairytale? On the show, multiple individuals fall in love — seemingly overnight — and proceed down the show’s whirlwind set up.
Netflix’s ‘Love Is Blind’ VIP viewing party | Marcus Ingram/Getty Images for Netflix
From vacations in Mexico to living together in an apartment, the show recreates life, yet takes the fast lane… the ultra-fast lane. Of all the couples, Mark and Jessica still have fans up in arms — fans feel he was too good for her; he fights too hard for her love and acceptance. Many feel he deserved to meet a girl who was as ready for commitment, or as willing to be honest with what she needs.
Spoilers for Netflix’s ‘Love Is Blind’ below
What happened between Mark and Jessica on ‘Love Is Blind?’
Jessica falls for two men — without ever meeting them — on Love Is Blind: Barnett and Mark. While she initially felt she would wind up with Barnett — a man falling squarely into the frat-boy persona she usually aims for — Barnett ended up changing his mind, and he chose a different woman (after imagining a married life with Jessica from behind a wall).
Jessica then goes crawling back to Mark – emotions all over the place — and winds up engaged to the man who is a bit more introspective, vulnerable, and communicative than Barnett. While Mark seems like the superior catch, Jessica struggles to match his physical appearance with the voice when they finally meet.
Jessica wavers back and forth — feeling for Mark, and then wanting to cut things off. She jumps between thinking he’s the perfect guy and then wondering if their age difference will cause a rupture in their romance. She’s an established career woman (34 years old), and he’s a fitness trainer figuring it out (24). And, these facts (among others) wind up preventing Jessica from saying “I do.”
Throughout the course of the show, Mark fights for Jessica; he does all in his power to make their dynamic work. He is patient and sweet, communicative, and accepting. He is mature and open, while she (though ten years older) often feels stuck in her sorority days. He tries, and she remains lost and largely unappreciative. Thus, where they stand today should come as no surprise.
Jessica virtually ghosted Mark following ‘Love Is Blind’
When talking about where he and Jessica stand, Mark told the New York Post that she ghosted him after running from the altar. He stated:
We haven’t talked since the wedding day…I reached out at some point — nothing bad, just to say, like, ‘Hey, I hope everything’s going well, I hope everything’s doing all right.’ I didn’t hear back. But to me, it’s just sending love out there. Like, ‘Hey, I hope you’re doing OK.’ And that’s that.
New York Post
Should it come as a surprise that Mark — once again — revealed hoq big his heart is, and how much of a gentleman he can be, while Jessica failed to rise to his level? She couldn’t even send a text to catch up. In the end, age and maturity don’t always go hand in hand.
On Thursday, the day the finale began streaming, The Washington Post caught up with the couple to find out what it was like to fall in love and get engaged without having seen one another — and what their life has been like since taping wrapped in November 2018. (They’re still together!) The following phone interview has been edited for clarity and length.
The Washington Post: Why did you apply to be on this show?
Lauren: I applied because my dating life was pretty much in shambles. I was really intrigued by the fact that it wasn’t based on aesthetics, because nowadays that’s such a big part of not only dating but our culture as a whole.
Cameron: I was doing the dating apps and I was finding myself picking the wrong people for me. I was making quick judgments based on how they looked and was ignoring their personality. So I thought that this might be a chance to get to know someone on a deeper level, an emotional level, first.
The Post: Do you remember what you talked about in your first conversation together?
Lauren: Our very first conversation was super-brief — about seven minutes. We did a basic introduction of ourselves: where we’re from, what we do, the stuff that’s important to us.
Cameron: We both kind of related on the fact that we have very entrepreneurial minds and that we’re self-taught in a lot of different ways. We also bonded over the fact that we’re both introverts that are able to be extroverted when we need to be.
The Post: Do the pods make it easier to date as introverts?
Cameron: I think so. I like to describe them as kind of like a meditation chamber, because all you have are the acoustics of their voice. So it really allows you to focus in on them as an individual. You’ve got this nice hypnotic wall in front of you that helps keep your focus. So we were able to just delve incredibly deep.
Lauren: And you don’t have to worry about what you look like.
The Post: How did you fall in love so quickly?
Lauren: You definitely have to be open and vulnerable, and willing to fall in love. At the same time, when you connect with someone, you connect. When you feel a certain something with someone that you’ve never felt before — especially if you’ve been in long relationships or relationships that haven’t worked — you feel something different.
Cameron: I went into it with a bunch of questions [about] things that I would want to know about a potential partner. But the other part was just that Lauren and I really were economical about how we spent our time together.
The Post: What were some of those questions that you asked?
Cameron: What’s something that you’ve done that you weren’t proud of?
Lauren: When was the last time you cried?
Cameron: What are some of your biggest fears?
Lauren: Political views.
