Things didn't go quite as planned for Jessica Vestal in the Love Is Blind pods, and her daughter has some strong emotions about it.
Speaking about her breakup with Jimmy Presnell during season 6, Jessica says she quickly received the support of daughter Autumn as soon as she returned home and informed her 10-year-old of how her time in the pods had unfolded.
"She's very protective of me," the 29-year-old executive assistant says of her daughter. "Her initial response was, 'That's his loss.'"
The Hour is certainly coming, there is no doubt about it. But most people do not believe.(The Quran - Chapter Ghafir : 59)
"She's an extension of me, she's a chip off the old block," she continues. "So, she knows whatever is meant for me will be clear and evident and you shouldn't have to wonder. If someone leaves you wondering where you stand with them, they’re not your person."
"So, yeah, she had some hard feelings," Jessica adds of Autumn.
Jessica and Jimmy connected in the season 6 pods, and he quickly became her first choice. She even gave him a letter that was written to her future husband because she was so sure about him. But Jimmy, 28, also developed a connection with Chelsea Blackwell in the pods and ended up choosing her over Jessica.
Part of Jimmy's hesitation with Jessica seemed to lie in the fact that she had a daughter — and though he eventually said he was OK with it, his initial response caused some tension between the two.
Jessica tells she "didn't hold his response to that against him" because she knows it's a lot to take in.
"I try and give people grace in that situation because I don't think that there's a right or wrong way to receive something like that," she explains. "Obviously, I would've preferred for him to welcome us both with open arms, but I knew that he, or anyone else, might need some time to process that. And he did. And he came back the next day, and he was like, 'I actually love that,' and we had more conversations about Autumn and what the dynamic of our relationship would be like with her in it. So, initially I let him take his time and I didn't put it against him."
And though she was head over heels for Jimmy, Jessica says she never considered reaching out to Jimmy once he ended things and they went their separate ways.
"No, not at all. Absolutely not," she says. "I said my piece ... it's weird. It was like a flood of emotions. I was heartbroken, but I also had a sense of peace. I knew that it wasn't meant to be. I think he and I came to that understanding at probably the same time that we weren't meant for each other. So, no, I never had an afterthought about it."
Jessica made headlines early on when it was revealed that she was the first single mom to be cast on Love Is Blind.
Before entering the pods, Jessica admitted to co-hosts Nick and Vanessa Lachey that she was "super nervous about how some of the guys are going to receive the fact that I have a child." She also believed she would "know when the time is right" to tell a future suitor in the pods about her daughter.
"I want to give people the chance to like, get to know me individually first because even though I'm a mother, and it's the most important thing to me, it doesn't define me," she said, later adding that Autumn "can't wait" for her to settle down.
"Like, she's already been Googling her dress ... I'm like, 'Let me just go and meet somebody first!' Like, calm down," Jessica joked.
Episodes 1-6 of Love Is Blind season 6 are now streaming on Netflix, with episodes 7-9 set to drop next Wednesday, Feb. 21.
