I hated reality TV until in watched this - Love is Blind

Everyone has heard of reality TV, and I am pretty sure most of us have seen a show at least once. Personally, I considered reality television to be complete trash and content directed to people with no taste or knowledge of the art of film, as well as having nothing to do with their lives.

According to Britannica, reality TV is “a television genre encompassing a wide variety of purportedly unscripted programming”. This genre has existed since the 1940’s, but it has become extremely popular since the 2000’s with shows such as ‘Keeping up with the Kardashians’, ‘Survivor’, ‘America’s Next Top Model’ to name a few. Nowadays, reality TV is produced by streaming platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Prime, with the first taking the lead. ‘Love Is Blind’ is a reality show produced by Netflix. It has become the most successful reality show of all time, and with good reason.

I consider myself to be a hopeless romantic. I love love, and the idea of being in love, which is no wonder why I am obsessed with this show. ‘Love is Blind’ tries to answer the question: Is love (truly) blind? To answer this question, 15 men and 15 women are invited to participate in the experiment of the show, which consists of three stages: the pods, the honeymoon and the move-in.

The Pods.

The first stage of the experiment is the pods. Participants are brought into a place where they are divided according to their gender, so that men and women never look at each other during this part of the experiment. Once the participants are welcomed into the show, they are sent to the pods which are soundproof rooms where they will have the chance to blind speed-date all the participants of the opposite gender. The pods are divided by a bright colour wall that separates two cozy rooms with a couch and blankets each. Participants stay in these phase of the experiment for approximately two weeks.

I find this part of the experiment the most beautiful and exciting one, as people fall in love with just how the other person is, their personality, their values, their hopes and wishes, etc. I have seen people become the purest and most vulnerable version of themselves inside the pods, and I think that’s beautiful. Once people have fallen in love, the only way to meet the person behind the wall is by getting engaged. I just find it beautiful when couples get engaged without knowing how the other person looks. Once they are set to marry, they have a big reveal of how they look like, and a ring is put on the finger.

The Honeymoon.

Once the two weeks are over, the engaged couples are sent to a luxury honeymoon in Mexico (in the US version of the show). During this phase of the experiment, contestants try to see if their connection is also physical. This time is so that they can deepen their connection, and get to know each other better still outside of ‘reality’. During their vacation, the participants get to meet all the couples that got engaged while in the pods, and yes, there is drama.

The Move-in.

The last phase of the experiment is the move-in, and as the name implies, couples move in together for a couple weeks, to see if they can live with their partner. During this stage, participants get to meet their partner's family and friends; and they begin to plan their wedding and future together.

The show ends with the couples at the altar being asked the golden question: Is love blind?

Lets not forget that this is a reality show, and therefore there is drama… lots of drama (if you want to see the one with the most drama I recommend taking a look at Love is Blind: Mexico). BUT I recommend the show to anyone who is a hopeless romantic like me. Whenever I am watching Love is Blind, I find myself smiling during the dates, crying during the proposals, and screaming during the weddings. The show has multiple versions from different countries (Mexico, UK, Germany, Habibi, and more), and each is as good as the last (if you catch myself in the Canadian version root for me).

On a deeper level, I also recommend watching this show because it has made me question myself what I actually should look for in a partner, and what my values are. I definitely have changed my dating strategy since I started watching the show, because I think that we, as a society, are not asking the right questions when it comes to who we let into our hearts.