Love Is Blind season 9 star Anton Yarosh has squashed fan concern that he has “an alcohol problem.”
“But was I drinking more during filming than I do in regular life? Yeah, I was,” Anton, 29, said in a social media video shared on Thursday, October 23. “I think a lot of that’s due to nerves and the whole experience being very nerve-racking. I just want to point out to you guys that I do take accountability for that.”
He continued, “That’s not a healthy way of dealing with nerve-racking situations by picking up a drink. Alcoholism, I can see how it can look that way, but you have to remember that this is four weeks of our lives that is condensed into two hours of camera time.”
Anton got engaged to Ali Lima sight unseen in the Love Is Blind pods. After transitioning their romance to the real world, Ali, 29, started noticing that Anton would frequently drink alcohol each night. When she and her mom pressed him on potential substance abuse struggles, Anton vehemently shut down the accusations.
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“To throw the word ‘alcoholic’ around is reckless,” Anton said on Thursday. “What you’re doing is minimizing the struggle of people that are actually dealing with a genuine alcohol dependency.”
Several of Anton’s LiB costars offered their support in the comments section, noting that they similarly coped with the stressful filming schedule with enhanced drinking.
“You weren’t the only one drinking a lot that’s for sure,” Edmond L. Harvey replied. “We just didn’t get those edits.”
Joe Ferrucci added, “Imagine getting drunk on reality TV.”
Joe, 29, had infamously gone on a drunken tirade about costar Nick Amato’s presumed lack of bedroom skills in a separate scene during season 9.
“I’ve cooled down on drinking substantially to where I’m not making a fool out of myself every week,” Joe exclusively told Us Weekly earlier this month, addressing his comments. “I think I needed to calm down. That was a very interesting time in my life as well, and with the added stress of the show. … I think I used that as a coping mechanism, which was really the worst coping mechanism you could use. So, yes, I made some comments about Nick, and I did apologize to him.”
As for Anton, his habits factored into Ali’s decision to walk away at the altar.
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“Some of the information that I learned about Anton through his friends threw off my perspective of him,” Ali said in a confessional during the finale, claiming that her fiancé hadn’t been “super forthcoming” about his frequent partying or active lifestyle. “It just feels really s***ty to be the one walking away.”
Anton later acknowledged Ali’s reasoning for ending their engagement — he said “yes” at the altar before the nurse’s response — in a separate confessional interview.
“You know, she said that she feels like I’m not the person that I was in the pods,” Anton told the cameras. “I don’t know if it’s looks, I don’t know if it’s the vibes or I don’t know if it’s the way that we were living together, but I can say that I’ve done nothing but care for her and it f***ing sucks, man.”
Ali and Anton were among six couples who got engaged during Love Is Blind, but none of the pairs ended up getting married in a franchise first.
Anton and Ali will presumably reflect on their breakup during the Love Is Blind season 9 cast’s tell-all reunion, which airs on Netflix Wednesday, October 29, at 9 p.m. ET.
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
