Since Love Is Blind premiered, the hit reality TV show has developed a devoted fan following that cares a lot. Fans want to know things like what happened to the first season's cast, why Izzy Zapata's life became a nightmare, and about Giannina Gibelli becoming a mother. Unfortunately for many of those same fans, they have also learned about Netflix ruining its reality shows like Love Is Blind.
Amazingly enough, however, most Love Is Blind fans have no idea about one of the most outrageous facts about the show. As it turns out, Love Is Blind's producers once tried to get $4 million from one of the show's cast members.
Love Is Blind's Producers Tried To Get Renee Poche To Pay Them $4 Million
During the fifth season of Love Is Blind, Renee Poche was partnered with a man named Carter Wall. The couple got engaged, but when it became time for them to be wed, Renee said no as she stood at the altar. When reading about the drama, many Love Is Blind fans questioned how they could possibly forget that being a big part of the season. After all, Love Is Blind fans tend to be very emotionally involved with the couples that are featured on the show.
However, it is perfectly reasonable that most fans don't remember much about Renee and Carter since their relationship wasn't televised. Unfortunately for Renee, that was only the start of her Love Is Blind problems, as the show's producers also tried to force her to pay them $4 million.
In January 2024, The Guardian published an article revealing that after she finished filming Love Is Blind, Renee spoke out publicly about the show.
While it is common for Love Is Blind stars to discuss the show after their season airs, most of them aren't as critical as Renee was. That fact resulted in Love Is Blind's producers demanding $4 million from Renee.
When people agree to star in a reality show, they have to sign contracts with a variety of agreements. In most cases, those contracts feature non-disclosure and non-disparagement clauses.
In January 2024, an article by Variety revealed how Renee Poche wound up on Love Is Blind to begin with. That article revealed that a casting agent for Netflix's hit show reached out to Renee through her Instagram account.
When those clauses are broken, the contracts typically stipulate that the offending reality star will have to pay a huge lump sum. The reason for that is that the show's producers want to make sure that the punishment for breaking those clauses is so severe that nobody would even consider speaking out.
As The Guardian's article revealed, the production company behind Love Is Blind, Delirium TV, sought private arbitration against Renee. The purpose of that attempt from the show's producers was to enforce the penalty for breaking her non-disclosure agreement that was in Renee's contract.
In February 2023, The Richest published an article ranking the wealthiest Love Is Blind cast members up until that point. Based on that article, there hadn't been any Love Is Blind cast members who were wealthy enough to pay a $4 million fine.
If Delirium TV was successful in that effort, Renee would have had to pay them the penalty of $4 million. As staggering as that figure is, it only becomes more incredible with some added context that The Guardian's article revealed.
According to The Guardian's article, Renee was only paid $8,000 for her participation in Love Is Blind's fifth season. Those figures make it obvious that Love Is Blind's producers were seeking far, far more money from Renee than they ever paid her.
However, it is still interesting to actually check the numbers. Dividing $4 million by $8,000 shows that Love Is Blind's producers sought 500 times more money from Renee than they paid her.
Renee Poche Sued Love Is Blind's Producers Trying To Vacate Her Non-Disclosure Agreement
In January 2024, Variety published an article detailing a lawsuit that Renee Poche filed against Love Is Blind's producers. The same lawsuit from Renee also made a series of very serious claims about how she was treated during her time starring in Love Is Blind.
According to Renee's lawsuit, her Love Is Blind experience began with the show's production staff taking her phone, passport, and driver's license. Renee then claims that she was locked into a hotel room and not able to leave without the oversight of a member of the production staff.
Being locked into a hotel room before filming begins is a complaint that many reality shows have made. Several reality stars have maintained that treatment made them feel emotionally unstable, which resulted in them behaving unlike themselves on their respective shows.
Renee also made claims about the show's producers putting her in danger.
According to Renee, her romantic partner during Love Is Blind, Carter Wall, should never have been allowed on the show. Renee alleged that Carter was unhoused, broke, without a job, violent, and addicted to consuming alcohol and prescription medication.
Throughout Love Is Blind's history, the show's producers have been sued by three former cast members. In March 2024, a Marie Claire article revealed that Jeremy Hartwell, Tran Dang, and Renee Poche had all sued Love Is Blind's producers.
Furthermore, Renee claimed that despite the situation, Love Is Blind's producers forced her to spend time alone with Carter, who she says was abusive to her on and off camera. In a statement to Variety, Renee detailed how her Love Is Blind experience affected her.
“My experience on ‘Love is Blind’ was traumatic. I felt like a prisoner and had no support when I let Delirium know that I didn’t feel safe. I tried to deal with these emotions over time and eventually felt like I needed to share what had happened. I felt it was only right to let others know the truth of what all of the castmates had to endure.”
Unfortunately for Renee, her attempt to vacate her non-disclosure agreement hit a stumbling block.
When Renee brought her lawsuit, she sought to have it contested in public. However, a March 2024 Deadline report revealed that Love Is Blind's producers were successfully able to argue the matter should it go to arbitration.
In July 2024, a Collider article revealed that Renee tried to appeal that decision but failed to get the matter out of arbitration. Since then, there haven't been any publicly disclosed updates about the matter.
