If you spent the weekend basking in the drama of The Ultimatum — Vanessa and Nick Lachey's latest Netflix reality dating show — then you've already been acquainted with Lauren Pounds, who's a participant on the debut season.
View this video on YouTube
The Ultimatum is brought to us by the creators of Love Is Blind, and it doesn't disappoint.
Lauren appears on the series alongside her partner, Nate Ruggles, as well as a handful of other couples asked to put their relationships to the test on TV before deciding whether or not to get married.
Anyway, Lauren sparked an important conversation on Instagram recently about ageism, and tired, sexist double standards, when a fan noticed she'd shared a post about turning 30 this past February despite — supposedly — being just 26 while filming The Ultimatum.
Obviously, something didn't add up. "Wait I'm terribly confused weren't u like 26 on the show?" the fan commented, to which Lauren replied, "They lied about my age [on The Ultimatum]. We can't figure out if it was intentional or not."
Lauren later reposted a screenshot of the interaction on Instagram Stories (it still appears in her highlights if you'd like to see for yourself) beside a screenshot from one of her Ultimatum confessionals that confirms she was, in fact, identified as "Lauren, 26."
Calling the revelation "beyond interesting," Lauren went on to note how "it's okay for a man on TV to be 30, but we have to lie about age if the woman is."
As folks wait for The Ultimatum's final round of episodes to drop this week, Lauren thanked her followers for their support.
