All hail Deepti and Natalie! Another whirlwind season ofLove Is Blindhas almost come to an end. We fell in love with couples like Iyanna and Jarrette and Nick and Danielle. However, for us, the true stars of the show have to be Deepti Vempati and Natalie Lee. By saying ‘I don’t’ at the altar and putting themselves first, they inspired many and have become firm fan favourites.
Deepti’s journey with Abhishek 'Shake' Chatterjeeor was very rocky. As viewers it was clear that although they both were not each other’s typical type, one person was giving a lot more effort than the other. Deepti defiantly gave her all to Shake to make their relationship work. However, Shake (typically) was just stuck on the physical and couldn’t look beyond not being overly physically attracted to her (despite their deep emotional connection.)
When she arrived at the altar (looking stunning) she looked at Shake and said,‘ I deserve somebody who knows for sure, so I’m choosing myself and I’m going to say no.’ And the shocked look on his face was priceless.
To camera she said, ‘He’s not the one for me, because if he was he would make me feel like I was the one and he never did that.’ Before she left, she said the most iconic line, ‘ A little while from now, he’s going to look back and realise he lost the best thing in his life. But when that day comes, I’ll be long gone – he doesn’t deserve me.’
For many, Deepti had the best character arc of all. As viewers, we were so used to Shake steering the conversations and attracting the spotlight. But in that moment, it was all about Deepti – not even he could do anything to steer her away from stating her truth. Unlike Shake, when she spoke her words had meaning, power and influence. We heard her loud and clear – she chose herself.
There was definitely a quiet strength to Deepti, she wasn’t always as vocal to Shake about her doubts as he was with her. However, looking back on past episodes now, it was almost like she was making mental notes ready for the moment at the altar when she ultimately said I don’t. And the best part was she said it all with a smile on face - what a class act.
Now with Natalie, from the start she was definitely put in an uncomfortable position as she constantly had to fight for Shayne Jensen's affection. It all started with her having to compete with Shaina Hurley who was also vying for him. Shayne encouraged Shaina’s flirting and never shut the overly pushy conversations down. Natalie was his fiancé, but he never fully respected that title.
Shayne was also incredibly unpredictable and reckless with what he said and did and that clearly made her feel unstable. Marriage is a deep commitment and obviously you must enter that important stage of life with someone you can 100% trust.
However, Natalie’s final decision not to marry Shayne came from the most amazing and thoughtful place. She ultimately compared the man Shayne is, to the man her Dad is. She admitted, ‘When I was walking down the aisle with my Dad, I was thinking about how my Dad makes me feel so safe and secure. And It’s because I know he always puts me in front of him and I can trust him fully. When I was standing at the altar with Shayne I felt on edge and scared.’
Natalie made her final decision to walk away due to the lack of emotional safety she felt with Shayne and used her secure relationship with her father to affirm those thoughts. Her decision took guts as she was clearly still very in love with him. To be in love with someone but still have the strength to walk away and take off the rose-tinted glasses was very brave.
For both women watching them prioritise themselves and what they needed - even if that meant being alone or not getting that happily ever after – showed us what true strength and self love is.
READ MORE: Love Is Blind’s Shake Chatterjee Hits Back At Criticism: 'I'm Not Sorry'