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Love Is Blind " cast member Natalie Lee spoke with the LA Times about her wedding day on the show. - Natalie said "I don't" after her fiancé, Shayne, had already said "I do."
Natalie Lee left her fiancé Shayne Jensen at the altar during the season two finale of
While the 29-year-old consultant's statement of "I don't" came as a surprise to the audience, and seemingly to Shayne, 32, himself, Natalie now says she had given him advance notice of her plan.
"I did give Shayne the heads-up I was saying no, and he was very aware that that was gonna be my response," Natalie told the Los Angeles Times in a new interview. "I think in his head he was hoping that it might change, that I would change my mind going down the aisle, but I was very transparent it was gonna be a no."
The lead-up to Natalie and Shayne's wedding day showed them both grappling with the aftermath of a big fight. The night before the wedding, off-camera, the couple had gotten into an argument. It was later revealed by Natalie that the real-estate agent had told her that he "hated" her and she was "the worst thing to ever happen to him."
At the altar, Shayne was asked by the officiant for his answer first.
"I do, a thousand times over," Shayne said to Natalie. "You're my best friend and there was no one else I'd rather do this with in my entire life."
Then it was Natalie's turn.
"I'm so glad that we've shared this journey together. I think we've grown a lot as two people who have fallen in love. I know I've grown a lot because of you," she said, before dropping the hammer. "But I don't. I'm so sorry. "
As Shayne stood there, seemingly in shock, Natalie dropped her voice to a whisper so only he (and the mic) could hear.
"I'm really sorry Shayne," she said. "I still love you. And you're still my best friend, but we have really big issues to sort through."
"I know," he replied.
Natalie left the wedding hall first, and Shayne followed shortly after. The two had an argument outside, still carried over from the fight the night before. Later, away from her ex, Natalie told the cameras that she would have said "yes" if it wasn't for the fight they had the night before.
Natalie says the Netflix team didn't 'force' anyone down the aisle, but by the time she made up her mind there were people arriving at the wedding
Speaking with the LA Times, Natalie said the Netflix production team didn't "force" them to go through with a full wedding.
"Why we decided to go down the [aisle] and make that decision — our friends and family all flew in for the wedding and, so, by the time I really made the choice to say no, people are just showing up to my wedding and so you just feel like, OK, I've got to go down and make the decision," she said.
Natalie also spoke about how she and Shayne tried to continue dating after their failed wedding day and once the filming period for the show was over. She said his "instances of gaslighting continued" to happen when they disagreed.
"That's when I started to realize, 'OK, these aren't healthy arguments, these aren't healthy conversations,'" she said. "And I don't think that he purposefully does it. I think when he's emotional, he's just very reactive. And I think my first reaction is, 'OK, I need to de-escalate the situation,' and I think that leads to these unhealthy situations."
For more on how the couple's relationship resolved, read Insider's story here about Shayne's Instagram tribute to Natalie and his "remorse" for his actions.