Nancy Rodriguez from ‘Love Is Blind’ found love with a fan who DMed her (exclusive)

• Nancy Rodriguez got engaged to Bartise Bowden during Love is blind Season 3, but he ultimately decided not to say “yes” on their wedding day
• The reality star started dating someone new last year after interacting with her on Instagram
• Rodriguez told PEOPLE that she thinks her new partner is a “good person” and the “perfect guy.”

Nancy Rodriguez describes how she was left standing at the altar by Bartise Bowden on Love is blind Season 3 as “my heart is poured into a blender and turned on for my family to see.”

“After the show, I started therapy for the heartbreak,” Rodriguez told PEOPLE at the Wildly Better Well-Being event in NYC celebrating the launch of Roxanne Kaiser’s Proxy gummy bears. “It was just like, ‘What do I do now? Can I ever really love anyone again?'”

With the help of therapy and self-reflection, Rodriguez found a new relationship – with a fan who sent her direct messages.

“It started in the comments section of one of my posts and I remember getting into it like I do with most of my posts,” the reality star said. “Then I saw his profile picture again in my DMs and I was like, ‘Hmm, OK.’ It was consistency in the DMs because I had people DM me before and then it got boring. He was so single-minded with voice messages, waiting for me to respond and asking me questions.”

But he didn’t have many profile photos either. “I didn’t really know what he looked like,” Rodriguez admitted. “I could have seen him on the street, but I don’t know who this guy is. It was his personality that shone through in our messages back and forth. There was Love is blind!”

At the beginning of the relationship, Rodriguez was in the process of moving to New York City. Her boyfriend, whose name she did not publicly disclose, lived in Boston at the time and flew in regularly to visit her.

“In the beginning – I’ll be completely honest – I had this protective shield around me because I had fallen in love with myself over the last two years,” said the real estate investor. “I was in therapy. I did a lot of things on my own, made decisions on my own. Then when the perfect man stands in front of you, it’s like, ‘Oh yes, but also my trauma of being left at the altar.'”

But when Rodriguez met him in person for the first time in February 2023, “it was so clear that this could be something,” she said. “This is a good person that I want to get to know. He made me feel safe and he gave me so much that I didn’t know I needed back when we met. He’s truly an inspiring person.”

She also learned that he loved Love is blind.

“My partner saw Love is blindand he even told me this funny story that it was one of the wedding weeks, new episodes were coming out and he was at a party, a very fancy party for work, and everyone wanted to go out afterward,” she recalled. “And they said, ‘Aren’t you coming?’ He said, ‘No, I have to go. New episodes of Love is blind fall tonight.'”

Her boyfriend has since moved to New York and they love exploring the city together. “We experience a lot together and learn a lot about each other,” said Rodriguez.

Ultimately, Rodriguez is happy that she opened up to love again after the heartbreak she experienced on the show. She also learned an important lesson in the process: putting herself first.

“I remember watching those episodes over and over again and learning so much about myself by watching myself fall in love and seeing the interactions with my family,” Rodriguez said. “Part of the heartbreak was healing the part of me that is always there for others but can never be there for myself. Now I am there for myself so I can have a relationship too because I give in to myself first and then I am able to give to others.”

The Netflix reality star credited self-love for helping her reach this point in her life.

“Self-love has been huge in my journey to mental health and understanding what I deserve, and I am able to receive that love in my life as well,” she added. “I am so lucky with my partner.”

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Love is blind is now streaming on Netflix.