We want to believe anything could happen in the Love Is Blind finale hitting Netflix on Thursday , but in reality, it's pretty clear that some of these pod couples aren't going to make it down the aisle . One of the more tenuous relationships on the reality dating show is Mark and Jessica, whose ten-year age gap (he's 24, she's 34) is somehow the least of their problems.
In case you need a refresher: On Love Is Blind, couples "date" and get engaged in pods, without ever having seen each other. Then they meet in person, go on vacation, and move in together to see if their love can last in the real world. In pod land, Mark was all-in on Jessica right from the start, but Jessica was all-in on another cast member, Barnett. When Barnett went with Amber instead, Jessica came back around to Mark. They got engaged, but it was clear Jessica just wasn't feeling it the way Mark was. Their relationship was a bumpy ride from there, earning Jessica a fair share of flak on social media.
"I have zero hate toward her," Mark tells Men's Health now. "I wish her nothing but the best ... She was trying to figure it out just as much as I was."
Looking back on the experience, Mark says it felt so right to propose to Jessica, despite only having "known" each for 10 days. "It felt like every day was a month, or maybe even a year," he says. "You were getting to know another person on such a deep level." Jessica, he adds, "is deep down to her core a good person."
When they finally got to see in each other in person, Mark doesn't remember sensing any hesitation on Jessica's part, even though she admitted in a later episode that he wasn't her usual type. "That was the purest moment," Mark says of the big reveal. "I was on cloud nine. I didn't see anything else around me."
Mark says there was a goofiness to his relationship with Jessica that didn't really come through in the final cut of the show. They joked that Mark was the "queso" to Jessica's "chips," so they had a chips and queso date one day in the pods. "We were making fun of each other and having a good time. It was awesome," he says. "We really connected on that level, where we were joking on that level."
He recalls another funny memory from their jungle picnic date in Mexico. Mark hates olives, and accidentally started putting olive spread on something he was about to eat. "Jess goes, 'You know that's olive spread?' And without breaking eye contact, I just looked at her and popped it right behind me. The whole crew started laughing."
From what we did see on the show, the couple was mostly in Struggle City as Jessica tried to dredge up the feelings she had for Mark in the pods. There was also the awkward matter of her continued conversations with Barnett. While Jessica expressed doubts about their relationship working out, Mark says he still believed they'd get married.
"It was a rollercoaster ride, but I always felt like deep down it was going to happen," he says. "Maybe that's the hopeless romantic in me."
He wasn't even deterred by Jessica feeding her dog winea move that alarmed some fans on social media. "That wasn't a good look after I look back at it now," Mark admits. "In the moment, I was worried about answering her questions!"
Whatever happens in the finaleand judging by the previews, there's a whole lot of cryingMarks says it was "a heck of a ride," that he's "super thankful I was a part of this process," and that "it was totally worth it." Ever the optimist!
As for what he gained from the show? "I've become a better communicator, and I've become a better man," he says. "I'm not scared to be vulnerable with anybody. I'm a very open book, and I've learned that it's okay to be as open as possible. That's what true connection is about."
The finale of Love Is Blind drops on Netflix Thursday, Feb. 27, followed by a Love Is Blind reunion show on Netflix's YouTube channel on Thursday, March 5.