Jessica Batten has faced backlash from her time on Love is Blind. Quickly, she became one of the most talked about singles on the series. Most of Jessica’s controversy came from her relationship with Mark Cuevas. Jessica’s many critics felt that she didn’t treat Mark in a loving and respectful manner, especially as someone she supposedly loved.
Jessica became really obsessed with their age difference. When Love is Blind filmed in 2018, Jessica was 33 and Mark was 24, a nearly 10-year age gap. She made many comments about worrying about their differences due to age, and what others would think about the age gap.
While Jessica received a lot of attention for the Mark situation, she may have given fans an even bigger heart attack with her treatment of her dog. Once back in the real world, the Love is Blind engaged couples met each other’s friends, family and pets. While filming the show, there is one scene where Mark and Jessica are having a serious discussion about their relationship while Jessica drinks some wine. Suddenly, she tips her glass to let her dog drink.
Obviously, fans were outraged by this moment, because we’re not vets. But it can’t be good for dogs to have wine, right? The moment helped solidify Jessica as the Love is Blind season 1 villain.
Screen Rant spoke to Mark and got his take on the Jessica giving her a taste of the wine. He had this to say:
"For folks giving her [a hard time] about the wine, that's just something spur of the moment. Who knows? I didn't even notice it was going on when it was happening, but at the end of the day, it was a one-time thing. And I'm sure there's people that haven't spoken up that probably have fed their dogs wine, and they're like, ‘Ooh, so that is bad to do.’ So, I'm sure she's not the first one to do it.
I was so focused on the questions that she was asking me that I didn't notice it until I watched it back, and I was like ‘Ah…’"
Mark made a good point. Jessica cannot be the only person giving her dog wine. It doesn’t make it right, but it’s probably something more people have done than they care to admit. Jessica could have also done it without noticing. She was a bit distracted trying to figure out if she really wanted to marry Mark. The world may never know if Love is Blind’s Jessica really meant to give her dog that wine, and maybe it’s best that we don’t know.
Screen Rant edited this interview for clarity.