Warning: this story contains spoilers from episodes 1-6 of Love Is Blind season 7.
Love Is Blind's Hannah Jiles is setting the record straight about her time dating Leo Braudy.
In the first batch of episodes from season 7, Hannah and Leo formed a connection inside the pods and appeared to be torn between each other and their respective other connections — Hannah with Nick Dorka and Leo with Brittany Wisniewski.
Ultimately, Hannah, 27, ended things with Leo, opting to pursue an engagement with Nick D., while Leo decided Brittany was a better match for him and he later proposed to the esthetician.
But, before that all unfolded, Leo, 30, was trying to impress Hannah — seemingly by emphasizing — and at times, flaunting — his art dealer job and financial status. While fans may have found his comments to be constant, Hannah clarifies that it wasn't the case at all.
"Maybe I was wearing rose-colored glasses or something, but for me, I knew money was a thing, but I didn't think it was as big of a deal," she explains. "And again, you have to remember, I'm not seeing him in his Rolex and his suits and how he carries himself."
"So, yeah, he talked about it. But I guess for me, it just never was like, 'Oh my God, this guy won't shut up about how rich he is," she adds. "I just knew that's what Jennifer Lawrence's husband Cooke Maroney does... And I was like, 'I think that means money.' I don't know. I was confused. And then the more he went on and stuff, I understood, but I didn't really realize till later on, maybe."
Hannah also says she was caught off guard by Leo's response when she ended things with him. (The art dealer had somewhat of a meltdown and insisted Hannah was making the wrong decision when she broke things off in the pods.)
"Honestly, I just didn't know. It was just a very confusing situation because I knew he was dating Brittany and I decided to choose Nick. So I went in there and I was like, 'Al -
right, I'm going to break up with him. If you say that you have this great connection with Brittany, it shouldn't be a problem,'" she recalls. "So I think I was shocked. I was just like, whoa. I just wasn't expecting that."
"I don't really know exactly if it was a switch-up or not, but I just wasn't expecting that conversation we had," she continues. "I think how someone handles difficult rejection, it really shows a lot about them. And so maybe he just didn't handle rejection that well."
Asked whether her perspective on Leo would've changed had he reacted differently, Hannah says: "I think if he would've handled it better, yes, maybe down the road, we would've been fine. But Nick was who I wanted and no matter if he was being aggressive or he was being cordial, it still would've been Nick."
After the two went their separate ways in the pods, Nick and Hannah got engaged and jetted off to Mexico for the couples' getaway. Leo and Brittany also got engaged in the pods but after an "awkward" reveal, it was confirmed that the two later called things off.
In a message on the screen during episode 5, it was revealed that Leo and Brittany were "not one of the six couples chosen by producers to continue their journey in Mexico. They took their own trip to Miami and broke off their engagement weeks later."
As of episode 6, Hannah and Nick remain together, but both agreed they have some "concerns" they want to "address" before heading to the altar, including Nick's duck incident and Hannah's bullet point list.
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Episodes 1-6 of Love Is Blind season 7 are now streaming on Netflix, and episodes 7-9 will drop Wednesday, Oct. 9.
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