‘Love Is Blind’: Izzy Zapata Says He Apologized to Ex Johnie Maraist After Party Scene

Izzy Zapata is admitting to handling a situation with his ex, Johnie Maraist, poorly on season 5 of Love Is Blind. 

Izzy and Johnie met in the pods on the Netflix dating show and had a quick connection. And though the two seemed destined for an engagement, Izzy pulled away when Johnie doubled down on just how invested in him she was. 

He ultimately called things off with Johnie and opted to propose to another connection — Stacy Snyder. 

Johnie then tried to rekindle her romance with Chris Fox, whom she had broken up with in favor of Izzy in the pods. All of this back and forth drama led to a tense face-to-face stand off when the cast reunited after Mexico for a barbecue. 

Izzy pulled Johnie aside calling her “sketchy” and telling her that the rest of the cast felt the same way. 

Johnie broke down in tears over the exchange and was comforted by Chris, who had ultimately rekindled his romance with her after the pods. 

Izzy appeared on The Viall Files podcast earlier this week where host Nick Viall asked Izzy about his reaction to Johnie’s behavior and his own actions at the barbecue. 

“Was it that much of a crime for Johnie to explore something with Chris?” Nick asked. 

“No, absolutely not. I encourage it,” Izzy insisted, saying his issues stemmed from how she was saying one thing to him and another thing to Chris. 

“I was protecting Chris. I was not salty. I obviously cut her off,” Izzy explained. “The whole point was to date everybody, I just don’t want to see my friend get screwed over.”

As for his barbecue confrontation, Izzy admitted, “Honestly, that was so out of character for me. I was pretty intoxicated, but, yeah, my delivery was poor. Looking back, that’s so cringe. That’s not how I am. And I apologized to her for that after the show. I saw her in person. Yeah, I apologized to her. I regret the delivery, but I don’t regret the message.”

Izzy went on to note, “That was harsh to her and watching back I felt disgusted in myself.”

Izzy claimed that he and his fiancé, Stacy, heard after returning from Mexico that Johnie had been trash talking them to the rest of the cast.  

“When we get back, I hear the stuff that she was saying about me after us breaking up. Multiple girls from the cast, not just Stacy,” Izzy alleged. “There’s multiple cast mates that we had that are telling Stacy and I all this info and stuff that she’s saying about us. It was a couple days before that barbecue, so I was upset, one, for how you were talking about me and the things you were saying about me and then that Chris scenario.” 

Izzy also claimed that co-star Uche Okoroha, who had a failed relationship with Aaliyah Cosby after his past with ex and co-star Lydia Velez Gonzalez was revealed, was also bad mouthing him to their friends. 

“I felt like we were all good friends. I was kind of shocked that he was talking bad about me to a lot of the cast members,” Izzy said of Uche. “This was after filming. I was like, ‘What did I do to you?'”

Izzy even shared that Uche went so far as to speak badly about him to Johnie and Stacy. 

“He was telling Johnie that I was kind of a s**t guy. Because me and Johnie ended up meeting after the show. We talked everything out. I apologized. We got some clearance. We were good friends after that. He would get mad at Johnie for hanging out with me,” Izzy claimed. 

As for Izzy and Stacy, the pair are currently engaged on Love Is Blind and headed for the altar in next week’s wedding finale. 

The wedding finale of Love Is Blind streams Friday, Oct. 13 on Netflix. 

For more, watch the clip below. 

RELATED CONTENT: