Where Is Zanab Now After Love Is Blind?

Zanab Jaffrey and Cole Barnett’s Love Is Blind journey has seen its share of ups and downs over the last several weeks. Though they forged a connection in the pods over their religion and shared plans for family, travel, and the future, Cole’s comments about being attracted to other women made Zanab feel “super sh*tty.” The pair’s personalities also clashed back in Dallas, where Cole questioned if Zanab was bipolar. So by the time they were supposed to get married in the show’s Nov. 9 finale, it wasn’t too surprising that Zanab left Cole at the altar.

“I think I have a really good idea about the type of woman that is gonna love you the way that Cole needs to be loved every day for the rest of your life,” she said, at the pivotal moment. “And I think you and I both know that that is not me.”

Zanab went on to reference Cole’s behavior during their engagement. “You have disrespected me, you have insulted me, you have critiqued me, and for what it is worth, you have singlehandedly shattered my self-confidence,” she added. During the Season 3 reunion, she elaborated on one such moment, saying that Cole told her to “save [her] appetite” when she was eating two Cuties oranges on a day she’d eaten little else. Cole denied this during the reunion, but the special ended with a clip of it happening. Still, Zanab told Cole she’s forgiven him for everything.

Zanab tells Bustle that between the wedding and the Love Is Blind Season 3 reunion, she and Cole did not speak. However, she doesn’t regret their journey together. She’s “very proud,” in particular, of the way she let herself be happy during their first face-to-face meeting after the pods.

“Just because of what I’ve lost in my life, I do have some guilt in those joyful moments because important, integral people are missing,” she says. “And so I’m glad I was able — even in that quick turnaround — to say, like, ‘I know I do deserve this happiness.’ And I loved our reveal, and I loved Cole, so I loved watching it back and just seeing how happy I was in that moment.”

She would do one tiny thing differently, though. “Watching back, it was the first time I’ve ever shared my space with anyone ... so, I think I could have just maybe shown a little bit more grace to having someone in my space,” she says. “And maybe just accepting, like, hey, you’ve agreed to love this person. And this is how they do things.”

As for whether Zanab is single today, that remains unclear — but she definitely left Love Is Blind with some solid friendships. In one December Instagram post, Zanab shared a snap of a night out captioned “PRO TIP: Date your gfs #datenight,” and it seems that fellow pod alum Nancy Rodriguez was the photographer.

“Thanks for getting in the plants for the pic gf 🙌🏼❤️,” she wrote in the comments.