Bartise Bowden, star of Love Is Blind and Perfect Match, has become a father for the first time.
The 27-year-old, who initially starred on Nick and Vanessa Lachey’s smash Netflix series in season three before returning for the spin-off Perfect Match, stunned fans with the revelation on Instagram.
Sharing adorable pictures with his newborn son, Bartise wrote: ‘Might’ve been the villain on tv, but I’m gonna be the hero for him.’
‘Instagram, meet my little man #bigfella,’ he added.
Viewers raced to the comments section to offer their happiness, while also expressing surprise at the announcement, given that Bartise had kept any relationship and pregnancy news private.
‘Bartise being the first dad after Perfect Match was not on my bingo card,’ one wrote, while another penned: ‘I’m gonna need you internet detectives to figure this one out’.
‘Congrats big fella!!’ said reality star Shayne Jansen, who participated on Perfect Match with Bartise after failing to find love on Love Is Blind. You’re going to be a fantastic father, and you’ll have a great support system behind you’.
The cute Instagram post included many photos of Bartise cradling his kid, the first of which showed him staring down at his sleeping infant while clutching onto one finger.
Another photo showed Bartise joyfully holding his infant child in a St. Patrick’s Day costume, while another showed the father-son trio watching old Love Is Blind episodes as his former Nancy Rodriguez, whom he ditched at the ceremony, sat in the pods.
Bartise has already spoken out against being represented as a “villain” on the show, telling Entertainment Tonight that he was “absolutely, 100 percent, definitely the villain.”
‘I looked like a dumbass, I looked arrogant. I looked insensitive. I looked selfish,’ he said at the time.
‘It is what it is. I can only learn from it. I can only grow from it.’
He added: ‘Watching it back was a blessing to me because when I was going through it, I didn’t have any of those feelings and now I do.
‘Embarrassed and ashamed. This is the villain right here.’
A video included in the article also showed Bartise cuddling his son while they watched Tiger Woods play golf.
‘Ready to see your first ever Tiger Woods golf show? Look at that.’
‘Let’s see if he watches. I used to do this with my dad… there it goes, there it goes, there goes Tiger!’ he said.
Love Is Blind and Perfect Match are available to watch on Netflix.