Irina From Love Is Blind Speaks Out: ‘Battle Camp Was Traumatizing—They Told Me Nobody Wants Me Here’

Love Is Blind's Irina Solomonova has no hard feelings towards her Battle Camp costars, though she was genuinely blindsided by her dramatic elimination.

On April 23, Netflix released its new series, Battle Camp, which follows stars from its reality shows as they compete in physical and mental challenges at camp for a chance to win $250,000. It wasn't long before the drama kicked into high gear as Irina stormed out of the elimination ceremony in tears during episode 2 after realizing that everyone at camp had voted to eliminate her.

In episode 3, she returned to the ceremony after a brief chat with host Taylor Lewan — only to face what she had feared all along: the wheel landed on one of her 13 spaces, out of a total of 18 spots, officially ending her time at Battle Camp.

Now Irina is opening up to PEOPLE about that devastating moment and why she was truly caught off guard.

"Honestly, I was at a loss for words," she says. "I think it's truly everyone's fear — or mine for sure — is thinking that nobody likes you, nobody wants you here. Everyone went and voted you out behind your back while you were having a really incredibly hard, difficult day. I was so shocked."

Prior to the wheel ceremony, Irina admits she "didn't really talk to anyone" after having a tough day at camp, in which she fumbled their first challenge and lost the punishment. "I was really in my head, I was crying, I was in my room, I was reading all my notes from my family and friends and then finally I get out and I go change and stuff," she recalls.

Once she left her cabin, Irina says she had multiple conversations — including two separate ones with Gio Helou (Selling the OC) and Trey Plutnicki (Squid Game: The Challenge) — about who everyone was voting for. She says Trey was upfront and claimed he was voting for Tony Castellanos (The Mole) or Polly Brindle (Selling the OC), while Gio stayed coy but said he didn't like who his team decided to vote for.

Based on her conversations, Irina says she felt suspicious it might be her, but also chalked it up to herself being "so in my head" and "really insecure."

"I felt like people were being weird, I felt like no one liked me," she says. "And I was like, 'Irina, you're just in your head, you're fine. No one doesn't like you.' "

However, as the night went on, more of her costars began to show signs that something was up. "Gabi [Butler] said something to me and she's like, 'I think you're going to learn a lot from this.' And I was like, 'Why would she say that? Doesn't make any sense,' " Irina recalls. "Then we were all in our cabin and we're sitting there, we're all talking about how grateful for each other, because technically we're all on the board so any of us could go home, and I was like, why are they being so dramatic?"

"Louis [Russell] was really breaking down and I was like, 'Wow, what's wrong with Louis?' Because we were pretty close during Camp. And then I literally went to go comfort him and I was like, is he okay? He just wouldn't look at me. He kept wanting to leave the room," she adds. "And I literally said a prayer for everyone. I was like, 'I'm so thankful for all of you guys, whatever happens tonight...' Not thinking my name was on that wheel [13 times]."

So Irina was understandably shocked when both Tony and Polly escaped the wheel ceremony without a single camp vote. It was then that she realized what was going on – and was only made clearer when she was the last person to learn her fate beside costar Georgia Hassarati.

"Obviously she's not the one that is on the wheel. I know it's me," Irina says of Georgia. "And then I get up there and just remember thinking, I can't be here. I feel so hurt. These are the people that I trusted and loved. And I know it was only a few days, but we did get really close and I just had to leave. This is so traumatic."

"So I basically walked off, I ran ... and it was obviously really dramatic," she adds.

After coming to terms with her 13 spaces on the wheel and having a chat with Taylor, Irina says, "I just got this refreshment of energy where I was like, you know what? If I'm leaving, I'm going to do this the right way. I'm not going to chicken out, I'm going to go back in there. I'm going to say what I need to say to my team."

She ultimately came back and stayed for the wheel spin — which confirmed her elimination — before saying her final goodbyes. "I remember looking at everyone and saying, 'I forgive you guys ... It was such an honor to meet everyone. Sorry I wasn't good enough.' And then I left," she says.

But while Irina was accepting of what had unfolded, her costars remember the moment a bit differently — and tell PEOPLE it was incredibly "painful" to experience.

"That was horrible," Louis says. "When she stepped up to that wheel and she thought the whole camp voted for Tony, and she stepped up and her names just pinged up there like, [13] times. She just looked at us like, 'You are pieces of s---.' I was like, 'We are. We actually are, but we don't mean to be.' I would happily have told her. But if I told her then that's going against the whole camp."

"It was just a really unfortunate situation, and I wanted to crawl out of my skin," says Polly, as Gio adds: "I still remember that feeling. It was just so ick."

"That was not okay," notes Gabi. "I felt like truly such a terrible person. I'm such a team player. I like to save other people before myself. So the fact that we all ... did vote for Irina, and then she got blindsided when it came to the wheel. She didn't really know what was going on."

Gabi, who broke down in tears during the ceremony, adds: "The reason I was in hysterics is because I was like, I could put myself in her shoes and I could only imagine the feeling of everybody voting for you, and especially our own team. That's why I just lost it. She's not a bad girl either. She has her moments, but especially towards the end, she was really opening up to me about everything. I felt like, wow, I literally just betrayed this girl and it was a terrible, terrible feeling. I had knots in my stomach."

Georgia agrees, saying the wheel ceremony "couldn't have been more awkward and painful," but notes: "I think she sometimes reads wrong. Now that I've got to know her, I'm like, she's harmless, she's super sweet, but people were clinging onto little things, and building a case and making her seem like the easy one to get out of the house. So that was hard."

"I felt terrible about it. I didn't know how terrible it would be," she adds. "It was so much worse than I could have thought. I think about that moment so often. She was one of the first people that I messaged when it was over and I was like, I love you. I'm so sorry."

Since then, Irina says she's been in contact with her costars — and has even learned a bit more as to why she was potentially singled out.

"I did hear that I said something mean to somebody and I think that's when I panicked even more because I was like, no, no, no, no, no, not Love Is Blind repeat again. Did I really get voted out because I said something? I got misunderstood again?" she says. "I reached out to all the girls, asked... Everyone was like, 'Oh my god, Irina, never had an issue with you. It's all in the past.' Everyone told me that. I try not to take it personally either because at the end of the day it was a game and people had to make a choice."

As for her future on reality TV? "I don't know if anyone's going to take me on another show after that one," she laughs. "It's weird because in my head I was like this is my final chance. But you know what? I went and I had a good time and it didn't work out the best."

"I think what matters to me is I am on good terms with everyone. I talked to everyone, that's all good," she continues. "It was a competition, it was a game. And I think I just want to make the most of it ... my biggest hope is someone has a little sympathy for me or a little empathy for me. Seeing that and thinking, 'Oh man, that sucked. She really got betrayed.'"

"I think that's good. I think that's good for people to see that and see a different side of my emotions," she adds. "And I know some people are going to be like, 'Karma's a bitch, this is your karma.' Which I'm like, yeah, that's okay. But I have a really big beautiful life that I'm really lucky and grateful for ... And I just always want to continue having that mindset. And I know it'll probably be hard to watch. It took a long time to kind of recover from everything from Love Is Blind and feel normal again. And so I'm like, you know what, whatever it takes, I'm going to do it again and hopefully this time I can just laugh at it and make the most of it."

Battle Camp is now streaming on Netflix.