Ever since Love is Blind burst onto Netflix in early 2020, the show has captivated viewers with its intriguing premise and heavy dose of classic reality television drama. Although the series hasn’t been without its controversies, it’s continued to explode in popularity and provide us with countless incredible moments and plenty of reasons to argue, as well as genuinely giving some people a chance at love.
Like all reality television, viewers of the Netflix show often find themselves asking: “Is Love is Blind scripted or real?” If you’re looking for a definitive answer, we have bad news: Like most things when it comes to the reality television format, there’s no complete answer either way.
What is Love is Blind?
Love is Blind is a Netflix series that follows a set of men and women from the same city as they hope to find lasting love. However, the show’s twist is that the prospective couples date each other via “pods,” which allow them to chat through a speaker without seeing one another. The show initially takes the format of speed dating, but as the contestants get to know each other, they move on to longer dates with people they think they click with.
The endgame is the most committed of relationships: marriage. Couples can propose to one another after 10 short days and they only get to meet face-to-face once a proposal is accepted.
After the pairs become engaged, they’re sent to a couples’ retreat at a fancy resort, where they get to know their prospective spouse in earnest, and have the chance to see if they connect physically as well as emotionally. They also get to meet the other couples who took part in the show, which can lead to some intense drama.
Once the holiday is over, the couples all move into an apartment complex in their city. Here, they’re introduced to their partners’ friends and families, as well as getting to grips with the little intricacies of their partner’s personalities. This is the part of the show where couples learn some truly fundamental things about each other, like how their partner approaches finances or socializing. During this time, they’re also supposed to be planning their wedding. The show culminates at the altar, where viewers discover who’ll say “I do,” and who’ll go home alone.
Is Love is Blind scripted or real?
Like most reality television shows, Love is Blind is a combination of real and scripted. The contestants are all real people looking for love, despite many viewers being convinced they’re paid actors.
This has been confirmed by people working on the show and friends of contestants, with series producer Chris Coelen telling Entertainment Weekly:
“As a producer, I was kind of nervous like, is anybody actually gonna get engaged? Is anyone going to make it to the altar. In the end, we actually had more couples get engaged than we were able to follow…we only have so much time to tell a story, but there are lots of interesting stories.”
That little fact about some couples who got engaged not even making it onto the show was confirmed by Women’s Health in an interview with season one contestant Rory Newbrough.
With that said, there are definitely some scripted moments, as well as plenty of deception going on, as shown recently by a contestant giving himself fake tears.
The fact that Netflix pays for the contestants’ weddings, as stated on Instagram by former contestant Amber Pike, has also led to viewers raising questions about the show’s veracity. Netflix has confirmed they give money to couples on the show — but were also clear to point out it’s up to them how they use it.
As we know from reality television shows like Keeping Up with the Kardashians and The Bachelor, there’s always a lot of editing going on to create compelling narratives, with producers even egging on certain contestants to create great drama. But, as is usually the case with reality television, the emotions in Love is Blind are real, even if the intensity of them is sometimes played up for the camera. But would we watch it if that wasn’t the case?