A standout moment from “Love Is Blind” Season 7 has viewers “quacking” up.
Hannah Jiles and Nick Dorka are among the Washington, D.C.-based couples to get engaged in the show’s seventh season. Nick, 29, is in real estate; Hannah, 27, is a medical sales device representative.
The two had a bit of a back-and-forth in the pods. Hannah, thinking Nick was too suave, broke up with him and pursued another connection — but her heart still called out to Nick. They got back together, then hit another road bump after they met for the first time.
After the pods, the two headed off to Mexico for what was meant to be a romantic getaway. But while lounging on the beach, Nick’s goofy hijinks unexpectedly gave Hannah “the ick.”
Here’s what happened — and their exclusive response to TODAY.com.
Hannah, Nick and the ducks, explained
“The ick” refers to a feeling of disgust that bubbles up in someone when a potential romantic partner does something they perceive as gross, awkward or embarrassing.
And it’s exactly what happened to Hannah while she watched Nick get excited by a flock of fake ducks on the beach and feel the urge to “take one for a ride.”
“Men riding things makes me feel uncomfortable,” Hannah said.
Overriding Hannah’s disgust, Nick headed over to the ducks and invited an unnamed beachgoer to ride along.
Hannah remained unamused. “Nick is an idiot,” she said, looking on.
When Hannah called out to Nick to stop, the beachgoer suggested that Hannah was “jealous.” Nick and his new acquaintance proceeded to race while Hannah looked on in annoyance.
“Told you it was going to give me the ick, man,” Hannah told Nick upon his return.
“That’s fine. You still love me,” he replied.
“Maybe,” she said.
Hannah explained her disaversion: She was “trying to keep the passion alive” and was “too cool” to ride a duck.
Nick took her mood differently, suggesting that Hannah was “jealous” of the woman he invited over to race. He questioned how she would deal with being around the other “Love Is Blind” engaged couples later in the process.
After the duck incident, Hannah wrote a list of Nick’s perceived flaws and accidentally left it on their bedside table. On the list, Hannah questioned whether Nick was delusional.
Hannah and Nick respond to the duck incident and the list: ‘It stung’
In interviews with TODAY.com, Hannah and Nick unpack the duck incident — and its repercussions.
Nick says he was drawn to the ducks because, in a high-pressure social experiment, they represented a bit of levity.
“I just wanted to have fun with it. You know, there’s so many nerves and emotions that go into it. It’s hard to find time to laugh and be yourself, right? And so that was just a playful incident,” he says.
Rather than playful, Hannah took it as a seismic moment in their relationship. In an interview, Hannah confirms the ducks caused her to question Nick’s potential as a partner and write a list of what she saw as red flags.
“The note was mainly just like, these are things that maybe I could see that could be a problem in the future. Let’s address it. It was a rough draft. It wasn’t really meant for Nick to see,” she says.
Rather than a pros/cons list, Hannah says it was a mostly cons list — but adds that she “would have written my green flags down” later on.
“He gave me a little bit of an ick, but we got over it,” she says.
Reading Hannah’s list stung, Nick says.
“I feel like she she misjudged me a little bit, but she also knew exactly kind of who I was from spending that much time with me,” he says.
Still, without confirming whether they’re together now, Nick says he isn’t holding on to any hard feelings.