Netflix’s Wildest Dating Show Is Blowing Up Over One Scandalous Kiss
If there’s one thing you can count on while watching a dating show, it’s that, if there are two sides to some scandalous tale that might or might not have happened, the producers will never tell you who’s lying. Take, for example, this week’s batch of Perfect Match episodes on Netflix. Did perennial F-boy Harry Jowsey actually kiss Too Hot to Handle star Melinda Berry during a guys’ retreat, despite being in a relationship with Love Is Blind alum Jessica Vestal? Or is Harry telling the truth when he claims that Melinda made it all up to cause drama? We, the confused viewers at home, might never know!
For the uninitiated, the premise of Perfect Match is simple: Dozens of oiled-up Netflix stars gather at a gorgeous villa in the hopes of finding a partner. Each night, they must choose who to “match” with, and in the morning, the couples face compatibility challenges. Whoever wins each challenge gets control of the boardroom, which means they can send fellow contestants on blind dates with new people. In the end, the couple voted most compatible wins bragging rights and a free vacation.
Jessica Vestal and Harry Jowsey
During his time on Too Hot to Handle, Harry made his name as a player. At the start of his run on Perfect Match, he bragged that the winning couple from last season—Georgia Hasserati and Dominic “Dom” Gabriel—broke up after Georgia cheated with him. He now claims that he’s healed himself through therapy and self-help books and is ready to find a real, lasting love, but his actions tell a different story.
‘Perfect Match’ Has Perfected the Trash TV Formula
First, Harry paired up with Elys Hutchinson but was annoyed that she (understandably) did not immediately trust him—so he dumped her at the first opportunity for Jessica, a single mother whose no-nonsense attitude made her a breakout star on Love Is Blind Season 6. Harry claimed to be smitten and excited to become a stepdad, but you wouldn’t know it from his behavior at the guys’ retreat this week.
Because Perfect Match loves to stir the pot, our couples split up for separate men’s and women’s mixers. The guys hung out with all of the women who were either eliminated from or never welcomed into the house, and the women did the same with all the extra men. As one might imagine, some people behaved better than others—and Harry would fall into the “others” category.
Regardless of whether Harry kissed Melinda, he admitted to having crossed a line. He shamelessly flirted with her—including doing a body shot off her belly—and carried her around the retreat, koala-hug style. Melinda also told Jessica that Harry said told her, “I’ll put a baby in you,” which, yuck. Even Harry’s version of that soundbite, “it’d look good if you were pregnant,” gave me instant hives.
Of course, the show’s producers had a great time intercutting his statements of devotion—like, “The only person my heart beats for is Jess”—with shots of him making a complete ass of himself, grinning and telling the guys, “We’re in trouble.” The only person aside from Melinda who affirmatively said that Harry kissed her is fellow Too Hot to Handle alum Holly Scarfone; everyone else claimed they saw nothing.
Melinda Berry
Still, Harry did himself no favors when he returned to the house. Jessica found him moping in their room under the covers, where he said he’s been “fucking crying.” He immediately asked her why she was being “so hostile” (eye-roll) before confessing that he felt bad because at the mixer, he “wasn’t the best representation of you and [her daughter] Autumn.” I’ll say!
For all his blubbering, Harry never admitted that he had even been accused of kissing Melinda; instead, he just said he’d carried her and that she was “setting him up.” Jessica was not born yesterday, so she suspected that Harry was not telling her the full truth. And yet, by the next morning, when all of the un-coupled men and women arrived at the villa for one final messy mixer, Harry and Jessica were apparently at the “I love you” stage of their relationship, which actually left me speechless.
Who the Hell Paid Netflix Star Harry Jowsey $40K for Sex?
What can we say about the scene that unfolded over the course of the day? Harry spent the day vomiting, and Jessica got mad at Melinda for telling her about the kiss in front of everyone, which felt like misplaced anger, but what do I know? Later on, Melinda went for the jugular anyway, informing Jessica privately that Harry had also told her, “I just wanna fully fuck you,” which seemed to finally push Jessica over the edge.
Naturally, we ended this week on a cliffhanger ahead of the finale. Will Jessica stick with Harry and give him another chance to prove he’s not a complete sleaze bucket, or has she had enough? For the sake of Jessica and women everywhere, let’s hope she’s finally done.
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