Cameron: How would you want to raise your children, spiritually, religiously? What sort of those values would you want to instill in them? How would you want to discipline our children?
Lauren: Do you believe in spanking?
Cameron: We wish a lot of those conversations were captured. Of course, there is so little time to spare and [they] have to show everyone’s story line. But we just wish [they] showed more of the complexity of our relationship.
The Post: What is it like talking to someone and you can’t see them?
Lauren: You can actually tell a lot with the inflection in someone’s voice. You can kind of tell if someone’s angry or sad or upset or if something excites them. You can kind of hear when people are smiling, too, when they talk.
The Post: Let’s take it out of the pods. Cameron, I’m so struck by the way you look at Lauren. It’s so adoring. Can you explain what was going through your heart and mind as the two of you were falling in love? What was in that look?
Cameron: After we got engaged and we saw each other during the reveal, my whole mentality about the experiment and the process shifted to focusing on: How are Lauren and I going to make it to our wedding and be in a healthy spot? So I stopped thinking about the cameras. I was just thinking about Lauren. I was kind of in my own world with her.
The Post: Lauren, is it fair to say that you had a bit of catching up to do to get where Cameron was?
Lauren: I guess in a sense, because Cameron was definitely all in, ready to go, right away. Of course I knew that I loved Cameron, and I knew that I would want to marry him in the long run. But I’m not going to lie, it scared me to make such a huge commitment so fast. He was ready; he had no doubts. I’m like: “You don’t have any?” I feel like I would ask him every day, just because it would make me feel better if he was a little scared. But he was just like: “No, I’m good.”
Cameron: Everyone wanted me to be scared and to have doubts. I tried to search inside myself to see if I had any. But I really didn’t.
Lauren: That made me feel more confident. He literally has no doubt, so that pushed me to stop being so afraid.
The Post: I was thinking about that moment where you are on Cameron’s balcony, discussing: Will Lauren keep her apartment? Cameron wanted her to move in. I had this surge of anxiety, thinking: She barely knows this guy! Of course she’s not moving into his house.
Lauren: That’s exactly how I felt. This is all brand new and we’re talking about getting rid of my place? It was something that I had to communicate.
The Post: Did you guys end up moving in together?
Lauren: Yes, we did.
The Post: Into Cameron’s place?
Cameron: Into our house, yeah.
The Post: How much producer meddling is involved? Did they try to push you in certain ways?
Lauren: No, actually, everything that you see was super authentic. Everything that I said was my real thoughts, my real actions, who I really connected with, who irritated me.
Cameron: Same here. The producers would bring up stuff like: “Hey, can you guys talk about race?” But we had those discussions anyway, Lauren and I.
The Post: Lauren, you said on the show that this has been your first interracial relationship. What has that been like?
Lauren: It’s actually been pretty normal. Me and Cameron, we just interact like any other couple. Of course at times we discuss our cultural backgrounds or sometimes we even joke about it. Outside of our race being different, I’m from Detroit; I’m a city girl. He’s from Maine; he’s a country guy.
[Race] is definitely something that we talk about, even when it comes to having children and how our children might be perceived or look. We talked about Cameron learning how to do curlier, thicker hair because our child will probably have hair like me.
The Post: Cameron, when you first met Lauren’s dad, he was skeptical of you. How has that relationship changed?
Cameron: I love Lauren’s dad. He lives very close to us, so he gets to come over quite a bit for dinner and bonding time. I think of him as a second father.
The Post: How is your relationship different today than it was when you first got out of the pods? And what has remained constant?
Cameron: We’ve definitely picked up parts of each other. Lauren’s made me a bit more bubbly or expressive.
Lauren: He’s very smart and intelligent, so I’m always learning something new from him, whether it’s words or just things about the world and philosophy. Even his little sayings, I’m starting to pick them up. It’s like we’re becoming one entity. We’re one soul now.
Grey’s Anatomy fans have been wondering how Alex Karev will be written out of the ABC drama after Justin Chambers announced his departure in January 2020. Many viewers were worried Alex wouldn’t receive a proper exit, as Chambers’ final episode reportedly aired on Nov. 14. Since then, the show has tip-toed around the subject. But now, it seems viewers will find out the real reason why Alex leaves Grey Sloan Memorial. In the Grey’s AnatomySeason 16, Episode 16 promo trailer, the network confirmed fans will bid farewell to Alex on Thursday, March 5.
The ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Season 16, Episode 16 promo teases Alex Karev’s exit
There’s no good time to say goodbye to a show and character that’s defined so much of my life for the past 15 years. For some time now, however, I have hoped to diversify my acting roles and career choices. And, as I turn 50 and am blessed with my remarkable, supportive wife and five wonderful children, now is that time.
