I thought the moment where Garrett told you he found you to be a bit guarded in the pods, and you seemed surprised and took the feedback, to be an interesting moment of communication between the two of you. What did you learn about yourself through this experience?
It was a really big growing moment for me. I was asking someone that I was dating for feedback on how to make them more comfortable, to keep going, to share information. I admit that Iâm a thoughtful person, and so in terms of when I speak or say things, I think about them before. Iâm not necessarily someone that just blurts out a bunch of stuff. So, I can really empathize and see why Garrett thought I was calculated and guarded. Youâre kind of in this fishbowl of all these cameras, and youâre having deep conversations. Iâm like, Ah, Iâm not used to saying all these things.
This experience taught me that I can be thoughtful and still think about the words that I have to say, but find ways that I can ask my partner to make them more comfortable and open up more. The word calculated wasnât the best word choice by Garrett, but I understood what he was saying. I think we addressed it pretty well. You saw we fixed it and moved on.
Had you watched the show before you went on it? What surprised you about being on the show?
I watched every season as a passive thing when I was folding laundryâ¦. I didnât realize how big of a show it was until I was on it. I really didnât realize itâs number one on Netflix, and thereâs millions and millions of people watching it, and thereâs a whole fandom around it. Iâm not someone who really watches reality television. It was just kind of a convenient thing on my Netflix account, but Iâve been pleasantly surprised by how much people love this show.
You have emerged as a fan favorite this season. Did you see that coming?
Iâve been gobsmacked, honestlyâ¦. Garrett and I talked about it on our last date, and I was like, Weâre probably super-boring, babe. I hate to tell you that weâre going to probably not go past this point [of filming]. I didnât think weâd be a fan favorite. I thought we would be middle of the pack, or like, âFast-forward, fast-forward, fast-forward.â So Iâve been pleasantly surprised.