Love Is Blind Season 1: Everything Jessica Has Said About Mark

When Love is Blind premiered in winter 2020, Jessica Batten soon became a contestant that viewers loved to hate. She was known for giving her dog wine, aggressively pursuing contestant Matt Barnett even after he had proposed to Amber Pike, and embarking on a whirlwind engagement with Mark Cuevas, who was 10 years her junior. Fans watched as Jessica began her engagement while still pining over Barnett, and ultimately turned a devastated Cuevas down in the Love is Blind finale.

Flash forward to today when both Jessica and Mark have moved on from Love is Blind. Jessica falling and married to a California-based ankle and foot surgeon and father of two, and Mark married and having a baby. Though both are in happy new relationships, Jessica has not hesitated to speak out about her time with Mark during filming and behind the scenes.

Here’s what she’s said about Mark and her time on Love is Blind.

Updated October 2024: This article has been updated to reflect the most recent information regarding everything "Love Is Blind" Jessica said about Mark.

7 Jessica Batten Originally Wanted To Leave The Show

Jessica Batten and Mark Cuevas on Love Is Blind

Jessica told Refinery29 that there was a lot happening in her personal life during filming, and she wasn’t acting like herself while on Love is Blind.

"I look back and I was definitely uncomfortable, so I was drinking too much in there. I know that it's not the best version of me out there. It's super hard to see what they play back."

Jessica added that her beloved dog Payton needed emergency surgery during filming.

“I definitely had a conversation about leaving and I wasn’t able to do that. My dog got sick too, and almost died during the show. I had so much other stuff going on," she told Entertainment Weekly.\

Though she had joined the show to find a husband, Jessica also felt that her relationship with Mark was not serious enough for marriage, which resulted in her attempt to leave. She was ultimately asked to stay on the show for the wedding episode.

6 Jessica Batten And Mark Cuevas Both Had A Plan To Say 'No' At The Altar

Neither Jessice Battern or Mark Cuevas was going to say yes at the alter

After the Love is Blind finale aired, Jessica told USA Today that during filming, she had confided in Mark that she wasn’t ready to get married.

“I felt like I had gotten in over my head. So I immediately told him in Mexico: ‘Oh no, I think I am not necessarily ready for this. I think we have a lot to figure out,’ and all that."

She also revealed she knew the day before the wedding that she wouldn’t go through with it and was not in a place to commit to marriage with Mark. When Mark told USA Today his side of the story, he admitted that he potentially thought things could work.

“Even though those conversations might’ve been (had), once I saw her walking down the aisle, I just felt what I felt in the moment, and I think the hopeless romantic in me was like, "We can do this."

5 Jessica Batten Was Surprised When Mark Cuevas Didn’t Go Through With The Plan

Jessica Batten was surprised when Mark Cuevas proposed to her

When Mark followed his heart and proposed to Jessica, she admitted she was shocked to USA Today.

“He and I had to choose who are we going to have as our bridesmaids and a lot of the details… but when the doors opened I realized there were, like, five more groomsman than we discussed, and I thought, ‘Oh, welp, I think he’s gonna say yes,’ and that’s exactly what happened."

Jessica immediately apologized to both Mark and his mother after turning Mark down at the altar, though Mark texted her the next day to apologize for betraying their agreement.

“We knew that we weren't going to work out in the end, so on that day, we were not planning on saying yes. When everything went down and he was crying on his mom and everything like that, it was a huge shock to me,” she told E Online.

4 Jessica Batten Says She Was Truly In Love With Mark Cuevas

Despite the drama that preceded and followed the wedding, Jessica strongly believes she found love on Love is Blind, explaining that she had found “full blown love” in episode 10 of the series.

“I watch the episode back, and I was fully in love with him."

"I wouldn’t have told him I loved him if I didn’t feel that in the moment,” she told USA Today, though she later admitted that she thinks the love may have been circumstantial.

“I think a lot of it was sensationalized due to the uncomfortability of the living situation...Life starts to get pretty weird, and you’re having these connections with these men, and it feels different than if you just met them in the real world.”

3 Mark Cuevas’s Lack of Experience Frustrated Jessica Batten

Jessica Batten stated that while she kept bringing up the age difference between herself and Mark Cuevas it was his "experience" that was ultimately the problem with their relationship

Many fans criticized the couple over their age gap, and though Jessica admitted it played a role in their downfall, she later told Refinery29 that it was Mark’s inexperience that sealed the deal.

“I kept saying that age was the variant, I should have been saying experience, because this is the type of thing that I felt. I didn't feel like he could stand up for me. I didn't feel like he had the courage to stand up in any way, shape, or form. He didn’t have the kind of integrity that I was looking for."

Ultimately, Jessica felt that the two were at very different stages of their lives.

2 Mark Cuevas Was Reportedly Seeing Other Women While With Jessica Batten

Mark Cuevas was seeing other women while he was stating that he wanted to marry Jessica Batten

Since appearing on Love is Blind, Mark has been involved in cheating scandals, including one messy situation that Jessica called him out on. In fact, it appears Jessica knew that Mark was seeing other women - while the two were dating!

“I mean, he was seeing another woman, so I can't imagine he was really planning on being married,” she confessed.

“I knew there was another woman involved. It turned out there were a couple other women on top of that.”

1 There Is No Bad Blood Between Jessica Batten And Mark Cuevas Today

Jessica Batten and Mark Cuevas have both moved on with their lives and started families, wishing the other nothing but the best

Despite everything they’ve been through, Jessica has admitted that both parties have moved on, and she harbors no bad feelings for Mark.

"I think Mark's a good person, you know, I think he's going through life," she said to ET Online.

"I think there was a lot going on, and I think there's a lot of ego right when I was coming to him saying in Mexico, 'Oh my gosh, I'm not feeling this,' you know, and it looked really bad, my side, and it felt really bad, right, so that probably hurt, and I think that's why he then felt like he had to go out and do other thing."

She wishes Mark had shown up to the After the Altar special, because he “is the life of the party and he gets along with everyone,” she said.

As for Mark? After the finale aired, he told USA Today “Jess was figuring it out just as much as I was. I really wish people would cut her some slack, because she is beautiful and a really deep, loving person.”

Sounds like these two ex-fiancés both found their happily ever after, even if it wasn’t on Love is Blind.