Nadia Jagessar, who's become a fan favorite throughout the first season of Netflix's newest reality dating series "Indian Matchmaking," has responded to a fellow contestant's claims that she ghosted him, despite the fact that he was the one who didn't show up for two scheduled dates during the show.
"I have some messages where I said I don't wish to pursue anything further, and he did keep reaching out and I ignored him. So if he considers that ghosting, that's fine," Jagessar told the New York Post in reference to Vinay Chadha, a man she was set up with on the show. "Don’t be mad at me. I am not the producer or the person who created the show. I am a piece of this puzzle, just as you were."
Jagessar, a New Jersey-based events planner, briefly dated Chadha after the couple was set up by Simi Taparia, a professional matchmaker, and their relationship seemed to be evolving into a progressively more serious one until Chadha failed to show up for a scheduled movie date. Chadha, the director of finance for a boutique gym chain, blamed his lack of appearance on "heat exhaustion," and the pair scheduled another date — this time so Chadha could meet Jagessar's friends. However, Chadha did not show up for that date either, later attributing his absence to an argument with his sister.
Fans online were quick to label Chadha a "f--- boy," a man who leads women on and is solely interested in sexual relationships, for not communicating about missing the couple's scheduled plans. Jagessar herself referred to Chadha as "shady" during the show.
Chadha attempted to explain himself in a recent Instagram post, however, arguing the Jagessar was the one who cut off communication without explanation.
"I was def unclear and vague and not responsive and I own that," Chadha wrote on Instagram Friday. "As much as I wanted to move past this i was called shady and i told her i couldn't be more clear now and am owning this."
Chadha added that he had communicated with Jagessar about not being able to make their movie date the morning of.
"She replied saying i handled this wrong too and never once asked if I was okay," Chadha wrote. "After that day she ghosted me ... I was the one left heart broken and ghosted."
"Indian Matchmaking" premiered on Netflix last Thursday. Though it has been criticized for failing to address colorism, the show has been ranked among the streaming platform's top 10 most watched shows in the U.S. since its release. The program, which follows a handful of Indian singles as they go on dates arranged for them by a matchmaker, marks Netflix's most recent foray into the dating reality series world and follows other popular programs like "Love is Blind," "Dating Around" and "Too Hot to Handle."
