'Love Is Blind' star Jackie says Netflix wouldn't allow her and boyfriend Josh to attend the reunion due to 'death threats'

• Jackie said she didn't attend the "Love Is Blind" reunion because she and Josh got "death threats." 
• In an Instagram story, she said she "fought" to go but Netflix wanted to keep them "safe."
• Jackie is at the center of controversy online because of alleged leaked texts disparaging Marshall.

"Love Is Blind" star Jackie Bonds addressed viewers who questioned why she and her fellow castmate and boyfriend Josh Demas didn't attend the season four reunion, which aired Sunday. According to Jackie, it was because of "death threats."

"Me & Josh did not attend the 'live reunion' due to death threats being sent to us and Netflix," she wrote in an Instagram story, as reported by ET Canada. "Netflix decided to keep us safe & have us do that one-on-one with Vanessa. We fought & fought to be there & they said it was better to protect us and them. So be it."

A representative for "Love Is Blind" at Netflix didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Jackie and Josh were involved in one of the biggest controversies of the season when she broke up with her then-fiancé Marshall Glaze, who she became engaged to during the pods stage of the experiment, and began dating Josh soon after.

During their engagement, several scenes showed Jackie and Marshall clashing, with Jackie insinuating that Marshall wasn't as masculine as she'd like him to be. Disparaging text messages about Marshall purportedly sent by Jackie to her friends later leaked online while the season was airing.

In the texts, the sender who is identified as Jackie says that Marshall gives her "vibes," used to "twerk on the bed," and can sometimes be "sweet." Some have interpreted these as homophobic comments questioning Marshall's sexuality. No matter what the texts meant, exactly, they were mean to say about a partner or an ex, and became public around the time that separate leaked video revealed that Josh and Jackie were dating post-show. 

The whole situation sparked backlash online and may be the reason why Jackie, Josh, and Netflix received the alleged death threats that Jackie referred to in her Instagram story.

Instead of attending the reunion with the other season four cast members, the couple, who have now been dating for about a year, did a pretaped interview with cohost Vanessa Lachey that aired as part of the reunion special. During the interview, Jackie told Lachey that she broke up with Marshall before she began dating Josh, despite editing making it look as though she'd met up with Josh before breaking up with Marshall. Josh and Jackie also talked about their pets and if they had any plans to marry in the future in the pre-taped reunion segment.

But as many viewers pointed out, Lachey failed to ask Jackie about the authenticity of the leaked text messages, or hold her accountable for the things she said to Marshall during their relationship. Lachey did, however, ask Marshall to explain the "derogatory" remark Jackie alleged he'd made against her during an argument that didn't air. Marshall did admit that he joked about Jackie looking like she "could've been a man," but denied using any derogatory term.

"Love Is Blind" season four is currently streaming on Netflix.