Chelsea Blackwell Will Never Beg A Man To Love Her Again

Chelsea Blackwell had to learn the hard way to always trust her intuition. The Love Is Blind Season 6 star was put through the ringer in an argument-filled engagement to her ex Jimmy Presnell, even though she knew deep down it could never work. “I just don’t think he loved me at all,” Chelsea tells Elite Daily. “He was trying his hardest. ... My only advice to women out there is if you have a feeling in your gut, it’s right 99% of the time.”

While Chelsea’s romantic connection with Jimmy may have fizzled by the season finale, they’ve managed to maintain a strong friendship after the show. Chelsea will “never say never” to possibly rekindling things with Jimmy, although she adds: “He has told me more than once that I am not for him.” For now, friendship is their path forward, which is way more than Chelsea expected after their breakup last year.

The two have leaned on each other through the incessant social media chatter, as viewers have criticized their relationship for coming off as insecure and full of red flags. Despite being one another’s support system through the drama, Chelsea and Jimmy have had strong disagreements over how their most explosive fight was portrayed. And now, Chelsea is ready to reveal the truth about what sparked their relationship-ending argument.

From secret girlfriends to random suspicions about her ex-boyfriend to Megan Fox-tinged insults, Chelsea has somehow come out of Love Is Blind’s most brutal gauntlet without any major injuries. Below, she tells the full story of how she learned to love herself, regardless of any man’s opinion.

Elite Daily: What surprised you most about this process?

Chelsea Blackwell: The one thing that really blew my mind is, as a viewer, you’re thinking the pod dates last maybe 10 minutes. But those dates are like five hours long. You’re just in this cubicle with this person across the way from you, and you’re getting down to what really matters. That really shocked me, and it makes so much sense that those connections form so quickly.

ED: What was going through your head when the internet started obsessing over your Megan Fox comment?

CB: That comment was so silly; I didn’t even remember saying it. We all were having goofy conversations like that. When the season premiered, I was reading all the comments because I’m new to this world and I’m excited. Then the more comments I was reading, I was like, “Oh, no. This is not a good thing at all.” It came in so fast out of left field that I was seeing the comments before I even saw the scene.

ED: Have you heard from Megan Fox?

CB: No, and it’s so funny because she’s doing interviews, so I’m like, “Oh, my gosh, I wonder if they’ll asked her about it.” I’m so embarrassed.

ED: You ultimately chose Jimmy over Trevor. What influenced that choice?

CB: I was just really struggling to navigate both of those relationships at the same time. I never want to do that again. That was very intense and emotionally draining.

But when it came to Trevor and our relationship, I couldn't see past certain things. I just wasn’t getting where I wanted to be with Trevor. I trust my intuition, I trust my heart. And my heart was telling me, “Trevor’s not your man, girl!”

ED: When did you find out about his secret girlfriend?

CB: I found out at the same time the rest of you did — basically the second we landed in L.A. for the reunion. And we can’t have our phones when we’re there, so I just got this groundbreaking information and had to sit and process it.

This is why women have insecurities. You’ve got to listen to those feelings.

ED: So you were just in the dark about all the details until the reunion?

CB: Well, the girlfriend or one of her friends actually reached out to me and said something. But I didn’t know who was telling the truth or if this was someone just trying to get attention. I hate saying that, but I just had no idea who this person was.

I was really treading lightly, and I didn’t want to entertain it because Trevor and I are great friends, and I just knew that he’s a wonderful person. I wish nothing but the best for him.

ED: At the reunion, Trevor said that he would have really tried to make a relationship with you work if you got engaged. Do you believe him?

CB: No. It’s so wild because this is why women have insecurities. You’ve got to listen to those feelings, because no wonder I had my intuition about him.

ED: Is that one of the big lessons you took from this experience, trusting your gut feeling?

CB: Oh, for sure. Sometimes it’s hard — I really struggled listening to my intuition with Jimmy. I was ignoring the crap out of it. At the end of the day, my intuition was so right. Jimmy wasn’t on the same page I was.

ED: How did it feel to have to watch back all of your fights with Jimmy on TV?

CB: One word is “cringe,” as all heck. I’ve been dreading watching them for the past year. But I prepared. We knew we had these arguments. Honestly, our only arguments on-camera were the ones that were showcased.

Yeah, we had issues in our relationship, and they were pretty brutal. But a lot of context is missing.

I think he liked me. I just don’t think he loved me at all.

ED: You’ve spoken a bit about that missing context, like how Jimmy was going out and partying much more than was shown. What else was missing from the final cut that viewers needed to see to understand those conflicts?

CB: I think just the disconnect that we were having off-camera. We have an undeniable connection, and we had really great moments on-camera. But our moments off-camera, I was fighting for my life. I had these rose-colored glasses on where I was seeing what I wanted to see.

He was going out a lot. I know he’s sticking with his story where he went out once, and he’s going to die on that hill. But that is not accurate at all.

ED: During your breakup, you said you had a suspicion Jimmy was going to call off the engagement the whole time. Do you still feel like he wasted your time?

CB: I just think the dude didn’t like me. I think he was trying his hardest. So we’ll give him grace in that.

Actually, I’ll take that back. I think he liked me. I just don’t think he loved me at all. He was trying to take the experiment for what it was. But he told me twice he was going to say no at the altar.

ED: I guess it’s better that the breakup didn’t happen at the altar, right?

CB: Yeah. And he was so gracious, because my family is from from all over, and he didn’t want to waste their time. He was like, “I don’t want to hurt your family.” At the end of the day, my mom is so grateful that he didn’t take me to the altar.

I am too, as much as I wanted him to see the whole thing through. My family would have handled it a lot harder than I would have.

ED: Jimmy kept bringing up your relationship with your ex-boyfriend. What was that all about?

CB: I did FaceTime my ex-boyfriend. He is one of my friends. He lives in a completely different state. He’s married. He has a baby. I’m friends with his wife. We have respect for each other.

When it came down to it, I don’t hang out with him. I call him every now and again to check in on him and his family, and that’s where that is.

I will never, ever, ever beg someone to love me.

ED: Speaking of remaining friends with an ex, you and Jimmy have been hanging out a lot recently. How did you two manage to form this friendship after your breakup?

CB: I did not like him one bit after our breakup. I wanted nothing to do with him. The whole relationship was so brutal, looking back. And healing from it, I realized, “Holy cow. I deserve so much better. What was I doing?” I despised him during those six months or so where we didn’t see each other. We didn’t talk. Nothing.

Then I ran into him in Charlotte. He asked to go get coffee, and we talked for five hours. He apologized and explained himself. This was before the show came out, so I was preparing him to have this horrible edit and trying to navigate him through that journey. We built this friendship because I was there for him and trying to be like “It’s going to be OK. It’s going to pass. It’s not going to last forever.” Now, tables have turned.

ED: What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned from this experience?

CB: I will never beg a man to stay or love me. That was so sad to see and relive. I will never, ever, ever try to sell myself to someone. I’m an awesome woman. I’m a great catch. The right person will realize that, but I will never, ever, ever beg someone to love me.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.