For two seasons, the Netflix hit show Love is Blind has entertained audiences and kept them on the edge of their seats. The drama, tears, highs, and lows all make for excellent viewing. There's no denying that the show is among some of the most popular reality shows. What fans and critics alike can't agree on in whether Love is Blind is scripted or not? Is Love is Blind real or fake? Some details revealed by certain former participants helped fuel speculation over time.
Love is Blind has produced four seemingly successful marriages, two in season one (season one's Lauren and Hamilton and Amber and Barnett) and two in season two. The couples tied the knot on the show, after dating in the pods, sight unseen. This is a testament to the authenticity of some connections and emotions seen on the show. However, how real is reality TV anyway? Smart editing goes a long way in portraying a certain picture. It's also possible for reality show producers to play up storylines and incite drama.
Fans Want More Body Diversity
The storylines on Love is Blind are as entertaining as they are unbelievable at times. The hit show premiered in 2018 and received mixed reactions. Some viewers felt that it made a mockery of marriage. Others thought the concept was a work of genius. In a nutshell, that's what fans really think of Love is Blind.
The premise of the show is that participants date behind a wall and fall in love without ever since each other. Even the marriage proposals are made without first seeing the person they're proposing/saying yes to.
However, if everyone on the show has toned bodies and all fit a specific body type, then that defeats the whole purpose of the show. While season two teased a more body-inclusive cast, the plus-size participants seemed to just fade into the background after the first episode. This led to fans calling out the show for a lack of size diversity.
Is 'Love is Blind' Scripted?
Fans were disappointed when Love is Blind season one, participants, Kenny and Kelly, broke off their engagement at the end of the season. It was Kelly who rejected Kenny at the altar, leaving audiences wondering what went wrong between the two.
However, the duo later revealed that they'd agreed to not get married at the end of the season, prior to the wedding. This information left many people wondering just how much of the show was planned and staged. Kenny definitely looked shocked and hurt when Kelly said, "I don't", which is confusing if it was planned.
In an exclusive with Entertainment Tonight, the Love is Blind alum revealed he and Kelly weren't planning to get married, "We had been committed to seeing the experience through. But what’s not shown is that she and I had conversations multiple times, also with the cameras recording, we’re adamantly not getting married."
He continued, "That was never something that we were gonna do. So much so that we were both calculated that when we had an engagement to become engaged to get to the next step."
In a lengthy Instagram comment, in response to a fan's question, Kenny reiterated his earlier remarks.The comment read, "We made an agreement weeks prior to the wedding that we were not getting married, let alone being engaged."
Kenny also explained his "she's the woman I'm supposed to be with" comment, which he made before the wedding. He said the comment was made weeks before, and was a response to a hypothetical question.
"For the record, the clip of me saying ‘she’s the woman I’m supposed to be with’ was recorded in response to a hypothetical question asked/recorded weeks prior to this day. Content, or lack thereof, reduces context."
It Was Real Enough For Some Couples
Is Love is Blind scripted? Or whether only parts of the show are staged remains a mystery. What is certain is that the show has produced four seemingly successful marriages. Season one's Lauren Speed and Cameron Hamilton, as well as Amber Pike and Matt Barnett, found love on the show in the first season.
The couples tied the knot on the show in 2018 and are still together. Season two also saw two couples take the plunge at the end of the season. Iyanna McNeely and Jarrette Jones, as well Danielle Ruhl and Nick Thompson, were still married on the second season's reunion episode.
In true Love is Blind fashion, the road to the altar, for the season two couples, had roadblocks along the way. There was drama and uncertainty, but they made it eventually! Perhaps that's what makes critics doubt the authenticity of the show. On the other hand, the marriages on the show are real, it's real people with emotions and feelings.
Both the crew and some contestants have stated that the show is real. Show producer Chris Coelen told Entertainment Weekly, "The truth is, for these people, when they walked in, they didn’t really know what they were walking into."
He added, "They knew the general idea, but then they walked in and would say, ‘I didn’t expect this to actually happen. I thought it’d be fun. I’m going on a show and yeah, maybe I’ll find somebody that I like, but I never expected to fall in love deeper than I’ve ever fallen in love.’ That’s what we heard over and over. We had actually more success on this show, from that standpoint, than we were even able to document."
