The Age of Attraction reunion dropped as a three-hour-long episode of Nick Viall and Natalie Joy‘s Viall Files podcast on Wednesday night (April 1), and while most of the cast was present, Pfeiffer Hill, who ended Season 1 in a relationship with Derrick Merrill, was nowhere to be found. Following the episode, Hill explained to her TikTok followers why she opted to skip the reunion, and subtly shaded the married co-hosts along the way.
“This is the real reason why I declined the Age of Attraction reunion,” she began in the TikTok video. “I always try to stay true to myself, even if that means doing things a little bit differently.”
Referring to the Viall Files, Hill said she “never wants to speak on a podcast that doesn’t feel like an authentic choice” or one that she’s “not enthusiastic about.”
“I want the first time that I speak out about the show to be on a platform that aligns with me, and is one of my choosing,” she continued. “I want to tell my story on my own terms. This is not shade to the hosts of the podcast, anybody who went on the reunion, and anybody who listens. One of the beautiful things about being human is that we are all different. We can accept that and appreciate people for who they are. I made a different choice because, for me, that choice upholds what I believe in, which is authenticity to myself.”
Hill, who agreed to move from Seattle to Dallas to continue a relationship with Merrill in the Season 1 finale’s commitment ceremony, ultimately ended things one month after filming wrapped. Because she ended on “good terms” with Merrill, who is 20 years her senior, and had “no bad blood” with anyone in the cast, she decided not to reopen that can of worms by attending the reunion. “#ProtectYourPeace,” the 23-year-old graphic designer said.
Not to mention, she also revealed that she’s in a new relationship, describing her unnamed boyfriend as her “best friend” and one of the “biggest joys in [her] whole life.” Hill said her boyfriend had surprised her with a trip to Japan that would’ve had to be rescheduled if she chose to film the reunion.
“I always want my boyfriend to know that our relationship is my priority above any press, any podcast, above anything that has to do with the show,” she said. “No amount of PR is worth putting our relationship second.”
While Hill promised she wasn’t throwing shade at Viall and Joy, she responded to a comment under the video in a way that implied she might not have been their biggest fan. When a follower asked if she knew they were going to be the hosts when she signed up for Age of Attraction, she replied, “No, that was a surprise.”
Age of Attraction is currently streaming on Netflix.