Emily Ceco says she is still afraid of the ex-husband who tried to kill her.
The ‘Love Is Blind: Argentina’ star, who married Santiago MartÃnez on the Netflix dating series, spoke out six months after he was sentenced to 15 years in prison for attempted murder, repeated assault, and unlawful detention. In a new interview on the HISPA podcast, Ceco revealed she believes MartÃnez has been trying to contact her from behind bars using a fake social media account.
Ceco, who reported MartÃnez to police roughly a year after their on-show wedding, explained how she recognized the suspected attempt. “Something that happened to me a few days ago, as a kid they called him [Santiago] Nano, he’s a River fan, and he always had a phrase that I think he said twice a day, all day he’d say it, ‘God’s timing is perfect’,” she shared. “And recently a new account started following me, called Nano, that had a stolen River photo, and said, ‘God’s timing is perfect’, and had no followers, nothing. It was a brand-new profile.”
The reality star is convinced MartÃnez created the account specifically so she would recognize him. “So I think, ‘Why do you still need me to know?’ I mean, he wanted to be certain that I would know it was him behind it. What’s going on with you regarding me? Why don’t you want to find peace? Why don’t you want to move on with your life? Why do you keep wanting to hurt me?” she continued.
Ceco’s fear extends beyond the current contact attempt to the day MartÃnez eventually completes his sentence. “I’m very afraid, because it’s still relatively recent,” she admitted.
Despite the ongoing terror, Ceco is trying to plan for a future free from her abuser. “I do want to continue with my life. I would love to start a family, I would love to be a mom. I would love to achieve what I fought for, because I fought to stay alive, and I want to fulfill my dreams,” she said.
The prison sentence came after a trial that examined violence that erupted during the couple’s brief marriage. They were matched by experts on the Argentine version of the Netflix franchise, which pairs singles who meet and propose without ever seeing each other, then marry weeks later and attempt to build a life together.
Following the guilty verdict, Ceco appeared on Televisión Pública to react to the 15-year sentence. “He tried to kill me. My body was shaking. I felt like I had taken a backpack off my shoulders and that I was going to have peace after a long time. I was going to be able to sleep and continue with my life… And be able to enjoy life like I fought for,” she said at the time.
The attempted murder case stands as one of the most disturbing outcomes in reality television history, emerging from a format built around accelerated intimacy and legally binding marriages between strangers.
Ceco has not indicated whether she has reported the suspected social media contact to authorities.