‘Love is Blind’: Salvador Perez on Saying ‘No’ to Mallory Zapata – ‘My Heart Wasn’t In It’
Out of all the couple’s on Love Is Blind Season 2, Salvador Perez and Mallory Zapata were the hardest for viewers to read. Many fans felt that Perez showed more interest than Zapata. Zapata seemingly felt conflicted about committing to Perez due to her having chemistry with another co-star. In the end, it was Perez who said no. He says his decision to ultimately not get married was due to not feeling he and Zapata did not have a solid foundation.
Salvador Perez says his heart was not in the relationship anymore by wedding day
Perez was attracted to Zapata from the start of the dating experiences in the pods. Their shared cultural backgrounds really drew them to one another. But Zapata also had a connection with Jarrette. She declined Jarrette’s proposal due to feeling more emotionally compatible with Perez and later explained that Jarrette was too close to men she’d already dated previously.
Perez appeared to be all in with Zapata. During the pre-honeymoon trip to Mexico, he was taken aback and offended by Zapata and Jarrette’s conversation about how they ended up with other partners. He felt the conversation was inappropriate and deep down that Zapata still had feelings for Jarrette.
Despite such, he continued to pour his all into the relationship. But the couple argued constantly. Perez revealed in confessionals that he didn’t feel Zapata was fully committed and questioned her choice. He also didn’t like that Zapata’s family was not in support of their union. In the end, he couldn’t go through with the nuptials.
“At the end of it all, I felt like we had a lot of arguments off camera, just private arguments off to ourselves,” he told Extra. “And just seeing the way that we handled our challenges together, we just weren’t working together, we weren’t a team. And I feel like at the end of it all when I was there at the altar, [I asked] had we done enough to really take this leap together and trust each other…my heart just wasn’t in it and I couldn’t say yes.”
The former couple went on one date after their failed wedding
After their wedding, Perez and Zapata spoke on camera about what led them there. An emotional Perez apologized for saying no but said he needed to feel more trust in their relationship in order to get married. Zapata explained that she understood and also hinted that she wasn’t sure whether she would have said “I do.”
The idea of whether or not they’d continue dating after the show was thrown around. They agreed to meet off camera. Perez told Extra that the meeting did happen, but it turned out to be more of a closure meeting.
“We went on a date but that date was kind of short. We just talked about…maybe it was me and I’ll blame myself on that but I feel like we went through so much and we put ourselves through so many challenges and I feel like for me, I was really just going for it for the sake of the experience,” he explained. “I wanted to give it an honest shot. And I think that when we got back into the real world, I was just like, ‘Maybe we just gave it our shot and we are better off just parting ways here.’”
He’s now dating someone else
Perez is no longer single and says he is currently dating someone. The two have yet to go Instagram official. He says he has no regrets from his time on the show.
It appears that Perez and Zapata remain on amicable terms. It’s unclear whether Zapata is currently single or in a relationship with someone else.
