Love is Blind UK's Sam Klein says he felt 'suicidal' after fans sent him death threats due to show appearance

Product design manager Sam, now aged 33, was one of the 30 single men and women who were cast as one of the would be brides and grooms on the British version of Love is Blind which aired last summer.

Sam quickly became labelled as the series villian by viewers when the episodes aired. He became engaged to Nicole Stevens, age 29, but then viewers called him out for allegedly fat shaming his new bride-to-be. When she ended their engagement and instead became engaged to Benaiah Warrilow he decided to inform his love rival that his ex had wanted to sleep with him - something she denied.

Speaking on the Spread the Juice podcast, Sam admitted he had gone on the show hoping to fall in love, but also for the “exposure” it could bring him - but he was not portrayed for the exposure to be negative. He told host Jem Lucy, known for her appearances on Ex on the Beach, that he felt like his “life was over” the day the show aired, back in August last year.

“The headlines [were] ‘women by aware, Sam Klein, danger to women’, and then they compared me to a serial killer.” He went on to say that he got “depression” as a result of backlash he received. “It was so upsetting. I had a panic attack,” he recalled. “It was like living an out of body experience. It was so bad. It was death threats. I had people who would send me essays about how much they hate me and how ashamed by parents must be of me.”

He admitted that he was left feeling “suicidal” and his family had to intervene and take him out of his flat and back to the family home.

The TV groom said that he realised he had a “problem” when one of his first interviews for the show was cut so it appeared he had just said ‘hi, I’m Sam from London and I’ve had a nose job’, when actually he had explained the reason he had the procedure was because he’d been bullied at school due to his “crooked” nose. He also said he’d cried during the interview, but this wasn’t shown and instead he was instantly made out to be a person who only cared about appearance.

The reality star also admitted he hadn’t been able to watch the show in full due to the “narrative” about him that had been created. His portrayal on the show also led him to hide in his room for four days without eating or drinking when it first aired, he said.

In the interview, Sam also accused his castmates of abandoning him when they realised he had been made out to be the villian of the show in the press. “I got got completely left on my own and in the dark,” he alleged, although he did not name who he was referring to. He added that he had made a number of “close friends” during his time on the show, but that he was left “really upset” when they did not support him, publicly or privately. He did, however, say that he had received support from fellow bride Catherine Richards, who is now dating co-star Jake Singleton-Hill.

The reality star went on to reiterate his claim that Nicole had tried to sleep with him during the two days they spent together at his flat, after they weren’t chosen to continue their journey on LIB but decided to spend time together anyway to see what was between them - before Nicole then returned to the show to be with her now-husband Benaiah.

“Let’s say advances were made,” he said. But he also said the pair didn’t even kiss, adding “there was no attraction there and that’s just the way the cookie crumbles sometimes.”

Sam went on to deny that he had fat-shamed Nicole, saying that he had only wondered what she had meant by her comment that he may not be able to pick her up. “Everything goes through your head because you’re not seeing what they look like. I just went back [to the men’s lounge] to decompress,” he said. “Oh my god, did that get cut up into the biggest drama in the world. I actually said I don’t mind if she’s a bit bigger, if anything I quite like that.”

Speaking out his choice to tell Benaiah that Nicole had apparently wanted to be intimate with him, Sam alleged that prior to him doing so Benaiah had spent “15 minutes” telling him how “fake” has was and that he had “snapped” - but all of this was edited out of the show. He added: “I wish I’d never said it, but he broke me and I snapped.”

Sam also claimed that it was not surprising that he was made out to be the villian because his two strongest connections, as seen on the show, were with Nicole and also Jasmine Johnson - who both ultimately went on to chose other people, get married and are still married today. “There were 15 boys, I knew there was a one in 15 chance I’d be the villian. I knew when they were the two couples who got married they were going to have to create some kind of storyline, love triangle, and that’s what they did so I got the short straw,” he said.

He concluded the interview to credit his girlfriend with saving his life. He said that as she had been on Big Brother in her home country of Israel so she understood what he went through as she had also been portrayed as the villian during her reality TV stint.

Sam went Instagram official with his beau, model, reality star and influencer Shani Daphne Goldstein in December last year. They have now been together for six months.

The negative LIB experience has not put Sam off from appearing on reality TV again, however. He revealed that he was lined up to go on another Netflix dating show, Perfect Match, before he “fell in love” with Shani. He also said he thought going on Big Brother would be “good” because it provides more “unedited air time”.

Love is Blind producers, Netflix, Nicole, Benaiah or any of the Love is Blind UK series cast have not commented on the claims Sam made on the Spread the Juice podcast.

• If you are suffering with suicidal thoughts, you can contact The Samaritans on 116 123 for free, confidential support People with hearing problems or other communication difficulties can text 07889 036 280.