In the event you’ve by no means watched the Netflix actuality collection Love Is Blind, the tenth season has unexpectedly intersected with the operating and triathlon area, and never in a constructive means.
Chris Fusco, a 33-year-old account govt and self-proclaimed health fanatic from Columbus, Ohio, fashioned a blind connection within the present’s pods with doctor Jessica Barrett. However as soon as the 2 met outdoors the present’s confined setting, Fusco mentioned he struggled to see their relationship working in the actual world.
In the course of the present, Fusco advised Barrett that he “sometimes dates ladies who do Pilates or CrossFit” and instructed he didn’t really feel a powerful bodily attraction to her as a result of she doesn’t work out. Fusco added that he likes pushing himself via endurance challenges akin to marathons and Ironman races.
Fusco’s feedback sparked backlash on-line, with followers of the present accusing him of physique shaming and different runners hitting Fusco the place it hurts: his race outcomes.
In response to his Athlinks profile, Fusco positioned 136th out of 140 opponents within the males’s 30–34 age group at an Ironman 70.3 Ohio race in 2022, ending in 7:55. Most lately, he ran the 2025 Columbus Marathon in 4:30:21 (carrying his well-known black Ironman hat), which positioned him in roughly the thirtieth percentile of all finishers.
We aren’t saying both achievement shouldn’t be spectacular; it takes constant coaching to finish each challenges, although followers assume feedback towards Barrett are quite a bit coming from somebody who isn’t precisely near successful their age class.
“The operating group is about being supportive, however you misplaced that privilege if you determined to insult a profitable girl on nationwide TV,” one fan wrote on Instagram, which echoed many different feedback.
One other commenter added: “He was carrying an Ironman hat, so I assumed he had for positive achieved a sub-10 full Ironman to have this ego… Man little one!”
Regardless of the backlash, Fusco advised Leisure Weekly that he doesn’t remorse collaborating within the present, although he acknowledged he might have made some errors. “I’m not likely too anxious about what the blowback can be [from my comments] as soon as folks see what occurs in these episodes,” Fusco mentioned.