Then following the Feb. 27 episode of Grey’s Anatomy Season 16, ABC aired the promo for the 16th episode, titled “Leave A Light On.” And basically, everyone better stock up on tequila and tissues because the teaser alone will break your heart.
The promo kicks off with a scene from the Grey’s Anatomy pilot and A Great Big World’s “Say Something” playing softly in the background. Viewers watch as shots of the original interns — Alex, Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), George O’Malley (T.R. Knight), Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl), and Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh) — flash by. Then it’s highlighted Meredith and Alex are the last two remaining from MAGIC — until March 5.
“After 16 seasons, we’re saying goodbye to Dr. Alex Karev. See how his story ends next Thursday on Grey’s Anatomy,” the promo reads.
Why does Alex Karev leave ‘Grey’s Anatomy’?
For now, fans will have to wait and see how “Leave A Light On” unfolds Alex’s exit on Grey’s Anatomy. The season 16, episode 16 promo trailer merely showed old clips from previous seasons, highlighting the character’s lengthy journey and relationships on the show.
Meanwhile, the description for the March 5 episode, doesn’t give away any details either. “Bailey [Chandra Wilson] and Ben [Jason George] face a huge, life-altering decision, while Meredith and several of the doctors reflect on the past,” the release on ABC reads.
But even so, the end of Grey’s Anatomy Season 16, Episode 15 had fans believing Alex left his wife, Jo (Camilla Luddington). In the final moments of the Feb. 27 episode, Jo reveals a major bombshell — Alex isn’t with his mom in Iowa like we all were led to believe.
“He left me,” Jo says. “I think he woke up one day and felt the need to escape his life and me. I called his mom. He wasn’t there, he’d never been there. And I can’t breathe.”
Jo — as well as audiences at home — crumble into tears.
‘Grey’s Anatomy’ showrunner opens up about Alex Karev’s final arc
Justin Chambers as Alex Karev and Ellen Pompeo as Meredith Grey on ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ | Richard Cartwright/Walt Disney Television via Getty Images
As Grey’s Anatomy fansanxiously wait for Alex’s farewell episode, some may find comfort in showrunner Krista Vernoff’s previous interview with Variety from Feb. 13. Vernoff revealed Alex’s departure will take some time “to give the audience clarity.” But she hinted the character’s exit won’t completely shatter Jo.
“It was a very careful threading of a needle, where we are giving a little bit of information and pain to Jo,” Vernoff said.
She later added: “Jo went through so much pain and so much grief just last season that I wanted to be careful. And so it’s a bit of a mystery [what’s going on with Alex], so that we don’t watch Jo in the same place that we watched her in last season. We did it as carefully as we could. But it takes a while to get there.”
Regardless of how Alex leaves Grey’s Anatomy, we know it’ll be painful to watch. As mentioned, the character has been with fans for 15 years. So naturally, it’ll be hard to let him go. Let’s just hope it’s an ending fitting for a king — or as Cristina would put it, “Evil Spawn.”
Taylor Swift fans were left stunned by the singer's new music video for her single, "The Man," in which she is transformed into a businessman.
The 30-year-old singer is unrecognizable as the video for Swift's new song follows a pompous businessman wearing a suit and tie who is nothing but impolite to everyone around him. It isn't until the very end of the four-minute video that photos show Swift's step-by-step prosthetic transformation to become "The Man."
The video is just as suggestive as its lyrics, which call out disparities between men and women. In the video, Swift is dressed as an attractive white male with a full head of brunette hair as well as facial hair.
In the first scene, "The Man" is a selfish boss who shouts at his employees. The video continues to show Swift's male character having no respect for people around him as he puffs on a cigarette on the Subway, yells at a waiter aboard a luxurious yacht and urinates in public.
One monumental scene gives a nod to Serena Williams, who came under fire at the US Open in 2018 for her reaction to a referee. The scene shows "The Man" launching tennis balls at a referee played by her father.
The head-turning video sparked a social media frenzy on Twitter, with fans dubbing the pop star a "creative genius."
Taylor Swift not only sings about "The Man" in her new music video for her single, she straight up becomes him.
The singer wrote, directed and stars in the visual for her song about the double standard between men and women in the entertainment industry, while making veiled references to her very public feud with both Scooter Braun and Scott Borchetta, after Braun purchased Swift's masters from Botchetta's Big Machine.
Donning prosthetics, a fake beard and dark brown hair, the video sees Taylor becoming "Tyler Swift," a powerful guy who manspreads on the subway, urinates in public and takes exotic trips with bikini-clad models.
Calling out her Scooter-Scott drama, one scene sees "Tyler" standing in front of a wall covered in graffiti listing the names of Taylor's albums. One sign on the wall reads "Missing: If Found Return to Taylor Swift," while another has the image of a scooter with a red line through it.
No Scooters, get it?
