Madison from Love Is Blind Season 9 opens up about Joe’s drunken pool party and body-shaming comments

Love Is Blind Season 9 premiered on Netflix on October 1, 2025, with 32 new singles from Denver hoping to find partners without seeing each other first.

Among them, Madison Maidenberg and Joe Ferrucci became one of the early engaged couples in the pods.

After weeks of speaking through walls, they had said yes to a proposal and then traveled with the other four engaged couples to Mexico for the post-pod getaway.

The vacation had been meant to be a chance for everyone to relax and deepen their relationships before returning home. Instead, it became the setting for Madison’s first major conflict with Joe.

In an exclusive interview with Entertainment Weekly on October 1, 2025, Madison explained what had happened at the pool party, why she had been upset with Joe’s behavior, and how his earlier comments about her body had added to the tension.

She also shared details about what viewers had not seen on screen.

Pool party incident in Mexico, and what viewers did not see in Love Is Blind Season 9

During the Mexico trip, all five engaged couples had gathered for a poolside party in Love Is Blind. Madison said Joe had begun drinking and had become distant.

“He was still very drunk … it was confusing,” she told Entertainment Weekly.

He had kept repeating the same questions and had not engaged in conversation. Later, he had left the party early and had gone back to their hotel room, telling Madison to stay with the others. When she had checked on him that night, he had seemed unresponsive and “still pretty drunk” while she had tried to talk to him.

Madison said the situation had shifted once the cameras were off. “As soon as we were told that the cameras were off and dinner was coming, he popped up out of bed,” she recalled.

“If you can pop up now and talk and you’re all bright and chipper when the cameras are going away, that’s not going to fly with me.”

She explained that she had seen one version of Joe in the pods and another version in Mexico, which had left her frustrated and confused.

Joe later admitted he had “overindulged” at the pool party and “had to leave,” which had led to their fight. Madison described her reaction as a mix of exhaustion and disappointment, saying she had hoped he would “step up more and show up” for her during the trip.
 

Body-shaming comment and how it affected their relationship in Love Is Blind

Madison also addressed the comments Joe had made earlier about her appearance. According to her, Joe had told her that he had usually dated thinner women and that she was not his “usual type.”

He had said physical attraction could grow and that he was now “at peace” with their relationship, but Madison said the remark had been “very hard to hear.”

“It made me feel sick and like I wasn’t enough for him,” she explained in the interview. “Usually we date people that are attracted to us, so it was a really uncomfortable comment that he made and really hurtful.”

Madison said she was confident in herself but hoped Joe “would be more mindful when he’s speaking about women’s bodies in the future.”

In the pods, Joe and Madison had bonded over shared values and personal stories. Once they had met face-to-face, differences had begun to show. Madison said she had wanted “the same person in the pods to be there with me in Mexico,” but that had not been what she was getting.

The pool party incident, combined with the earlier body-shaming comment, had left her questioning how their relationship might continue.

New episodes of Love Is Blind season 9 (episodes 7–9) were set to release on October 8, episodes 10–11 on October 15, and the finale on October 22.

Stay tuned for more updates