Love is Blind star Abhishek “Shake” Chatterjee has publicly apologised to his former fiancée, Deepti Vempati, for how he treated her.
Last Friday, the season 2 reunion of the show was released on Netflix, where Chatterjee faced criticism from the hosts, Vanessa and Nicky Lachey, and his castmates for prioritising a physical connection over an emotional one during his relationship with Vempati.
Chatterjee has now addressed his behaviour in a video posted to Instagram, where he apologises to his ex-fiancée.
“I’m sorry, @lifewithdeeps,” he wrote in the caption. “I’m ready to take accountability for my actions and be better. While I’ve reached out privately, I think it’s also important I apologise publicly for the sake of your family and friends that I’ve upset as well.”
Throughout the clip, Chatterjee further emphasised that he wanted to “take this opportunity to” say that he was “sorry to a woman” that he knew he hurt.
“Deepti, I am truly sorry for some of the things that I said,” the veterinarian explained. “Things that honestly just could have been left unsaid or could have been said differently. Things that never should have been on national television.”
He acknowledged that while he knew during the filming process that he wasn’t going to marry Vempati, he still didn’t want their relationship “to end.”
“And during the time that we were filming, you were my best friend,” he said. “And even though I knew our relationship wasn’t gonna end in marriage, I didn’t want what we had to end, either. I loved every second of it.
“And I’m so so sorry that I hurt you with my words,” he concluded. “As the last thing I wanted from all this. I’m sorry.”
Throughout Love Is Blind, Chatterjee said on multiple occasions that he wasn’t physically attracted to Vempati and compared her to his “aunt.” On their wedding day, Vempati rejected Chatterjee, as she opted to choose herself and said that she deserved “somebody who knows for sure” that he wants to marry her.
Earlier this month, Chatterjee said in a video on Instagram that he was “not sorry” for how he acted on the show.
“One thing I don’t feel inclined to do is pretend I’m sad or sorry about certain things — certain things that were out of my control, certain things that I can’t necessarily even speak about,” he explained. “I’m just not going to do that. I’m not sorry.”
However, Chatterjee’s video was posted shortly after Vempati’s brother and his wife criticised him, as they called him a “loser” on Instagram.
“Now normally I don’t get involved in drama but I’mma defend my sister here: ‘Shake’, bruh, you’re a loser,” the couple wrote in a statement. “You minimised my sister’s life by making some awful and cringeworthy comments about her.”
