The 5 biggest villains in Love is Blind history and why I love them

I love a good villain. Without them, reality TV would be boring. As much as everyone claims they all want genuine love stories and only cast in it for the right reasons, reality TV is known for drama and you're all lying to yourselves. It's ok to admit it - you can like watching drama from afar and not want to be part of it. That's the draw of shows like Love is Blind.

I'm rounding up the five biggest villains in Love is Blind history, and in the spirit of a good villain edit, playing devil's advocate to defend them all.

Shake Chatterjee

Why he was a villain: Shake was honest from the first day in the pods. He may have been looking for a wife, but he wanted one he could lift on his shoulders at a festival. To each their own, but maybe setting the wrong tone for finding a wife on a show called Love is Blind.

Shake is the first to admit that the process wasn't right for him. He wasn't attracted to Deepti, his fiance, and his lack of emotion throughout their engagement made it pretty clear the two were not going to make it past the altar.

In defense of Shake: I love Shake! Yup, I said it. He's awesome and I don't care how many DMs I get c calling me a --- ----. Shake knows, like we all do, that love isn't really blind. He was just upfront about it. He's also one of the first to step up and get involved in the various pet rescue events and fundraisers I work on. His Insta is @thepuppydoc. Anyone that saves puppies is aces in my book.

If you haven't seen House of Villains season 1 yet, I highly recommend it. You get to see a different side to Shake as he competed with nine other TV villains for a cash prize and title of greatest supervillain of all time.

Bartise Bowden

Why he was a villain: I get it, it's not a great look to flirt with your most recent ex-girlfriend and tell your fiance how attractive you find said ex, ever. Let alone on Netflix! Bartise and his ex-fiance Nancy Rodriguez also had differing views on a lot of important life matters including abortion.. He also put Nancy in a very awkward position bringing the discussion up with his family.

A few weeks before the big day, Nancy tried to end things and Bartise even convinced her not to, just to say no at the altar. Yikes on all the bikes, good sir!

In defense of Bartise: I also wanted to stand up with Nancy's brothers and fight for her after the ill fated wedding. In the words of Greta Thunberg, "how dare you?!"

It's been three years since Love is Blind season 3 filmed, and Bartise has shown a lot of growth since then. Though a lot of fans speculated he was just on the show for money and fame, he didn't go the typical post-show influencer route. Bartise stepped up to raise his son Hayden full time, engages with fans regularly just to say hi or show support, and of course, also helped puppies when I put together a trivia fundraiser with the Love is Blind cast.

Lydia Velez Gonzalez

There were quite a few villains to choose from on season 4 of Love is Blind, but the women have to represent too. Let's chat about Lydia and her pod journey.

Why she was a villain: Lydia seemed pretty willing to continue to date ex-situationship Uche Okoroha after discovering they knew each other in the pods. When he shut that down, it seemed like she went out of her way to become best friends with Uche's other connection, Aaliyah Cosby. The two bonded and Lydia offered Aaliyah a shoulder to cry on.

When Lydia finally revealed to Aaliyah she knew exactly who Uche was, she really went into unnecessary detail about their history. She even went so far as to talk about his dog. Not the dog, Lydia!

In defense of Lydia: I'm sure I wasn't the only one skeptical of Lydia's connection and engagement to Milton. Their ten year age gap definitely raised some eyebrows, but surprisingly Milton was and continues to be one of the most mature cast members Love is Blind has ever had. This isn't his moment, though.

Lydia has proven to be a ride or die for her husband despite challenges including a long distance relationship. The two have made their marriage work despite Milton moving several states away to pursue a second master's degree. She is a huge advocate for the Latinx community, hosting and supporting several events and conferences throughout the years. She's even partnered with fellow Love is Blind alum Amy Cortes McIntyre on some fan events.

And of course, all of my favorite villains help support pet rescues. Both Lydia and Milton participated in The LovePod Cause for Paws to advocate for pet rescues nationwide.

Chris Fox

I am the first to admit that I do not like how some of my favorite cast members treat their exes on the show. It can be rough watching their poor treatment of their connections, and Chris and Johnie's post-show relationship definitely met the criteria. I do, however, genuinely love Chris and all of these villains as people. I said what I said. Let's rewind a bit to Chris's villain days.

Why Chris was a villain: Even though he seemed like Prince Charming in the pods, and we collectively screamed at our TVs when Johnie Maraist chose to end her connection with Chris, it turns out she was doing herself a favor.

When the two ended up sharing a flight back home from the pods, their romantic connection rekindled and they ended up dating post-show. We quickly found out, however, like many a bad Bumble date, Chris ghosted Johnie and never even did her the solid of breaking up with her. He just debuted a new relationship instead and Johnie heard through the grapevine. Not his finest moment.

In defense of Chris: I'm a firm believer that if the ex chooses to forgive the person, we should give them the same grace. Johnie and Chris made up and left the reunion on good terms. Chris seemed genuinely apologetic.

He has always been a good sport as well. Taking the online hate on the chin and turning it into positive vibes, Chris had a hard time talking trash about anyone during a little good natured roast battle this summer. He clinched the smartest season title in our Cause for Paws trivia battle by being the nice guy.

Jeramey Lutinski

Why he was a villain: The most dramatic argument in Love is Blind history had to be Laura Dadisman confronting then-fiance Jeramey over his whereabouts all night when he went to meet up with other cast members, including ex-pod girlfriend Sarah Ann Bick.

His very checked out, sunglasses sporting posture didn't win him any fan love, especially when his GPS told a very different story than Jeramey's claims he didn't spend alone time with Sarah Ann at her place. Oops.

In defense of Jeramey: It may have taken me three seasons to properly spell his name, but in that time I've come to see Jeramey in a completely different light. He's shared a lot of insight into what the filming process is actually like on Love is Blind versus what we actually see on the show.

He is very open about his experience, answering fan questions and even taking the hate with good nature. He's generous with his time with fans, and never speaks ill of his fellow cast members, even if it earns him bad press. He is always willing to lend his time and platform to help promote great causes. Yes, he supports the homeless puppies and kittens too. Are you seeing a theme here?

Who is your favorite Love is Blind villain?