When Love Is Blind: After the Altar season 2 aired, there was one person that was noticeably absent. Abhishek "Shake" Chatterjee, who was largely painted as the Love Is Blind season 2 villain, was nowhere to be found in the three-part special.
This isn’t all that surprising given his behavior at the reunion that aired earlier in 2022. The veterinarian was constantly inserting himself into conversations that had nothing to do with him; he failed to take responsibility for his commentary, instead blaming editing; and he even took on hosts Nick and Vanessa Lachey. Shake didn’t exactly walk away from the set that day with a ton of allies, if any.
Yet, him missing out on the brand new episodes seemed a bit odd because he arguably served up the most drama in the season aside from Natalie, Shayne and Shaina. A reality show of this caliber feeds on a little conflict. One would think producers would have welcomed Shake’s return. So what’s the real reason behind his absence?
Why was Shake not in Love Is Blind: After the Altar?
The short answer to this question is the cast didn’t want to be around him.
As seen in the three episodes, Danielle and Nick planned a Michigan getaway for the season 2 contestants. When the couple broached the topic of Shake, Nick stated that he would not go anywhere if Shake was invited and Danielle immediately scratched his name off the guest list.
However, the getaway was not the only part filmed for the show. There were a number of other scenes that occurred in the city of Chicago at various restaurants with smaller groups of the cast that Shake was also missing from. Even Shayne, who also wasn’t on the cast trip, met up on camera with Shaina, Kyle and Jarrette. With all that being said, it’s clear there is more to the story.
In an interview with Today, Kyle made the following statement addressing Shake’s absence:
"A few of us said we wouldn't do the show if he was there. We left them [producers] with no choice. He was probably going to dig his hole deeper if he'd done the show. It's better that he didn't do it."
Kyle went on to say the cast didn’t want Shake to join their guy’s night out, didn’t want him in Michigan and Kyle rejected the producers’ request that he and Shake have dinner.
Shake responds to not being in Love Is Blind: After the Altar
When Today asked Shake himself why he was not featured in After the Altar, he claims to have been approached to film, but he declined. Furthermore, he stated:
"After seeing After the Altar, I was so happy I didn't do it. So happy. Me being gone allowed them to focus on some of the negatives of the other people. Whereas with me there, they would have just piled into me as like the scapegoat."
Shake has additionally taken to social media to throw a few jabs at his castmates. On an IG story from September 20, he again brought up his infamous "Love Is Blurry" line.
Where is Shake today?
Looking again at his social media, it appears that Shake has picked up his veterinarian practice and moved to Miami. Additionally, since the show, he’s launched a podcast titled Life Is Blurry where he interviews "controversial" guests on an array of topics.
For those wondering about his love life, it seems his girlfriend is Miami entrepreneur and fellow Life Is Blurry co-host, Emily Wilson.
Love Is Blind: After the Altar season 2 is now streaming on Netflix. Don’t forget Love is Blind season 3 heads to the streamer on October 19.
