Iyanna McNeely and Jarette Jones were one of two couples to wed in the finale episode, alongside Danielle Ruhl and Nick Thompson. McNeely and Jones announced their plans to divorce in August. The split was publicized shortly before Ruhl, 29, and Thompson, 36, announced they had also decided to part ways after one year of marriage.
After a year of marriage, Iyanna McNeely and Jarrette Jones have called it quits as they navigate the single life once more.
McNeely and Jones announced their split on Aug. 17 after less than two years of marriage. They were one of only two couples who were still together by the end of their season of “Love is Blind”.
McNeely officially filed for divorce from Jones through the Circuit Court of Cook County on Sept. 23. McNeely, 28, has hired Chicago-based attorney Amanda Oliver to represent her in the case, while Jones, also 28, has chosen to represent himself, according to documents viewed by PEOPLE.
“After much thought, we’re saddened to share that we have separated and will begin the process of divorcing,” they wrote in a joint statement last month. “While we have love for each other, our lives are going in different directions and that’s OK. Coming to this decision was far from easy and we will always wish each other the absolute best.
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They continued, “We hope you all will give us some space as we close this chapter of our lives. Thank you to our close friends and family for loving us both through our experience.”
Iyanna and Jarrette then thanked their Love Is Blind co-stars and Netflix “for this unforgettable opportunity and support.”
“Each of you have brought overwhelming love and joy into our lives,” the statement concluded. “This experience has taught us so much about ourselves, vulnerability and more. We don’t regret a single thing.”
The program coordinator instantly hit it off with Jones while in the pods during the reality TV show’s second season, which premiered in February 2022. After Jones weighed his connections with both McNeely and Mallory Zapata, he eventually popped the question — sight unseen — to the Kennesaw State grad. (Zapata, for her part, found a deep pod bond with Salvador “Sal” Perez, but they called off their engagement ahead of their wedding.)
“[Iyanna is] a better fit for me because she’s everything that I needed,” the health care consultant previously told Us Weekly in March 2022 of choosing his then-wife. “On paper, me and Mal would’ve worked out. I think with Iyanna — she was vastly different and I think those differences are things that I needed in my life to help me grow and be a better person and be a better husband.”
After navigating their new normal as spouses — and filming Netflix’s Love Is Blind: After the Altar special — McNeely and Jones eventually came to the conclusion that their lives were headed in separate directions, according to Us Weekly.
“I’m OK and getting better. There’s a lot of transition happening right now on top of knowing that After the Altar is coming out,” McNeely admitted during a September 2022 appearance of the “Diary of an Empath” podcast. “So, I’m going to have to relive a lot of stuff, which is the hardest part of it.”
She added: “Every time something like the season premiere coming out or After the Altar coming out, there’s always the knowing that, like, the security of our marriage will [have] a spotlight again. And so with Jarrette and I going through the issues that we were — even as of late before we made the decision to separate — it was just heavy in my mind.”
McNeely recently opened up about how the show ultimately impacted their marriage, especially as September’s Love Is Blind: After the Altar special loomed, according to PEOPLE.
“Every time something like the season premiere coming out or After the Altar coming out, there’s always the knowing that the security of our marriage will be in the spotlight again,” she said on the Diary of an Empath podcast last month.
“So with Jarrett and I going through the issues that we were, even as of late, before we made the decision to separate, it was just heavy on my mind again, we’re going to have to explain ourselves, we’re going to have to relive everything that was put on TV,” she continued. “It was more of a push to kind of just make a final decision, is this going to work or not? We’ve given it a year, we’ve experienced the same issues repeatedly.”
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Sources: E! News, Us Weekly, ET Canada, PEOPLE
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