Love Is Blind hosts Nick and Vanessa Lachey's pod family comes to defense amidst petition to replace them

Members of the Love Is Blind ‘pod family’ are rallying to support the Lacheys, with season 2 alum Natalie Lee and Deepti Vempati defending the pair

Love Is Blind fans are divided over the show's co-hosts Nick and Vanessa Lachey after a controversial reunion episode sparked a petition to have the couple removed from the hit reality series. But members of the Love Is Blind "pod family" are rallying to support the Lacheys, with season 2 alum Natalie Lee and Deepti Vempati defending the pair during their "Out of the Pods" podcast.

Natalie Lee and Deepti Vempati are defending the pair during their 'Out of the Pods' podcast.

"Nick and Vanessa played this role of mentors to us, providing advice as we were making our decision to say 'I do' or 'I don't' on our wedding day," Natalie said, describing the couple as "really, really nice, great people." But she also acknowledged that there were "certain moments" during the reunion that she disagreed with.

Deepti echoed Natalie's sentiments, noting that the Lacheys "really do care" about the Love Is Blind cast, but also admitting that there were missed opportunities to ask the right questions and topics that were cut off in ways that left viewers wanting more.

Despite the support from the pod family, not everyone is backing the Lacheys. Season 4 cast member Paul Peden accused Vanessa of showing personal bias when she pressed him and his ex-fiancée Micah Lussier about why they didn't say "I do" at the altar. He also criticized Vanessa for asking contestants about their plans to have children.

"I don't know if that was a miss from Vanessa's part or if she was just trying to keep things along because they were going over time," Natalie said of the controversy. "Hopefully, it's a learning lesson for the Love Is Blind franchise."