Benaiah and Nicole had quite the journey before they made it down the aisle on Love Is Blind UK. They've been telling Melissa Nathoo about the struggles, which included Nicole getting engaged to Sam! Report by Nathoom. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
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00:00Guys, it is good to see you. Holy cow, you're warming my heart and giving me faith that love still exists.
00:08How weird is it for you guys, though, having so many people invested in your relationship?
00:14Yeah, it's a bit weird, but I haven't really noticed that much, to be honest.
00:18No, I think it's just, we're just focusing on him.
00:21Yeah, we're focusing on each other.
00:23I mean, recognising the streets or anything, yeah?
00:25Yeah.
00:26He does.
00:27He cannot go a single place where he doesn't get stopped, even with other people, other cast members.
00:33He's the one that gets recognised the most, I'd say.
00:36Yeah, I get a lot of questions like, so, are you back with Nicole? Did you marry her? Did you marry her?
00:41How hard was it, though? Because obviously, yeah, you filmed all this and then it's going out and you've had to stay really quiet about it all.
00:47So what's it been like? Because you're obviously probably so happy knowing that you are together.
00:54Yeah.
00:55How difficult's it been?
00:56It's been hard. I think you want to celebrate, especially with some friends that don't know about it, and just be open.
01:03We're walking down the street together, we kind of have to wait a little bit to do that.
01:07That being said, I have enjoyed that privacy.
01:09Same.
01:10That year of secrecy.
01:11It's been so good.
01:12I think we needed it a bit. I think we needed it.
01:15Yeah.
01:16Yeah, just to get settled and, you know, build that foundation.
01:19Enjoy each other.
01:20Yeah, yeah, definitely.
01:21Absolutely. Nicole, though, you were obviously married before. Do you think that made it easier or harder going into this?
01:28Oh, God. For me, personally, I can't speak for anyone else who's been married or who will do this, but for me, I think it added an extra pressure,
01:35which meant that because I was so, I'm a mathematician at heart, so I don't want to get it wrong, you know?
01:42So because I don't want to get it wrong, I'm like, you know, just really in my head.
01:47And I think so much so that maybe I was blocking out things that would be obvious to someone else.
01:53So, yeah.
01:54Yes, you were.
01:55Yes.
01:56So I was trying to really sort of, I had a goal, but then it was like there's some things that were right in front of me that I couldn't quite digest.
02:05Nicole, did you realise how much we were all screaming at the TV?
02:08We're like, why can you not see the red flags?
02:11Like, why can you not see?
02:13You are not the only one. I was screaming at myself. I was like, what the hell am I doing?
02:19I genuinely was like, because, you know, someone read the transcript to me and I thought, wow, like, this is me?
02:27Like, I would ordinarily be like, no way. So I have no idea what happened.
02:31Honestly, even when I was watching, I was like, I feel like she's zoned out and she's not really paying attention to what he's saying.
02:37Yeah.
02:38Thank God you were there, Vanessa.
02:40I know.
02:42How are you feeling, though, about Sam now? Because obviously I know when you guys saw each other again on the show, it wasn't great.
02:50I don't know whether you've had to come across him again since, probably for the reunion.
02:54Yeah, for reunion, yeah.
02:55What's it all been like?
02:56Part of me does have a bit of, I think, sympathy for him. Because, I mean, I don't know what exactly is going on behind closed door for him.
03:05Yes.
03:06So I'm just trying to give him a little bit of grace in that regard.
03:08But there's also a lot that you don't see behind the scenes, you know, other things he may have done, which isn't seen or shown.
03:15Which, yeah, isn't great either.
03:17Yeah.
03:18But, yeah, for me, it's just I'm trying to, I can't, I think, put myself in his shoes. I don't know what's going on in his own life.
03:24Yeah.
03:25All we can talk about is the impact it had, right, on us.
03:28So, I think, Ben, you've been really good about sort of trying to be diplomatic about how he's come across, even in those positions where, in my opinion, it was a bit intense.
03:38Yeah.
03:39So, amazing.
03:40Yeah.
03:41Aw, you're just making me love you more.
03:42I know, it's true, it's true.
03:43Like, you did that incredible, you know, like, you did something brave there, you know.
03:47Yes.
03:48Yeah, it was tough to do that, I think.
03:49Yeah.
03:50Because I knew then I may get some backlash for doing that in the manner that I did.
03:56But, at the end of the day, it's like, myself wasn't the priority in that moment, you were.
04:00Okay, well, before I go, let me just finish on what was the best and worst thing about being on this show?
04:07The best.
04:08Aw.
04:09I knew you were going to say that.
04:11I had to get in there first.
04:13No, I can't say that, Ben.
04:15You can.
04:17Yeah, no, genuinely.
04:18Like, meeting you, babe.
04:19Like, meeting you was the best thing, you know.
04:22And I knew it from those pods there.
04:24I was like, wow, he's really, like, I learned a lot from him in those pods.
04:27We all saw it.
04:28That or the free accommodation.
04:29Oh, yeah.
04:30I can't quite say the same, but yes.
04:33Oh, God, you should have started with the worst.
04:35What's the worst?
04:36We're going to finish on the worst, guys.
04:37Oh, yeah.
04:38The worst thing, I'd say, was just me, again.
04:41It's that double-edged sword of, like, me trying to give people the benefit of the doubt
04:45because people would ordinarily judge a divorcee, right, on a dating app.
04:48Right.
04:49So, because of that, I was trying to give the benefit of the doubt, but to my detriment, almost.
04:53So, I think that was probably the worst.
04:55Okay.
04:56I think maybe the route that we had to take to get here.
05:00Yeah.
05:01Like, it's not obviously the ideal route that I want to take, but looking at it, I don't regret it,
05:05because it worked out and it's the best route.
05:08I think we had so many challenges that we knew we could overcome them together,
05:11whereas if we never challenged them.
05:13There you go.
05:14Oh, what an answer.
05:15There you go.
05:16This is why you love him, Nicole.
05:18I do.
05:19Guys, I really wish you the best of luck.
05:21Thank you so much.
05:22I appreciate that.
05:23You can genuinely see there is something there, so I really hope it all works out.
05:26Thank you, yeah.
05:27Let's hope that something is lovers blind.
05:29Absolutely.
05:30Thank you so much.
05:32Nice to meet you.
05:33Take care.