Summary
- The purpose of
Love Is Blind
is to focus solely on emotional connections, not physical appearance. - Cast members repeatedly break the rules by discussing looks, jeopardizing the show’s concept.
- Contractual rules are needed to preserve the experiment and purpose of the dating show.
It’s right there in the name. The point of Netflix‘s hit dating reality show is to prove (or at least test) that “love is blind.” On Love Is Blind, singles meet in pods where they get to know one another on a deep, emotional level and decide if they want to move forward with an engagement and wedding, “sight unseen,” as co-host Vanessa Lachey repeats often.
But beyond Season 1, there have been snippets of cast members slyly alluding to physical appearance, sometimes outright asking about it. This brings into question the entire purpose of the experiment. As Season 6 of Love Is Blind airs on Netflix, it becomes clear that the show’s concept is changing.
What Is Love Is Blind and the Pods?
Love Is Blind is a unique reality dating show whereby 30 singles come together, men in one suite and women in another. Each day, they do a round-robin set of dates from pods where they can hear the other person in the pod across from them but can’t see them. Over time, different people form bonds and decide to spend more and more time with the person (or people) they connect with the most. They go on “dates” where they do activities together (though still separately), like playing games, eating dinner, and, of course, sipping on gold goblets filled with wine.
If two people feel they have fallen in genuine love and want to take a leap of faith, they can get engaged. Only then do they prepare for a big reveal, where they start the in-person process of getting to know one another more, meeting families, planning a wedding, and either getting married or leaving the other jilted at the altar. That is if the couple even makes it that far.
The Subject of Physical Appearance Keeps Coming Up
Despite the show purporting to focus on personality and emotional connections alone, that hasn’t stopped some cast members from trying to figure out what the other person looks like. It all started in Season 2 when several of the women were put off by Shake’s questions. He either outright asked women about their body type or tried to find a clever way around it, such as asking questions like if he’d be able to lift the woman over his shoulders at a music concert. Deepti swiftly put him in his place and explained why those questions were not only against the point of the dating show but also highly inappropriate.
By Season 6, however, the topic of physical appearance is coming up more and more. It’s as though cast members aren’t willing to take a leap of faith without some reassurance that they’ll be physically attracted to the other person. In Season 6, Trevor revealed to Chelsea that he has a mullet, a small detail but one that gives away a tidbit of information about his appearance. Clay outright asked AD what her body type was and even to describe herself, clearly never having watched a previous episode of the series.
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The physical questioning continued, with Brittany asking Ken what race he identifies. Power Love Is Blind couple Cameron and Lauren from Season 1 are interracial, but neither has indicated that they explicitly told the other about their race while in the pods. They probably knew, especially if they talked about culture or made specific references to give it away. But it was never a particular subject of conversation like in later seasons. In Season 6, Ken revealed that he identifies as a Black man, and Brittany confirmed that she’s white.
The most significant incident came with a regrettable conversation between Chelsea and Jimmy where they asked one another about their celebrity doppelgangers. Chelsea prefaced her quick answer with the fact that she doesn’t see the resemblance, noting she thinks people only make the comparison because of her dark hair and blue eyes (yet another reveal that should not have been permitted). She says, “MGK’s wife or girlfriend?” Jimmy’s eyes light up. “Megan Fox? Can we get married now?” This inaccurate piece of information, which the internet has had a field day with, evidently swayed Jimmy’s decision to pick Chelsea over Jess. He was noticeably disappointed when he saw Chelsea in person and even went so far as to say that she “lied to him” about what she looked like. But he shouldn’t have had an idea anyway.
All the Love Is Blind Problems Could Have Been Avoided
The mullet reveal didn’t matter (Trevor has since cut his hair anyway), and Brittany already had a suspicion that Ken was Black and that she was white. But all the drama between Chelsea and Jimmy could have easily been avoided had they kept with the experiment and not discussed anything about their physical appearances.
Naturally, avoiding every conversation that could suggest something about looks is difficult. A woman might talk in passing about straightening her hair for a night out, leaving the man to infer that she has naturally curly hair. If a guy mentions that he goes to the gym often, a woman can guess he’s probably fit. There are small things that help the other person paint a picture. But overtly filling in some of those pieces defeats the purpose.
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Fans are confident that if Chelsea had not made the Megan Fox comment, Jimmy would have chosen Jess instead. (For the record, his reply regarding who he is told he looks like is NFL player Christian McCaffrey). Despite her insistence that she “doesn’t see it” about herself, the name was spoken, and that’s the face that was stuck in Jimmy’s head, whether he wanted it to be or not.
Love Is Blind Contestants Should Not Discuss Looks
It’s difficult for producers to control everything said in the pods, especially with multiple conversations going on at the same time. But there should be a rule against discussions of physical appearance. No talk of facial features, hair or eye color, body type, or even race. It was refreshing when, in Season 6, Amy met Johnny and said she pictured him having dark hair. They must have followed the unspoken rules and didn’t discuss anything about their looks. But that decision is left up to the cast: they determine how far they want to take the love is blind experiment before making a lifelong commitment.
It makes sense in their defense. However, going in “sight unseen” is the name of the game with this show. It’s supposed to be all about the risk and the unknown when it comes to physicality. So, rather than be an unspoken rule, avoiding talk about physical appearance should be a contractual one. Love Is Blind only works the way it should if love truly is blind. Love can’t be wearing foggy glasses with detailed descriptive text. Stream Love Is Blind on Netflix.
