Taylor Haag Explains That Dramatic Love Is Blind Cliff-Hanger in Her Own Words
Taylor Haag tells Glamour why she confronted Daniel Hastings after their engagement and reveals her unseen connection to Dave.
Warning: Love Is Blind season 8, episodes 1–6, spoilers ahead.
Taylor Haag is a bit late signing on for our chat about Love Is Blind season 8, but you shouldn’t hold that against her. Like the rest of us, she stayed up all night bingeing the first six episodes of the latest season after they dropped on February 14.
“I’m a little sleep-deprived,” the registered nurse admits before diving into that dramatic episode 6 cliff-hanger involving her romance with sales account executive Daniel Hastings.
It’s safe to say no season 8 couple seemed more in sync than Taylor and Daniel. He got down on one knee before they even had a chance to bond over their family values, appreciation for Taco Bell, and downright obsession with Christmas. In episode 4, Daniel gifted Taylor his “D” Christmas stocking in the hopes of adding a matching “T” to the collection, only to find out she already owns one.
“That is a crazy coincidence,” she told him. “It’s not a coincidence. Can’t be. We’ve had too many.”
During that very same date, Taylor dropped her Instagram handle (@T.Haags) and asked him if he followed her (“Minnesota is not a big place,” she reminds us).
“I can’t imagine that I do,” he replied. “I have a weird memory when it comes to Instagram handles. And I can see the person’s profile picture in my head…I would recognize your Instagram handle and I don’t.”
Unbeknownst to Taylor, that offhand question would set the stage for the dramatic final moments of episode 6. After seeing her fiancé for the first time after their full-circle proposal, Taylor began to suspect Daniel had, in fact, followed and unfollowed her on Instagram before joining the show—defeating the entire purpose of the pods.
“The primary concern was that he knew what I looked like during the experiment,” she tells Glamour. “I’m guilty, too, of judging people off their looks, and I’m sure that’s been done to me. I wanted that to be completely removed from this entire situation. Hence, Love is Blind. So the thought of that very premise being compromised was terrifying to me.”
She took her concerns directly to Daniel, who denied the alleged Instagram activity—and that’s where Love Is Blind producers chose to wrap up episode 6. It left fans with a lot of questions: Did Daniel know Taylor’s identity before joining the show? Was Taylor right about Daniel’s Christmas photo? And most importantly: Will they continue their romance in Honduras or return home to their families early?
While Taylor is not sleep-deprived enough to spoil the next batch of episodes, she tells Glamour her thoughts on the cliff-hanger, reveals her unseen connection with another controversial contestant, and sends a message to fans who are in their feelings about Daniel.
Glamour: So, you just watched the first six episodes of your season. What are your initial thoughts?
Taylor Haag: I wish there was a little bit more of my own story included, but it was fun to see everyone else’s story. Of course, we’re on the other side of the wall for all of these dates, and to be a fly on the wall and to see a glimpse into everyone else’s love stories was really fun.
Your connection with Daniel was obviously very strong very quickly—he even got down on one knee during your first date. Did you have any other connections we didn’t see?
Daniel was obviously always my strongest connection and my number one since day one, but I really put a lot of weight in what production was telling us every day. Like, ‘Don’t cut off other connections too early. Keep options open, keep talking to people, keep seeking love in other places than the obvious choice.’ So I did have other connections.
I dated Dave for a short time. I dated Scott for a short time. None of that was included. But Daniel was always the overwhelming number one for me, and it was very obvious for both of us that we were each other’s person.
So Dave got around a little bit.
I was in the final three for him, between Molly and Lauren. Lauren is one of my best friends from all of it, so she kind of let me in on what was going on. I kind of stayed to myself in the pod scenario—I didn’t share really who I was dating and what was going on in my world. So likewise, I didn’t know a lot about other girls dating situations. But yes, Dave was a part of the scenario at one point.
Lauren was pretty affected by Molly’s declarations about her relationship with Dave. Did you have any feelings about that, considering you were also dating Dave?
Not really, because again, Daniel was obviously…anytime I heard Daniel’s name come up in the pods, my ears grew like 15 times, like I had a satellite on whatever conversation was happening across the lounge. So my eyes and ears were always looking for people talking about Daniel.
Was anyone talking to Daniel?
Yes, Vanessa was talking to Daniel, and Kylie was also talking to Daniel. So when I heard his name brought up in conversations that I was not a part of, of course I was like extra curious what was going on. But obviously for Daniel, too, we both just kind of came together as our number ones.
They introduced the entire season by teasing the Instagram drama between you and Daniel. Do you think it’s going to be worth the buildup?
I’ve had a lot of anxiety about this bit of the story that happened because I thought it was going to be made into a bigger thing than it really was at the time. It was in the teaser. It was in the trailer. I knew it was going to be a part of the storyline for me, but I just feel like it’s a lot more hype than it needs to be.
You thought he followed you on Instagram before coming on the show, but what was the specific concern? Were you worried he knew who you were the whole time and was bringing up information he already knew about you? Or did you think he figured it out based on those conversations and kept it from you?
Good question. The primary concern was that he knew what I looked like during the experiment. I’m guilty, too, of judging people off their looks and I’m sure that’s been done to me. I wanted that to be completely removed from this entire situation. Hence, Love Is Blind. So the thought of that very premise being compromised was terrifying to me.
It just scared me. We’re operating on very limited information at the time. We don’t have our devices, we don’t have our people to talk to and bounce ideas off of. We’re running on minimal sleep and we’re running on adrenaline. There were so many factors playing into it.
So you weren’t concerned he was acting like Joe Goldberg from You?
Not at all.
To backtrack a bit, what was your impression of Daniel when you saw him for the first time?
I thought he was a little bit shorter than I expected him to be. The very first thing that I noticed was this smile when the doors opened. There was a slight crack in the doors that you can peek through just before they do open. With the light that shines up, I was thinking, Oh my gosh, he is like, seven feet tall. And then I looked up at my own shadow, and I was like, I am seven feet tall compared to this lighting.
So obviously I was expecting him to be taller. But again, short king season. He treated me so well in the pods, it didn’t matter at that point.
You both wrote each other letters for your final pod date, but yours wasn’t finished at the time. Do you know what the rest of it ended up saying?
I could not tell you what’s in the second part. I did finish it, I can tell you that. But it has sat in my journal since that day, and I couldn’t tell you unless I read it myself.
Obviously, people are going to have strong feelings about this cliff-hanger. What do you want viewers to think about before the next batch of episodes drop?
I would like people to remember the character that Daniel showed throughout the pod experience up to this point.
Episodes 7–9 of Love Is Blind season 8 drop on February 21.
