Love Is Blind creator stands by decision to cut Leo Braudy and Brittany Wisniewski from season 7 of the hit Netflix dating show

Love Is Blind creator Chris Coelen has doubled down on his decision to cut Leo Braudy and Brittany Wisniewski from season seven, adding that it was based purely on a 'gut' feeling.

Self-proclaimed rich art dealer Leo, 31, and 32-year-old aesthetician Brittany were mysteriously axed from the beloved Netflix experiment shortly after meeting for the first time outside of the pods.

A title card announced their abrupt departure and explained they were not one of the six pairs chosen to embark on the honeymoons.

'They took their own trip to Miami and broke off their engagement weeks later,' it read.

While viewers have vented their frustrations at not being able to watch Leo and Brittany's relationship - and subsequent split - unfold on the small-screen, Love Is Blind creator Coelen told DailyMail.com that cutting them was the right choice.

Asked whether he stands by his decision, he said: 'Absolutely.'

'We have certain parameters that we have to work within,' he continued.

'We have budget concerns and there's only so much time that we're allowed in any one season to actually tell these stories.

'You don't really want to give short shrift to any of those stories, but if you try to do everything, you end up doing nothing really well.'

Coelen stressed that it's never an easy decision choosing which participants to cut from the show.

'Of course I'd be interested in following everybody, but you have to make choices. And our choices are not always driven by who we think is most authentic.

'It's [based on] who most authentically has the possibility to get to the altar and say 'I do'. It's a gut decision.'

Brittany and Leo's first and only in-person meeting on Love is Blind season seven played out in episode five and was somewhat uncomfortable.

While Brittany was unable to say that she 'loved' her husband-to-be, he repeatedly commented on her good looks.

Speaking in his confessional, Leo said: 'I'm engaged to like the hottest girl on earth. It's insane.'

In person, he asked: 'How does it feel to be engaged?'

Brittany stayed silent as she seemingly recoiled, prompting Leo to ask once more: 'So, how do you feel?'

Eventually, she replied: 'I don't know how I feel.'

Leo then declared his love for his new fiancée, who was unable to reciprocate his statement.

'I don't feel ready to say that yet,' she said, with an undeterred Leo vowing: 'Okay, but I'll still keep telling you.'

'Okay,' she said. 'I appreciate that.'

'You're f*****g beautiful,' Leo continued, with Brittany thanking him.

He added: 'I love the f**k out of you, I really do.'

'Why do you love me?' she then asked.

He said: 'I love you because I feel like what you bring out in me...

'Not only did you teach me to follow my heart, but I wanna be your structure so you can like, your most intuitive self. That's what I love about you the most, is like your intuition.'

'That can't be all though,' Brittany probed.

'You want me to get into physical features?' he asked.

'No, no physical features,' she insisted.

Leo continued: 'Okay, what else? I loved your voice from the moment I heard you.

'I love how you're caring, how you're strong. I don't think people see that.

'People don't see that you're smart either. But I know you're smart. I think that's why past men have been intimidated.'

He then returned the question, and asked: 'What do you love about me?'

Brittany took a long pause, before saying: 'This is so much pressure.'

She eventually said: 'I love that even though you did make me feel like an option for a second, you were just doing what you're supposed to do.'

Brittany went on to reveal that she felt 'bad' for not being able to tell Leo that she loved him.

She said: 'I feel like when I say it, I wanna really like mean it.'

He replied: 'I don't want you to say it until you really mean it. And if you never mean it and you never say it, I can live with that.

'But I would never want you to say it if you didn't mean it. Like those words are too sacred. I mean that. I'll keep telling you that I love you.'

'Do you really?' she asked.

Leo returned: 'Do I really? Are you f*cking kidding me? I loved you before I knew you looked like this. I love you baby.'

'I feel like you're lying when you say it,' she quipped, before suddenly retracting her statement.

Speaking in her confessional, Brittany said: 'Something in my brain is not computing like, holy shit this stranger just asked me to marry him.

'Something's not calculating in my brain to make me feel like I'm truly engaged.'

Before the scene came to an end, Brittany and Leo discussed their impending honeymoon.

Leo said: 'If we go to Mexico we're going to have a time.'

'If we don't, can we go to Miami?' Brittany asked.

'We're definitely going to Miami,' Leo said. 'If we don't go to Mexico we're having a fun-a** time in Miami.'

In another confessional scene, Brittany cringed as she said: 'Oh God, what have I done?'

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Brittany said she wasn't 'surprised' to be booted from the show as she believes they were the 'weakest link.'

'I hadn't said I loved him, whereas everyone else did,' she said. 'And that just wasn't something that I could just say because it just didn't feel right at the moment. I wasn't in love with him.

'I was not surprised we didn't move forward in the trip to Mexico, and we did our own thing. And of course, you build such a strong friendship with all the girls, so it was disappointing.'