Love Is Blind fans accuse Daniel Hastings of being a 'stalker' after Taylor Haag Instagram drama - but does this prove love is engineered?

The drama started to unfold during episode four of season 8 of the hugely successful dating show, which landed on the streaming platform on Friday (February 14). Haag asked Hastings if he had ever followed her on Instagram during the pair’s fourth date.

He denied this, saying: “I can’t imagine that I do.” He also added: “I have a weird memory when it comes to Instagram handles. And I can see the person’s profile picture in my head . . . I would recognise your Instagram handle and I don’t.”

Later, Hastings proposed to Hagg and she said yes. Then, as per the format of the show, they were able to see each other for the first time. This was in episode six. During theit meet up, she once again asked him if he followed her on Instagram, and again he denied this.

After their first meeting, however, Hagg told producers she was convinced her new fiancé had seen her before they met on the show, recalling that he followed her Instagram before filming began.

She described a specific photo where Hastings was apparently sitting “in front of a Christmas tree” with his “legs crossed” and “holding a drink.” On December 24 2020, Hastings, who does describe himself as a ‘Christmas Card Connoisseur’ in his bio, did post a festive photo of himself which almost matched Haag’s description. In the image, he is sat in a chair with one leg propped on his knee while wearing Christmas pyjamas. He has a book in one hand and a cat in the other with a fireplace behind him, but he’s not holding a drink.

After the couple met, viewers saw Haag become emotional as she explained to the cameras during a one-on-one interview that something was bothering her after she saw her husband-to-be at the reveal.

“When the doors first opened, and I saw Daniel, I thought, ‘He looks so familiar to me,’ but I couldn’t place it,” Taylor said. “Is he familiar because I’ve pictured his face through a wall 15 million times? Is he familiar because I’ve heard his voice? I have this, like, overwhelming feeling that when the doors opened last night, that was not the first time that he saw me.”

She added that a “couple of months ago,” she remembered “getting a follow request,” but she said that she “never followed the account back.” She went on: “I’m fairly positive Daniel followed me on Instagram not long before coming to the show.”

She also then shared her fears that Hastings could have used the information available about her on her Instagram to form his connection with her, which she was then questioning the authenicity of. “It (Instagram) says I’m a registered nurse. It says that I love Taco Bell. It says that family and faith are important to me. All of these, like, major things. I have a Christmas highlight of how much I love Christmas,” she said.

In a previous of upcoming episodes from the season, Hagg is seen once again addressed the issue with Hastings just before they were set to set off to their honeymoon in Honduras with the other engaged couples.

Of course, the producers of the show have done what they do best and left the show on a cliffhanger, and the episodes aren’t airing until Friday (February 21). So, it’s unclear whether any confessions are made or if the couple stay together or not.

But, we do know several things. First, contestants don’t have access to their phone during the pods or the honeymoon but they do get them back when they return, which means Hagg can’t easily check for herself if Hastings is following her or not. Second, in each season contestants are always from the same city to give them a good chance at actually having a relationship that works in the real world so it’s not out of the relms of possibility that Haag and Hastings - or indeed any of the other contestants - would already know each other prior to the show

Third, contestants are actually allowed to describe their apperance to each other so again it is possible that they may sound familiar to each other, particularly when coupled with names and voices. Finally Hagg and Hastings do follow other each other today (Monday February 17), though we can’t tell when they started following each other of course.

Fans of the show have accused Hastings of being a “stalker” after the scenes aired. A little harsh, I think, given that the full context has not been revealed. And, let’s be honest, we know these shows are edited in a way to make things often seem more dramatic than they actually are. And I say that as a huge Love Is Blind fan.

But, as a fan, one big question still remains unanswered for me. If true, how did Hastings come to find Haag on Instagram in the first place!? As previously mentioned, I know contestants are all from the same city, but how small are these cities!? And what do people do, put their city in the search bar of various social mdia sites, see who comes up and hit ‘follow’ a bunch of times, even though these people are complete strangers, albeit strangers who happen to share a postcode.

We read of these scenarios time and time again, and the concept just seems bizarre to me and it makes me feel we’re not being given the full picture. Having said that, I do admit that I once had a local restaurant follow me on Instagram the day after I’d been there and all they had for the table booking was my first name so I assume they’d just searched for my name alongside the name of the South Yorkshire town I live in. So, I do know these strange things happen sometimes.

But, in this case Hastings shouldn’t have known the names of any of his fellow LIB contestants because they aren’t allowed to start posting any promotional material until a few days before the season airs - which is a long time after it was filmed. Then, I suppose that raises a question about the legitimacy of the show. Is love blind or is it engineered? Are the contestants actually able to find out about at least a small piece of information about each others identities before they enter the pods?

The show’s creator Chris Coelen swears that the show, and the connections made, are all genuine and there’s no guarantee that anyone will actually get engaged. But, they always do. From all of the single people who apply - which I’m sure will be thousands - how is it that of the 20 or so we make it on the show at least a handful of them believe they are compatible enough to get engaged. That seems like some pretty extraordinary odds. And for it to happen in every single season and every single city? Even more incredible.

Does the Hastings/Haag Instagram scandal expose that Love Is Blind isn’t as pure as we’d all like it to be? Perhaps, perhaps not. We’ll never truly know. But, regardless, I’m still on the countdown to Friday February 21 to see what happens next. It’s a dating reality show classic and guilty pleasure TV at its finest.