Heading into the next three episodes of Perfect Match, which hit Netflix on Friday (June 14), one of the strongest couples of season 2 — Justin Assada and Elys Hutchinson (from Surviving Summer and Too Hot to Handle) — ended up reaching their demise, to the surprise of viewers all across America.
While they were seemingly going strong, Elys made the out-of-the-blue decision to couple up with Bryton Constantin (from Squid Game: The Challenge) right before the finale, leaving Justin shocked and in shambles. Nobody saw this switch up coming, including Justin, speaking out about the situation for the first time since filming for the show wrapped via TikTok. Keep scrolling to see what he had to say…
Justin took to his TikTok account to “clear the air and give [his] stance on the whole entire situation” regarding his breakup with Elys, and his vulnerability was on full display.
Indicating that he doesn’t “hold any ill will” or “any grudge [or] hatred” towards Elys, Justin admitted that he is grateful that he was a part of her love story nonetheless, although it is now with Bryton instead. He continued:
“Reality TV is nothing short of stressful. It’s riddled with ambiguity… I’m not going to act like a tough guy and say that I wasn’t hurt, because I think it’s quite evident that I was hurt, but I think my hurt and my response stems from a culmination of conversations, deep dives, actions and emotions that I had shared with Elys throughout the show. In an instance like that, you naturally revisit those conversations, those emotions, and you ponder their authenticity, and I think that’s was why I was so hurt in the moment.”
He then proceeded by sharing that he had improved upon his “emotional invulnerability” prior to the show, joining Perfect Match as emotionally available as can be. This might have been alarming to Elys, ultimately leading to their demise:
“I was in therapy trying to be the best version of myself, so I could extend love and affection and also receive it on a show like Perfect Match. So when time came to film, I quite literally felt like I was at my zenith of emotional intelligence and availability, and I was excited to get things started. Maybe it was overbearing or it could be perceived as love bombing or something of that sort, but it was just me trying to make right with my past and acknowledging the number of people that I had let slip away, because I didn’t say the right words in that moment, or I did let the opportunity pass where I could have been more affectionate.”
As for why his split from Elys was so aggressive at the time, Justin confirmed that while he could have handled things differently, he “was always raised to acknowledge [his] own value” and be “treasured and appreciated” by his significant other, and being tossed aside so quickly made him react with some anger and abruptness. “I wasn’t going to waste time trying to exercise my value to someone who wasn’t receiving it,” he shared, before revealing something oh-so intriguing.
While the episode was edited to show Justin walking out of the villa moments after his breakup with Elys, he actually tried to find his “perfect match” (no pun intended) with someone else before leaving the villa once and for all:
“Well what you guys don’t see is my attempt to ignite something with someone on the show that I didn’t necessarily have a connection with. Don’t get me wrong, the girl that I made the last ditch effort with is unreal. I think she’s stunning and brings a whole lot to the table, but unfortunately ,it boiled down to timing and connection and maybe it was me for not exercising a certain aptitude or openness in finding a new connection throughout the time there.”
At the end of the day, Justin truly believed that Elys was his “perfect match,” and he just didn’t feel right stringing along another woman for the sake of screen time. You dropped your crown, king!
With just one episode of the beloved competition series remaining, although Justin is already greatly missed, who will ultimately bring home the bacon (or lack thereof) when Perfect Match season 2 comes to a close? To find out for yourself, catch the finale when it hits Netflix on June 21.
