Irina Solomonova was dubbed season four's resident mean girl – and now, the Love Is Blind star has apologised for her behaviour on the Netflix show.
Viewers were left outraged after Irina made fun of her fellow female participants, laughing at her crying co-stars. Just one of season four's controversial contestants, she went on to judge her fiancé Zack on his appearance - branding him 'creepy' during their first meeting.
And now, after being called a ‘bully’ by fans of the show, Irina has spoken out.
Talking in a recent Instagram video, she said ‘The first thing I want to say is that I have privately apologised to the people that I have hurt and mistreated.’
‘Second of all, I wanted to say I am so, so sorry for the people that watched the show that felt frustrated, angry, hurt by the way that I was mistreating people on the show.’
And acknowledging that she acted in a ‘very immature and naïve way,’ she added, ‘Zack, Bliss, Amber, Jackie, Micah: None of those people deserved to be treated the way that I treated them. I know that none of those things were okay.’
Irina then turned her attention to ex-fiancé Zack, saying ‘He was so vulnerable with me, and so I mistreated him and shut him out.’
‘Truly, I want to add value to people and make people feel seen, and who I was on the show was the complete opposite of that person,’ she explained. ‘I feel like being on the show was like getting a mirror put in front of your face, in the sense of seeing yourself from a different perspective.’
The Love Is Blind star then went on to explain that she was still processing exactly what went down on the Netflix show, alluding to some behind-the-scenes issues she was dealing with during filming.
‘I hope that one day I get to share my experience and what was going on with me emotionally during that experience, but until then, I just appreciate you for watching this and listening to this’ she said to her fans.
But whilst Irina’s video quickly garnered a lot of attention, some fans of the show couldn’t help but feel her speech was simply a way to avoid being cancelled by angry viewers.
With her Instagram comments limited, fans took to Twitter to share their opinions. Questioning how authentic Irina's apology was, one fan wrote 'She always said what people wanted to hear,' with another agreeing 'she puts an act on. That's all.'
Another viewer added that 'change takes time,' writing 'She's still gonna suck as a person for a while.'
But for some fans of the show, Irina's apology was a step in the right direction. One wrote, 'I'll give Irina this: this is a complete apology with the right words. Obviously no one is obligated to accept it, and time can only tell if it's genuine, but it's not the familiar half-ass non-apology.'
Irina’s apology came just a week after her co-star and friend Micah issued her own apology for her behaviour on the show.
The pair originally found themselves in viewers bad books after being caught mocking their female castmates. Irina later came under scrutiny for her complicated relationship with Zack Goytowski, telling him he looked like a ‘creepy’ cartoon character.
Speaking to PEOPLE recently, Irina reflected on her time in the pods – admitting that, whilst she knew it wasn’t the greatest representation of her character, she had no regrets.
‘I think there was moments where I wasn’t my best self [on the show],’ Irina said. ‘Obviously we’re being recorded all day, and there’s going to be moments where I’m not my best self. I have truly no bad intentions for anybody at all. So I’m excited to clean things up if there is anything.’
The first episodes of Love Is Blind season 4 are now streaming on Netflix, with new episodes rolling on Fridays through to 14 April.