Love Is Blind's Micah Lussier is coming to the defense of her best friend Shelby after her harsh criticism of Paul Peden throughout season 4.
The 27-year-old marketing manager exclusively tells PEOPLE that she's still close with Shelby despite her pal's remarks about her former fiancé.
"I think the thing with Shelby is she does not put anything lightly," Micah shares of her friend. "I think she's a really blunt person, but she is also my person."
"She is my sister, she's my best friend. I think everything that she did came strictly from love," she explains. "And she did not want me to get hurt. She's been there through every single heartbreak that I've had, and she was just not going to let it happen again."
"If she didn't think Paul was the right person, she was going to say something," she adds. "But I did have to take everything that she said, of course, with a grain of salt because she didn't know our whole story."
Shelby made no secret of her feelings about Micah's whirlwind relationship with Paul, 29, after they met on the Netflix series. The pair didn't get off on the right foot in episode 8 when Shelby grilled Paul about "how serious" he was at her birthday party.
She later teased Paul about his "articulate manner" when describing his feelings for Micah. After Paul joked that her friends were going to "roast" him, Shelby warned that she would have "something bitchy to say at some point."
She added: "I'm serious about it though. Don't say that kind of stuff to me. I'll get pissed."
Micah then jokingly told Paul that Shelby can be "easily angered," but Paul didn't seem to understand the importance of getting her friend's seal of approval, saying, "I mean, can't say that I care."
Of course, Micah didn't appreciate his reaction and told Paul, "Don't be like that... That's like, really the worst attitude to have. If you don't care what she says, that's, like, a major issue. You don't have to take her little comments personally but you should care how she feels about you."
Later, Shelby revealed that she didn't think the pair were a match, telling her friend through her tears, "I'm honestly not with it... I just feel like this wasn't meant for you. You're meant to have the most spectacular everything. You're Micah."
She continued, "I think you deserve better. You're meant to have the best wedding of your life. You're meant to have all this, and this isn't it."
In a confessional, Shelby told cameras: "I'm not a hater. I'm the most protective person of Micah because that's my best friend in the entire world and I will never not be skeptical because of how I feel about her and I've been there for so much and I just think that I need more."
During Micah's bachelorette party, Shelby expressed similar thoughts about Paul. She claimed Paul's love for Micah was "not enough" and questioned if Micah really knew him after only two months.
When Micah's other friend asked about Paul, Shelby said, "He's a super nice guy, but... I think she deserves everything in the world and I don't think this is it."
"I'm gonna support you, I might be pissed off," Shelby later added after Micah asked for her support of their relationship.
When it came to Paul and Micah's wedding day, Shelby continued to let her feelings about the union be known. She made snarky comments throughout the day, and one point even said, "I wish I was way drunker," after Micah let Paul answer first at the altar.
Ultimately, Paul decided not to marry Micah, telling her, "I love you, but I don't think that we can choose each other right now."
As Micah ran off in tears, Shelby sat in the crowd with a smile on her fast. She then told the other bridesmaids, "I'm relieved, honestly. That's how I wanted it to go."
"I think as a viewer, it might seem like I was afraid of saying yes and him saying no. It was actually quite the opposite," she said. "I felt like if I said yes, he might feel like he had to and like he was backed in a corner. And I wanted him to answer for him."
She continues, "I wanted him to say yes or say no because it's what he felt was right in his heart. And I think the only way to do that, knowing him so well, was for him to go ahead and answer first."
Micah added: "A huge fear of mine was that I was going to say yes and he would say yes just because he felt like he had to. Or he didn't want to embarrass me, or 'Okay, well, maybe if she thinks so, maybe I do too.' But the reality is is you have to know and you have to know in your heart to make that commitment to someone. And he did know and it was to say no."
Love Is Blind season 4 is now streaming in full on Netflix, and the live reunion special airs Sunday, April 16 from Los Angeles at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT.
