Love Is Blind Star Kacie McIntosh Opens Up About Her TV Breakup with Patrick Suzuki
In a candid interview with People magazine on October 6, “Love Is Blind” season nine contestant Kacie McIntosh reflected on her controversial breakup with Patrick Suzuki, expressing regret over how she handled the end of their relationship on the popular Netflix reality show. The 34-year-old Colorado-based hair and makeup artist had become engaged to 31-year-old Patrick without seeing him first—the central premise of the show—but ended their relationship shortly after meeting in person, citing a lack of physical attraction. Now, Kacie is opening up about the complexities behind that decision and the public backlash she’s faced as a result.
“I was trying to protect his feelings and his insecurities, and it came off weird,” Kacie explained in her interview, acknowledging that her approach to the breakup may have seemed disingenuous to viewers. “It came off wrong. It was like gaslighting and I think that was my biggest regret.” During the filmed breakup, Kacie had told Patrick that he “deserved somebody better” and that he “wasn’t a bad-looking guy,” statements that many viewers interpreted as insincere or even hurtful. In retrospect, Kacie admits she wasn’t fully transparent in the moment: “Nobody wants to say right to their face, ‘I don’t know if the attraction can grow. Let’s go home.’ I just didn’t want to say that right then in that moment.” The emotional complexity of their situation was heightened by the immediacy of having just seen each other for the first time, making an already difficult conversation that much more challenging.
Despite the way things ended, Kacie maintains that her connection with Patrick in the “pods” (the show’s isolated dating rooms where contestants talk without seeing each other) was genuine and meaningful. She revealed that Patrick had consistently been among her top choices from the beginning of the experiment, noting, “Patrick was my number two. He was always in the top for me.” Their connection was built on shared values and aspirations: “We’d really connected on so many levels of travel, being full of life, being well-rounded, wanting to do all these activities and live a full life together.” Kacie expressed genuine admiration for Patrick’s communication skills and work ethic, saying there was “so much about him that I was just taken away by.”
The aftermath of their televised breakup has been difficult for Kacie, who has faced significant criticism from fans of the show since the episodes began airing in early October. While Patrick himself seemed to take the high road, posting a message on Instagram Stories asking fans to remember “we’re all human,” Kacie has been dealing with negative comments and messages from viewers who disagreed with her handling of the situation. The public nature of reality television relationships means that personal decisions and intimate moments are not only broadcast to millions but also scrutinized and judged by audiences who have only seen edited portions of the participants’ experiences.
In response to the backlash, Kacie has tried to emphasize the human element of the experience: “I guess a lot of people are coming after me right now, and I just have to say I wore my heart on my sleeve. I did what I could and I’m human and I did an experiment that unfortunately just did not work for me.” She expressed genuine regret that the relationship didn’t work out for either of them, while also defending her actions: “How I went about everything, did I do it in the way everybody wanted me to? No, but I did it in the way I thought was best at the time, and that’s all I can do.” This highlights the challenging position reality TV participants find themselves in—making personal decisions under unusual circumstances while knowing those decisions will later be judged by a viewing public.
Ultimately, Kacie wanted to affirm the authenticity of her feelings for Patrick, regardless of how their relationship ended: “I loved Patrick. We did this thing together, and I did the best I could with the weirdest experience you’ll ever go through that nobody will really ever understand.” Her comments highlight the extraordinary nature of dating shows like “Love Is Blind,” where participants are asked to form deep connections under highly unusual circumstances, then navigate the complexities of those relationships in the public eye. While the experiment didn’t result in lasting love for Kacie and Patrick, it clearly provided both with meaningful experiences and, perhaps, important lessons about communication, attraction, and the challenging intersection of private feelings and public perception.
