“Love is Blind” may be a popular show on Netflix, but it’s not all butterflies and rainbows according to several former cast members.
The popular series recently wrapped up its fourth season. The premise is simple (if chaotic): 15 men and 15 women enter a dating experiment, where contestants are expected to fall in love by speaking through speakers and dividing walls in isolated pods, and eventually getting engaged sight unseen.
The question the show hopes to answer is, “is love really blind?”
It’s a completely bananas concept, with complete strangers getting engaged after just 10 days of knowing each other (some contestants have pulled the trigger sooner), and without even knowing what their future spouse looks like.
And former contestants are saying it’s just as bizarre and harmful as it sounds, opening up about their experiences in a new report from Insider saying just how traumatizing the whole experience was for them.
One season 2 of Love is Blind a contestant said, “You thrust us into this situation without any support, and everything’s amplified. It literally ruins lives.” Did we mention that they can’t contact loved ones while participating in the experiment? So they’re flying solo with no support system and no one to check their baser impulses.
Former cast members who chose to remain anonymous called the experiment “traumatic,” explaining that they were expected to film 20-hour days for nearly two weeks. All the while, producers micromanaged their eating and sleeping schedules. Food and water in common areas was scarce, but alcohol was always close at hand. Some anonymous production assistants say they were encouraged to top up the drinks of contestants often.
The set where the contestants lived during the experiment had no windows, so there’s no sunshine or fresh air to ground yourself with.
One contestant recalls passing out in the isolation pods while drinking champagne, an incident she attributes to lack of sleep and adequate hydration. But the production team didn’t provide medical care – they simply gave her a COVID test and then popped her in a confessional to talk about her experience.
One cast member has sued Netflix for violating labor laws, and exposing contestants to “unsafe and inhumane” working conditions. The compensation he received from the show came out to around $7.14 an hour.
And it doesn’t get much better from there. According to allegations, producers used mentally damaging tactics to keep people involved, and charged a fine of $50,000 in damages for people who tried to leave the show early without approval. Love is Blind contestants were contractually obligated to show up to their wedding day even if they had already determined that they didn’t want to marry their partner. Those who did marry were forbidden from divorcing until after the season’s last show aired.
It’s shocking, and yet not all that unsurprising – other reality shows have dealt with similar allegations from contestants.
