Perfect Match‘s Harry Admits He Was ‘Dreading’ for Fans to See Him ‘Drunk’ and ‘Kissing the Wrong Girl’ (Exclusive)

Harry Jowsey had a genuine connection with Jessica Vestal throughout season 2 but things took a turn after he met up with Melinda Melrose at the boys’ day mixer

Harry Jowsey. PHOTO: COURTESY OF NETFLIX

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

Harry Jowsey appeared on season 2 of Netflix’s Perfect Match, where he was primarily matched up with Jessica Vestal for a majority of the season.
Things eventually went south for the pair when Harry admitted to flirting and acting inappropriately with their costar, Melinda Melrose, behind Jess’s back. This led to their split in the finale episode.

Harry Jowsey is not exactly proud of his conduct on Perfect Match season 2.

The reality star admits to PEOPLE that while season 2 of the Netflix hit showcases some good moments — like his connection with Love Is Blind alum Jessica Vestal — it also featured some of his missteps, and he isn’t exactly looking forward to having fans revisit those.

“I think for me, I’m excited for fans to see everyone fall in love and have some of those genuine connections,” Harry, 27, shares. “But yeah, I think that I’m dreading them to see us drunk and maybe saying the wrong things to the wrong girl, maybe kissing the wrong girl, I don’t know.”

Jess, 29, and Harry connected early on in season 2 and remained matched up until their split in the finale episode, but faced their fair share of challenges along the way.

During episode 5, Harry broke down in tears and had to be consoled by Jess after becoming frustrated by the comments people on the show were making about his reputation and intentions. Things struck a particular nerve for Harry when his best friend on the show, Dom Gabriel, also accused him of not being genuine and not being there for the right reasons.

Harry Jowsey and Jessica Vestal in ‘Perfect Match’.COURTESY OF NETFLIX

As a result, Jess began to grow suspicious of Harry and their relationship, telling cameras, “Everyone has questioned Harry’s intentions but hearing Harry’s best friend make a comment like that, I’m like, no… that needs further discussion.”

At the time, Harry insisted to PEOPLE that there was more to the situation than what fans saw, saying, “I think I was constantly fighting as soon as I got in the house. People can just take me for me instead of the version of me that they saw on Too Hot to Handle or what they see online or what they’ve seen from what someone else has said about me.”

“So it was tough because I felt like I was there following my heart and trying to be pure and honest and open,” he continued. “And then any moment that someone could, to try and get in Jess’s head or anyone’s head, they would. And I think that’s what really sucked.”

“I think it was tough for Jess to be able to hear everything from these girls who are trying to tear us apart,” he added. “But then most importantly, Dom, who I’m really close with… for him to say that, it’s a little bit tough, but I guess it’s just the nature of the game.”

Jessica Vestal and Harry Jowsey on ‘Perfect Match’.COURTESY OF NETFLIX

After the two came to an understanding and Jess apologized for making Harry feel “less than” for his past “poor choices,” the pair’s relationship appeared to be strong again. But things later took a turn when Harry admitted to flirting and acting inappropriately with their costar, Melinda Melrose, at the boys’ day mixer.

Fed up by his actions and false words, Jess finally called it quits on their relationship, telling him in the finale, “My intuition is telling me you want to be a certain type of person right now but right now, you’re not… I have to stand on what I believe in and what’s important to me. I do not want to match with you tonight.”

It was eventually revealed — and confirmed in the season 2 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. Though Harry and Jess ended the show broken up, it was confirmed in the finale that they briefly rekindled their romance after filming concluded but have since ended things for good.

“I felt like he really did want to change. I feel like he really had, I guess for lack of a better term, learned his lesson and he wanted something real,” Jess told PEOPLE. “It did not turn out how we thought it would, and there was a lot of promises and commitments that weren’t upheld, but I gave him the kind of grace that I would’ve wanted someone to give to me.”

Harry Jowsey and Melinda Melrose.STEVE GRANITZ/FILMMAGIC; DANIEL ZUCHNIK/GETTY

Despite everything that unfolded, Harry insists to PEOPLE that he has grown since filming Perfect Match season 2.

“I think that the best thing about the show is it was so long ago. It was like a year ago,” he explains. “And if you think about yourself a year ago, you’ve lived a hundred lives and you’ve done a hundred different things and you’ve learned a hundred lessons.”

“When I was going in that show, I was just in therapy, I was just trying to figure myself out. I was in a very dark place mentally. I was also just came off 13 months sober,” he continues. “So I was really trying to find my feet again and then having to deal with all that pressure and drama around it. And looking back, I’m kind of grateful because there’s just so many lessons that I can see now, like, ‘Oh, today’s Harry would’ve done this a little bit different or he would’ve done this.'”

“But also at the end of the day,” he adds, “it is a TV show and if I sat there with my thumb up my bum, I probably wouldn’t have been able to make a great show with these guys.”

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