Love Is Blind’s Billy: ‘I’m Not A Monster, All You See Is A Snippet’

Billy Jervis was a fairly divisive figure on the second season of Love is Blind UK. The Bangor man wooed Ashleigh Berry on the Netflix series.

The couple got engaged in the first episode, however, their relationship turned rocky almost immediately. While the couple ultimately said “I do” at the altar, fans were shocked when they learned the couple were no longer together.

Ahead of the Love is Blind Reunion Special, we sat down with Billy to find out what life is really like in the pods…And what his issue with onions is!

Billy, you went on Love is Blind but did you expect to actually find love?

I obviously went in as an optimist, but I thought, “What are the chances?” There’s 15 girls in the whole UK. What are the chances that there’s a girl in there for me? But as you move through, you believe, and you believe and honestly, the pods, it’s a magical place. Unless you’re kind of living it, you really don’t understand until you’re in there. Honestly watching it all back, it brings up so many more emotions. But no, I didn’t think I was going to get anywhere! But thankful that I did!

This show is different from other dating shows because you’ve had a year since you’ve filmed this. Has that helped you more than just being thrown straight into the limelight?

I think so because you could process it. Don’t get me wrong, it was a year of keeping my mouth shut. You’re seeing people on the street and you just want to go, “You’ll never guess what I’ve done?” But it’s a nice way because you’ve got time to process everything and prepare yourself. I think on our dating shows you’re reacting in the moment, whereas with this, you can play out eventualities. So I think that side of it was quite nice.

We don’t know if you look at social media, but you haven’t been getting the nicest comments from people. How do you manage that?

To be honest, it was hard at first because I’m still navigating through this; this world is completely new to me. What I’ve learned is just they kind of take things with a pinch of salt. I embrace the positive comments because people can see the bigger picture. A lot of people are just seeing what they see on face value, and that’s all they want to see. They don’t look at how it might be edited, what else I do, what my views and my background are. At the end of the day, the people’s opinion that matter the most to me are my family and friends. So I just focus on what they think, and they’re very honest and blunt with me. If I’m being a bad guy they’ll call me on it, but if they know there’s more to a story, they’ll give me that reassurance. It’s been a learning experience but I’m taking the rough with the smooth. I know that I’ve come across as the back guy in some aspects. But I look back and I’m proud of what I’ve done, and I think I’ve done some good in there as well. There is some good moments, I just think some edits haven’t done me justice!

So you don’t hate onions?

[Laughs] This is a good example! We were shopping for a recipe. We had onions in the house. She says, “Should we get onions?” And I was like, “We don’t need onions because we’ve got onions.” Obviously, as you see that snippet, it’s like, “What so you don’t like onions?” I love onions, I love cake as well. I love Guinness.

You mentioned the opinions of your family and friends. How did they react when you said you were going on this show?

I told my mum and like my immediate family, and then they just can’t keep their mouths shut. We went to a family wedding and my mum was running around, shouting her mouth, telling everybody. She’s a proud Irish mum, she wants to tell everyone. But I was still in the like application process. So whenever I actually got the confirmation I was going in, I had to tell everyone I didn’t get it. I even had to tell my mum for a couple of weeks, because she can’t keep her mouth shut. It’s surreal, because I’m going on there to find love, they’re not going on to find love. They’re obviously going to support me. It’s my choice and not theirs. It was a hard one for them to navigate, but there’s a lot of excitement. They want me to find love at the end of the day, so they’re happy for me as well.

Obviously you’re from Northern Ireland and we saw Sabrina last season struggle with the long distance. Did you think about that possibly being an issue?

Because I’m in the Army, I get reassigned every couple of years. So if someone was down south of England I could go there. Or up north, I’d go there. There’s a lot of movement. I said that to all the girls I was talking to while we were dating. If this works, family to me comes first, job comes second.  So I would always apply for a job close by the way, and make it work that way. Now I’m going back over the Belfast, so I can’t wait to just to go home again!

Wow, you’re still in the army now?

Yes, still in the Army, I’ve about three years left.

Were you worried about how the other lads in the army would react to you being on the reality show?

Yeah! [Laughs] Don’t get wrong. There’s a lot of like cringey moments! I think it was the day were it went to number one on Netflix and the picture was me in a pink cowgirl hat! I was proud and cringing at the same time! I was like, “Oh the lads back at barracks are gonna absolutely rip me for this!” But you just have to take it in your stride. It’s just banter. You’ve just got to roll with it.

Talk to us about your wedding day. What was that like?

The whole process of the pods is intense. Everything is next-level intense because you’ve got production and cameras. It’s a tricky one, because it’s probably one of the most magical days of my life. It’s absolutely gorgeous, my tux was amazing and Ashleigh looked stunning. But the same time, you’re on a timeline, and there’s cameras and there’s reshoots. In one way it’s kind of taking away the magic, but the other half, you just take it in and it’s unbelievable. It was an early day, I think we started at five in the morning. Then it was just film, film, film. By the time we got married, I think it was six in the evening. It is a long day. I look back on it as one of the best days of my life because it was magical.

We spoke about the internet’s opinion of you. And everyone was so ready for you to be a villain. Do you ever feel like you need to win these people back over to you? Or do you not care?

A part of me wishes that I didn’t care. But I actually do care about what people think. And that’s a part of me that’s never going to change. I’m a people person. In my job, I interact with all the time. I train soldiers and do lessons all the time. So I’m out there and people’s opinions mean a lot to me. People say you shouldn’t care what people think, but I do. And it is hard. I just hope that through time people can see the real me. So yes, I am a bit of a villain. The first two episodes, I was a nice guy and then I turned into the villain over a couple of onions and cake. And apparently, I hate cabin crew! But anybody that meets me in the street for the first time the common line is, “Oh, you’re actually so nice in person”. I’m not a monster! All you’re seeing is a snippet of my life. Seven weeks in a 40-minute duration. You can’t do it.

You were the first to get engaged on the show…Do you think that maybe did you more harm than good in the viewers’ eyes?

I think it was Sabrina, last year, who got engaged first as well. They’re giving us Northern Irish ones a bad rep! We’re just hopeless romantics, we just want to fall in love. [Laughs] Obviously, they need to spread it out for the show. But we all get engaged on the same day, we all get revealed on the same day. Someone has to go first. I think it was easier for me because ours was cute and cheesy. It was playful for us, there was no outside noise. I know it wasn’t just two days. I’m happy with it. But it is what it is!

Billy, this has been so fun. Before we let you go, what has life been like since the cameras stopped rolling?

It has a bit weird, because obviously you’re in this bubble for seven weeks. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Honestly, it was unbelievable, and I loved every moment, though. Then you’re just back in the real world with a life again. And you’re trying to put both of your lives together. That was the hard part. And as you’re waiting for the show to come out, it kind of feels like your life is paused because you’re waiting for everything to happen as well. You can’t post anything online and you don’t want to give anything away. You know what people are like, they will scroll right back and notice where people are. It was a weird one. But ever since the show aired it has just been a crazy couple weeks. The first week was amazing, everyone was giving me so much love and then the second week everyone was giving me rubbish for a flipping onion and cake…and air stewards!

So we clarify that you don’t hate cabin crew?

I obviously don’t hate cabin crew! I keep going back to them…I just don’t learn my lesson! [Laughs]

Love is Blind UK season two is now streaming on Netflix