Love Is Blind’s Barnett & Amber Set The Record Straight About The Debt Stuff

One of the best parts about Netflix's dating show Love Is Blind (besides watching contestants communicate in the pods) is seeing the engaged couples discuss real world issues like race, age, and finances rather than glossing over those topics like some reality shows (ahem, Bachelor in Paradise). Each couple faces one of these obstacles, and for Matt Barnett and Amber Pike, finances and debt are their big, unavoidable elephants in the room. I can’t think of any reality TV dating show (and I have seen way too many) in which a contestant has been as open about their student loan debt as Amber was in episode 6 of Love Is Blind.

It's something the couple had to address shortly after moving in together on the Netflix series. Upon visiting Barnett’s house for the first time, Amber shared that she has about $20,000 worth of student loans, though she didn’t finish college. Barnett was, expectedly, a little taken aback. Amber added that the interest on the loans had increased, and while Love Is Blind was filming (over a year ago) she didn’t have a regular job with which to pay them off. We don’t learn much more about how they planned to handle their finances after this scene, but Amber told Refinery29 in mid-February that there is actually a lot more to the story.

“I'm super glad to clarify that Matt's not paying for my debt," Amber said at the recently announced Love Is Blind reunion, which will be released on March 5. "I've kind of already started but I don't want to jinx anything.
She also said she has a "new career move" and that she's "about to be making money moves." 

In a follow-up interview, via email, Amber clarified what those money moves might be: “I have been taking some steps towards establishing a new career for myself and will be taking a test for my certifications very soon." Unfortunately, viewers aren't likely to be let in on exactly what career she's being certified for. "With all of the backlash on social media that people have from their misconceptions about my work ethic I will be keeping any other information about that to myself," she wrote. "This career move could be a great thing for me and Barnett and I wouldn’t want to risk jeopardizing that.” 

In the same email interview, Barnett confirmed to Refinery29 that the couple did not sign a prenup before tying the knot. He also addressed the social media response to their relationship. “I have been keeping up and trying to focus on the positive responses," he wrote, likely because Amber has been weathering quite a bit of criticism on social media.

Amber says she is trying to ignore most social media reactions to her relationship with Barnett and the personal information she revealed on the show: “There has been an outpouring of support for us, but there has also been a lot of hate, directed specifically at me for people’s ill-perceived opinions over my life choices."