YouTube
The video ends with Tyler shooting a music video of his own, directed by Taylor, who gives him the one piece of advice women are sick of hearing: "Could you try to be sexier, maybe more likable this time?"
BOSTON — Attorneys for Lori Loughlin and fashion designer husband Mossimo Giannulli said new evidence released Wednesday exonerates their clients and other parents still fighting charges in the nation's college admissions scandal.
In a court filing, lawyers of the celebrity couple highlight written notes that Rick Singer, the mastermind of the nationwide admissions scheme, took on his iPhone following discussions with FBI investigators in 2018 about recorded phone calls they directed him to make to parents.
In one of the notes, Singer wrote that FBI officials got "loud and abrasive" and "continue to ask me to tell a fib" about what he told clients before they paid into his scheme. He said the FBI wanted him not to restate what he actually told his clients — that they were making a payment to an athletic program, bot a college coach.
"Essentially they are asking me to bend the truth," Singer wrote.
More: Lori Loughlin told daughters they needed to do better in high school, new court doc alleges
Loughlin's and Giannulli's lawyer Sean Berkowitz said the notes, turned over Wednesday by prosecutors, prove the underlying argument of their clients — that they thought they were making "legitimate donations" to a nonprofit operated by Singer that would help universities, not bribing college officials.
The US attorney’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Loughlin and Giannulli are accused of paying Singer $500,000 to get their two daughters falsely tagged as crew recruits to get them admitted into the University of Southern California.
More: Lori Loughlin's attorneys argue feds are concealing evidence in college admissions scandal
Federal prosecutors say it was part of a sprawling, nationwide scheme in which wealthy parents paid significant sums to Singer, a college consultant, to either fix test scores on their children’s college entrance exams or get them falsely tagged as athletic recruits to get them admitted into prestigious universities.
Prosecutors turned over the Singer notes to defense attorneys Wednesday on the eve of a status conference hearing before U.S. District Judge Nathaniel Gorton. He's expected to set trial dates for 15 parents who have pleaded not guilty to federal charges in the scheme including Loughlin and Giannulli.
Parents' attorneys have argued the government has failed to turn over exculpatory evidence during pre-trial proceedings; in particular, FBI "302 reports" that detail witness statements and interview notes taken during the investigation. Defense attorneys have asked the judge to postpone setting a date until the dispute over the evidence is resolved.
More: College admissions scandal: Fight for FBI notes a new battlefront for accused parents
At the direction of the FBI, Singer made wiretapped phone calls to past clients to try and get them to recite their crime. The full note that Singer wrote on Oct. 2, 2018 reads:
Loud and abrasive call with agents. They continue to ask me to tell a fib and not restate what I told my clients as to where there money was going - to the program not the coach and that it was a donation and they want it to be a payment. I asked for a script if they want me to ask questions and retrieve responses that are not accurate to the way I should be asking the questions.
Essentially they are asking me to bend the truth which is what they asked me not to do when working with the agents and Eric Rosen. Liz raised her voice to me like she did in the hotel room about agreeing with her that everyone Bribed the schools. This time about asking each person to agree to a lie I was telling them.
"This is precisely the kind of exculpatory – and indeed, exonerating – information defendants have been seeking," Berkowitz wrote in the court filing.
Singer, in the same note, also wrote that FBI authorities "want to nail Gordon at all costs," referring to prominent New York attorney Gordon Caplan. Caplan pleaded guilty to paying $75,000 to have someone correct answers on his daughter's ACT test to inflate her score. He was sentenced in October to one month in prison.
More: NY attorney sentenced to 1 month in prison for paying $75K to have daughter's ACT answers fixed
A federal magistrate is expected to rule this spring whether the FBI 302 notes – which are separate from those taken by Singer – must be turned over to defendants.
In a letter a letter Wednesday releasing Singer's notes, Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Rosen said federal prosecutors learned about the existence of Singer's notes during the "Varsity Blues" investigation in October 2018. But at the time they believed it to be privileged information that was not subject to review. He said Singer's attorneys this week agreed to waive privilege rights of the notes.
"We intend to disclose the remaining iPhone content shortly, once the privilege review is
complete," Rosen wrote.
But Berkowitz said the evidence should have been released no more than 30 days after parents were indicted. He called it "devastating to the government’s case," adding that it "demonstrates that the Government has been improperly withholding core exculpatory information, employing a 'win at all costs' effort rather than following their obligation to do justice."
They predicted it would set off a series of motions of defendants, including potential motions to dismiss the indictments.
Thirty-one of 53 defendants charged in the college admissions case have pleaded guilty, while others, including Loughlin and Giannulli, dig in for trial. Fourteen parents and two college coaches have been sentenced for their crimes, with sentences ranging from no prison to nine months behind bars.
