EXCLUSIVE: Love Is Blind alum Nick Thompson, 38, reveals he’s on the brink of HOMELESSNESS because no one will hire him in the wake of the dating show — while berating ‘exploitative’ Netflix for only charging him ‘$7.14 a hour’ pays without remainder

Former Love Is Blind star Nick Thompson has revealed he’s at risk of losing his home after struggling to find a job in the wake of his appearance on the 2021 Netflix reality show – for which he says he’s just ‘ $7.14 an hour” while being “treated like a prisoner.”

The TV personality turned mental health advocate, who appeared in the show’s second season, has claimed his life has been ruined by the series, while lashing out at Netflix for “exploiting” him and his fellow cast members.

Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com, 38-year-old Nick said he was only paid $10,000 for 10 weeks of filming and that there has been no discussion of residual payment, despite the continued success of Love Is Blind, which has been running for four seasons since. the release. 2020 and will debut a fifth installment in September this year.

“If you think about the amount of money that’s being made, and the way this is the path for future seasons, and the fact that anybody can go ahead and watch me… and I’m going to be homeless,” he said.

“I lost my job last November. I’m having a lot of trouble finding (a new one).

Romance: The former VP of product marketing found love with Danielle Ruhl on the program, though the pair have since split

“I burned through my savings that cashed out my 401(k). I still have two months in the bank to pay my mortgage. I can’t get a job because people don’t take me seriously.

“I was VP in software for five years, so it’s not that I don’t have experience or success.”

Nick also described feeling like he was being held “a prisoner” during his time in the social experiment and believes he and others have been manipulated by producers and psychologists.

Nick exposed the brutal realities of filming Love Is Blind, claiming that producers “had you under control 24 hours a day.”

“You film 18 to 20 hours a day,” he claimed. “And that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be on TV all the time, but you’re micronized from the minute you get there in the morning, and you’re all micronized until you leave.”

“Then when you go home at the end of the day you are locked in your hotel room with no key no wallet no money no identification.

“You are literally held captive as a prisoner and there is absolutely no reason not to consider you an employee if you are technically under the control of your employer 24 hours a day.”

Since appearing on Love Is Blind, Nick has co-founded the Unscripted Cast Advocacy Network (YOU CAN), which helps provide mental health and legal support to reality TV stars of the past, present, and future.

His comments come just weeks after Real Housewives of New York City alum Bethenny Frankel called for a “reality TV reckoning” amid the ongoing SAG and WGA strikes and argued that stars should receive residuals for the shows in which they appear.

Season 2 cast: Nick was one of the contestants who made it all the way to the altar

Taking a stand: He’s now fighting for reality show cast members to be treated with dignity and given basic human rights

He also fully supports Bethenny’s mission to unite reality stars so they can negotiate fair workers’ rights and fair wages.

Nick says he only made $10,000 from appearing on the show, explaining that he received $7,000 for seven weeks of filming and another $3,000 for After The Altar, the episodes that followed the weddings.

He equates this figure to just $7.14 an hour, which is more than a dollar less than the $8.50 minimum wage in Illinois, where the show was primarily filmed.

To further emphasize the meager amount, his income was also less than the national minimum wage, which was $7.25 in 2021.

While outsiders might argue that Nick could have dropped out of the trial at any time, he claimed he was contractually obligated to continue with the experiment or face $50,000 in damages.

Nick believes that he and many other television personalities who appeared on reality shows have been exploited by the streaming platforms, which have produced cheap content at the expense of cast members.

“We were manipulated, our triggers were used against us,” he claimed. “Everything we shared with a producer or with a psychological research was armed against us.”

DailyMail.com has reached out to Netflix for comment.

While Nick found love with Danielle Ruhl in the pods, the couple ended up divorcing in August 2022 after a year-long marriage.

When asked if he would have ever signed on for the show knowing what he knows now, Nick replied, “That’s a tough question. I go back and forth. I never thought I’d be on a reality TV show.

“Even when I took the call, I thought, I’m not here for this; I’m not very dramatic, I’ve got my stuff together and I have a good professional job, I’ve done a lot of therapy. Next thing I know I was there.

“When I think about everything that’s happened and think about my relationship, it’s hard to say I wish I never had.”

Exploited: Nick believes that reality stars have been taken advantage of and fully supports unions in the industry

That said, Nick, who hosts his own podcast Eyes Wide Open, said that going on with Love Is Blind “completely ruined his life.”

“I wish I could just go back to living the fun life I built for myself instead of wondering if my mortgage is going to be paid,” he admitted. “It’s a ruthless, ruthless, ruthless industry.”

Fellow reality stars are said to feel the same way about wanting to strike and join a union, but Nick claimed they are too scared to speak out about their experiences because of contracts.

“We probably talked to 100 150 people from different shows together,” he said, referring to his work at UCAN.

And most would agree that they’re afraid to speak up because of the contracts and the NDAs. They quietly support, but they are afraid.’

Turning his attention to streamers like Netflix, Nick, who fights that reality show cast members be treated with dignity and given basic human rights, said flatly that they don’t care.

“They’re just making that money because reality TV is extremely cheap to produce, and they can keep doing that because of the strike,” he said.

Nick begged Netflix to act and do right by reality stars. “They have a great opportunity to lead the industry and get on the right side of the issue now,” he told us.

“And I don’t hold a grudge. When they come to me, or to our foundation, or to the coalition of people that we’re building, and they say, “Let’s talk,” that door is always open to them. But they need to get on the right side of things.

“They’re writing themselves out of business if they don’t start treating writers, actors, and all reality cast members right. I invite them to the right side of the battle.”