Izzy Zapata had plans of preparing for his financial future with Stacy Snyder before they broke off their engagement.
During an appearance on Nick Viall’s Viall Files podcast, the Love Is Blind alum revealed that he met with a “financial advisor immediately” after Stacy brought up concerns about their monetary future.
“I was like, ‘[This is] another obstacle, like, I’m gonna fix it,’ and that’s what I tried to do,” Izzy recalled.
Izzy and Stacy’s road to the altar got off to a great start, but soon took a turn when Izzy, 31, was introduced to Stacy’s life in Houston. She began to criticize the way the sales employee lived, including his “messy” apartment, drawer of random women’s possessions, and use of paper plates.
Stacy, 34, was also extremely concerned about Izzy’s finances and poor credit — particularly because the director of operations was accustomed to living a lavish lifestyle (as her dad put it, “sometimes love wants to fly first class”).
Before their conversation about finances on the show, Izzy revealed that Stacy had gotten a custom jacket made with his last name out of excitement for their upcoming nuptials.
“And then that finance conversation came up and she felt like I completely blindsided her,” he said on the podcast, recalling how Stacy said, “Oh, my God, I feel like I can’t trust you.”
“We sat and talked it out and she was very uncomfortable,” he continued. “I [told her] I didn’t have any debt, my student loans were paid off, I told her I was on a 1099 [tax form] because I switched over and I was doing insurance at the time, and she was like, ‘You’re on a 1099 instead of a W-2?’”
According to Izzy, Stacy was worried about “the lack of stability” as a 1099 doesn’t include work benefits.
“That kind of threw me for a loop,” he admitted. “Like, damn, I didn’t realize. … The only thing bad is that I have bad credit [because] I got cards when I was 18 [or] 19, f — -ed it up and my credit was bad.”
During the Love Is Blind season 5 finale, Izzy and Stacy finally reached the altar as they decided whether to tie the knot or potentially sever ties forever. For Izzy, the answer was a resounding yes. But while he agreed to marry Stacy, she ended up turning him down, citing lack of time as their biggest issue.
Izzy said he understood her perspective and that he still loved her — the pair even shared a kiss at the altar. But while it appeared they were on good terms and potentially going to try dating again, Izzy later went off on Stacy to cameras after he finally had a moment to register his emotions.
“It’s like she’s always trying to find something wrong,” he said in a confessional interview. “It’s like all the outside s — — was getting to her, and I blocked out everything. Looks, money, drama. I just focused on her …. The whole point of this [experiment] is, Does it matter? Does a credit score matter? Does the car I drive matter? Does where I go to f — -ing dinner matter? None of that matters to me. It makes me wonder, ‘Why are you 33 and single and not married?’ I’m 29 years old and I can give you everything that a f — -ing rich, 45-year-old man that you always go for and always fail with can’t give you.”
Earlier this month, Izzy told that his true feelings started to sink in as he was being questioned by producers.
“When we’re at the altar, I still was optimistic to things, although she’d told me no in that moment,” he explained. “I thought that we were still going to be together after the wedding, so I was like, ‘Okay, we made it through this together.’”
“But I think what switched is when I had to do my interview and [was] just really reflecting back on what the hell just happened once I got pulled away,” he continues. “And so when I’m sitting there and I’m getting my questions asked to me, I’m like, ‘Damn. F — — this. This is s — -ty.’ I was so hurt that I finally just let my emotions sit in.”
Love Is Blind season 5 is streaming in full on Netflix.
