Jess Vestal knows by now that Harry Jowsey is not her Perfect Match, but for much of the Netflix dating show’s second season, she thought the two of them had a chance at a happily-ever-after.
“I do think people can change. I don’t know if that was the best example of it, but I do believe that,” Jess told People in a post-finale interview. “I feel like at some point, I’d like to think everyone has to grow up. I’d like to think when someone says they want to settle down, and they want to have a family, and they want to get married, that they mean that. So I just took what he said at face value.”
Netflix
Jess and Harry broke up for good after filming, and the Season 2 finale revealed that he had lied to her and had, in fact, kissed costar Melinda Berry during the competition. (He also told Melinda, “Oh yeah, I wanna f**k you.”) And that came after several people on the show, including Harry’s friend Dom Gabriel, aired suspicions about Harry’s intentions.
“He was very, very good to me until he wasn’t,” Jess told People, adding that she and Harry had beautiful moments during their time together. “It was very believable. I felt like he really did want to change. I feel like he really had — for lack of a better term — learned his lesson, and he wanted something real. And I was like, ‘OK, well, ask, and you shall receive.’”
Ultimately, Jess said, there were “a lot of promises and commitments that weren’t upheld,” but she offered Harry the same grace she would want to receive.
“I was hoping to go and maybe find love, but I was totally fine if I didn’t… but yeah, it didn’t really go how I thought it would have,” she concluded. “Sometimes the best lessons are the hardest ones to learn.”
Perfect Match, Season 2, Streaming Now, Netflix