Netflix
"Love Is Blind" star Izzy Zapata generated strong feelings amongst viewers when he confronted his former pod love interest Johnie Maraist at a cast barbecue shown on episodes seven and eight, accusing her of being an untrustworthy person.
During the intense conversation, Izzy calls Johnie "sketchy" (a sentiment shared by other cast members, he claims) and accuses her of lying to Chris Fox, a fellow podmate and friend of Izzy's whom Johnie is now in a relationship with. Johnie and Chris connected in the pods earlier this season, but Johnie dumped him in favor of Izzy. When Izzy chose Stacy Snyder over Johnie, Johnie attempted to reverse course and win back Chris. The two didn't reconcile in the pods, but ultimately met in real life after leaving the experiment and agreed to pursue a relationship in the real world.
Izzy is seemingly goaded into his tense interaction with Johnie by his fiancée Stacy, who also harbors an intense dislike for Johnie and shares the opinion that she's sketchy.
The two appear to feel vindicated by Izzy's verbal assault on Johnie, even as she's left in tears after the incident. But speaking to former "Bachelor" star Nick Viall on Thursday's episode of "The Viall Files" podcast, Izzy revealed that he had second thoughts about how he handled the situation at the barbecue.
"Honestly, that was so out of character for me. I was pretty intoxicated," Izzy said, adding: "My delivery was poor. Looking back at that, that's so cringe. That's not how I am."
According to Izzy, he apologized to Johnie in person after the show for the way he spoke to her during the party.
"I definitely take responsibility for that, that was harsh. Watching it back, I felt disgusted with myself," he said.
However, he still stands by the sentiment he was trying to relay to Johnie, telling Viall and his cohosts: "I regret my delivery but I don't regret the message."
Izzy and Stacy's anger towards Johnie wasn't just the result of her behavior towards Chris in and outside of the pods, Izzy went on to explain, but also the result of her apparently talking badly about the two of them behind their backs while they were in Mexico.
Per Izzy, "multiple girls from the cast" shared with Stacy and Izzy that Johnie had been bad-mouthing them — something Izzy suggests is the result of Stacy not revealing her relationship with Izzy to Johnie back when everyone was still in the pods.
Ultimately, Izzy said on the podcast, he chose to confront Johnie because of the comments she made about him and Stacy, as well as her behavior towards Chris.
The first nine episodes of "Love Is Blind" season 5 are currently streaming on Netflix.
