Love Is Blind: Netherlands’ Mika responds to backlash over fiancé Jurriaan’s pod comments

Love Is Blind: Netherlands cast member Mika has responded following backlash after her fiancé, Jurriaan, told her he “wouldn’t fall for a fully Black woman” whilst in the pods. 

During the pod dating stage, Jurrian asked about her surname, with Mika explaining that she couldn’t tell him as it would give away what she look like. 

She then asked him if he has a type he wouldn’t be “into at all”, with him responding: “Yeah, um, how should I say this… I wouldn’t, um, I wouldn’t fall for a fully Black woman.” She then tells him that it shouldn’t matter is she’s “white, Black, green or purple.”

In a confessional afterwards, Mika shared: “It hits me pretty hard because I’ve been rejected for that in the past, that people might have had a certain prejudice against me, maybe they have a certain idea because I have a different skin colour. That doesn’t work for me.” The pair ended up getting engaged on the show, although we’ll have to wait to see if they say yes or not at the altar.

However, Mika has now responded to the criticism regarding what Jurriaan told her in the Love Is Blind: Netherlands pods and has explained that she’d still make the same choice again, despite what he said to her. 

She shared in a statement: ” I’ve seen the reactions. And honestly, while it was really painful to read them at first, because it makes me sad to disappoint people, I’m still trying to take something from this and reflect critically on myself.

“I’ve gone back to that moment and thought again about how I was feeling at the time. Yes, I felt rejected for a moment. Yes, I started to have doubts. But what you don’t see is that, by that point, we were already quite far into dating and had shared so many beautiful and meaningful conversations, very few of which are shown now. That made the decision incredibly difficult for me at the time. Especially because my gut told me that Jurriaan was a good person.”

Mika continued: “Even though I had genuinely started to care about him, I also feel that I was still critical of him and the situation. It’s difficult for me to watch that conversation back myself and see how it unfolded. But looking back, I would still have made the same choice: with an open mind, from a place of love, but also critically and thoughtfully.

“What ultimately mattered to me was that Jurriaan recognized that what he had said wasn’t okay. We all make mistakes. I do, you do. And to me, there is value in being able to acknowledge a mistake, learn from it and do better the next time.

“That’s what I saw in him. And that’s what gave me the confidence to take the risk and embark on this adventure with him. What happened between us afterwards ultimately gave me much more context for the choice I made at the time.”

She then asked viewers to show him more compassion, adding: “That’s why it genuinely hurts to see how far some of the reactions have gone. I sincerely hope you can also see how something that was painful and difficult at first could ultimately turn into something beautiful.

“That being said, I absolutely don’t want to invalidate anyone’s pain or disappointment. I hear you, I really do. I believe we should be able to have difficult conversations and talk openly about painful topics. But this isn’t the way.

“There’s a difference, in my opinion, between being critical, asking questions and tearing someone down. You can disagree with us and question our choices without being unkind in the process. Both can exist.”

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