Nick Lachey Says Harry Jowsey 'Did Nothing but Solidify the Reputation' He Wanted to Shed on Perfect Match (Exclusive) (2024)

Warning: This story contains spoilers from the Perfect Match season 2 finale.

• Nick Lachey is the host of Perfect Match and Netflix dropped its season 2 finale on Friday, June 21.
• The finale saw one couple be crowned the "Perfect Match" after a season of love connections and heartbreak, some of which involved Jessica Vestal and Harry Jowsey.
• Here, Nick Lachey talks to PEOPLE about his thoughts on Harry's missteps and the drama that unfolded on the show afterwards.

Nick Lacheyis not making excuses forPerfect Matchseason 2 star, Harry Jowsey.

Throughout season 2, fans watched as Harry, 27, got called out by his castmates for his "f--- boy" reputation and attempted to shed that identity, in part, by pursuing a committed relationship with costar Jessica Vestal.

During their relationship, Harry insisted he was a changed man and wanted to be better for both Jess, 29, and her daughter Autumn. Still, things went south in episode 8 when the men went on a group outing with the eliminated women. The day ended with Harry flirting and acting inappropriately with costarMelinda Melrose.

It was eventually revealed — and confirmed in the finale – that Harry not only carried Melinda to the bathroom and flirted with her, but also secretly kissed her and lied about it to Jess. Before fans got to see the footage in the finale, Jess had ended things with Harry, fed up with his immature behavior.

Now, host Nick is weighing in on their drama, telling PEOPLE that while Harry is very likable, he definitely had some missteps in season 2.

"I really genuinely like Harry a lot. It was almost impossible to dislike [him], he's just a charming, charming dude," he says. "But he really did come into the show saying that he was a changed man and wanted to be a changed man, and he wanted to shed kind of the reputation that he had had leading up [to his time] on Perfect Match."

"And unfortunately, I think he just did nothing but solidify the reputation that he had," Nick, 50, continues.

As host of the series, Nick says he gets to know the cast individually and "certainly knew the backbones of what was going on [with Jess and Harry] before the finale." That's why it was hard for him to watch it all unfold — especially knowing Jess already from Love Is Blind season 6.

"It's hard to be impartial with these things, and honestly, I try not to pick favorites ... and stay completely out of it," he admits. "But I personally had an interest in Jessica's story because I knew her from Love Is Blind. And I remember her specifically when she told Vanessa that she had a daughter and she was looking for love, and her daughter was hopeful that she would find him."

"The whole story, just really, really hooked me and I was like, 'Oh, this is a really cool thing for the show, and I hope she finds it,'" Nick recalls. "And then she obviously didn't on Love Is Blind as we all saw. So on heels of that, I was hoping that she would have a great experience with this show. And certainly it was a rocky road again for her."

Despite his sweet spot for Jess, Nick emphasizes that he doesn't get involved with the cast's drama or offer unsolicited advice in tense situations.

"[Harry] didn't ever seek my advice, nor do I think I'm really in a position to give it," he explains. "These people are all coming in and living their own experiences and doing their own thing. And I think my job is to kind of help them navigate. I'm a traffic cop kind of in a way."

"But yeah, as much as I have had feelings for people and had genuine interest in seeing people find what they're looking for and come out on the other side feeling good about it, I have to try and remain as impartial as I can and just let it ride, which is sometimes the tricky part," he adds of bonding with the cast. "But it's also definitely my job. I need to be Switzerland and I need to be impartial, and that's the sensibility I try to approach it with."

Now that season 2 is finally out there for the world to see, Nick admits he was "shocked" by the final outcome of Christine Obanor (Too Hot to Handle)and Nigel Euro (Too Hot to Handle) walking away with the season 2 crown.

"It's two seasons in a row actually where I just didn't see it coming," he says. "It's amazing when I have a chance to host these shows, either with [wife] Vanessa or by myself, I think we're often shocked and surprised. At the end of the day, we're really viewers, right? I mean, we're the audience as much as anyone watching at home. So yeah, as I'm standing there and the vote came in, I didn't see that coming."

Noting that a finale shocker also happened in season 1 with frontrunners Joey Sasso and Kariselle Snow, Nick says he has a theory as to why this occurs on Perfect Match.

"There's just a little bit of fatigue that comes along with them being together so long that the vote comes down another way," he theorizes. "Obviously there's some, I don't want to say backstabbing, but there are other interests involved."

"I mean, I was surprised, but at the same time, I can see kind of why the vote is unexpected," Nick adds. "Because people don't want to vote for the obvious. It's our nature to not want to lift up even more of the people who are already lifted up, if that makes any sense."

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Perfect Matchseason 2 is now streaming on Netflix.