It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for: some Jewish representation on the new season of Netflix’s “Love is Blind.”
If you’re not familiar with the series, the premise takes several contestants who date each other before actually meeting or even seeing what they look like. They speak to each other through a wall dividing their separate “pods” — and if they do meet face-to-face, they’re already engaged. Married couple Nick and Vanessa Lachey host the show that aims to prove if, well, love is blind.
In the past two seasons, many contestants have shared the importance of their respective religions, but no one has ever talked about being Jewish on the show. I always wondered if a Jewish person would ever appear on the show, and if so, would they make it past the pods? I’m here to say that our dreams have finally come true and I’m kvelling for it!
Here is what we know and love so far about Alexa Alfia, the first Jewish contestant on “Love Is Blind” season three (WARNING: spoilers ahead):
1. Alexa is Israeli-American. She’s a Tel Aviv University alum who owns her own insurance agency in Dallas, Texas.
2. She is absolutely stunning and has an amazing sense of style. She explains how she loves clothes and that she’s basically addicted to online shopping. During one of her conversations on “Love Is Blind,” Alexa revealed that she doesn’t re-wear outfits and that “a look is a look.” Based on several Instagram shots, I think we can agree she is very fabulous.
3. Her zodiac sign is Libra, and she was born September 27, 1993.
4. Alexa is a dog lover and has two cute little pups named Tito and Loki.
5. She is Brennon Lemieux’s fiancé and the duo were the first to get engaged on this season of “Love is Blind.” On their very first date, the pair talk about their love of shakshuka and cooking. She even says they’re going to have a “shakshuka-off.” She explains how she was the first grandchild and great-grandchild to cook for her great-grandma when she lived in Israel and talks about how she would host Shabbat dinners all the time at her home when she lived there.
6. The celebrity couple she would like to model herself after is Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively.
7. While in the pods, she tells Brennon how hard it is being away from her family, coming from a large Jewish-Israeli family and being one of six siblings. We later learn how close (and very Israeli) her family is, explaining that everybody knows everyone else’s business and has no filter (which to me is a classic Jewish quality).
8. Alexa stresses to Brennon that one of her non-negotiable boundaries is that her in-laws need to be accepting of her Jewish identity, saying that’s “a fundamental part of me” and “I am Jewish and proud to be Jewish.” Brennon even tells Alexa’s dad that he plans to convert for her; what a mensch!
9. Alexa taught Brennon and his family the meaning of “l’chaim” — the Hebrew word meaning “to life” — and how to say it!
10. She is very certain that one of her goals with Brennon is to have children and be a stay-at-home mom. The couple mentions this often and when Alexa meets Brennon’s family for the first time, she makes it known that she wants kids no matter what their financial situation looks like.
11. She is the show’s first mid/plus-size individual to make it past the pods to an engagement. While this is an exciting development and even more representation for the mid/plus-size community, Netflix introduces her in a stereotypical way: The very first thing we learn about her is her size. She mentions she can “stand to lose some weight” but doesn’t want to because she “loves food” and herself.
As a fellow mid-size woman, I agree, I love food and myself, too. But the angle that Netflix frames her in doesn’t give viewers a first impression of her personality or her Jewish identity, rather an impression that there is a larger body present on the show.
While this season has yet to come to an end and we’re still unsure if Alexa will say “I do” under the chuppah, I can’t wait to see what’s in store for her.
