Netflix's popular dating show, Love Is Blind, sees a group of single contestants dating without seeing what the other person looks like.
Every contestant on the reality TV show is placed in purpose-built room called a pod, where they can go on dates. The twist of the show is that the contestants can only communicate with each other through a speaker. Couples only meet once they have become engaged.
While audiences binge-watch Love Is Blindin one day, the filming of the reality show takes a little bit longer to create in reality. Compared to real life, Love is Blind couples must meet, get to know each other and get engaged on a timescale it takes most people to plan their first date.
How Long Do The Contestants On Love Is Blind Talk Before Proposing?
After being cast on Love is Blind, singles hoping to find true love and get married embark on a series of intense blind dates, while never seeing the other person's physical appearance.
Kelly Chase, who appeared in Season 1 of Love Is Blind, revealed on TikTok that the cast of the Netflix show go "speed dating" in the pods for eight or nine days before proposals take place.
"As you’re getting closer to day eight or nine, you’re eliminating people you’re not having a connection with. And you get down to your top three," she explained. “And then everyone gets engaged on that one day. And then the next day is the big reveal day. And then the couples separate and go back through their own door. You meet them [your partner] for 15 minutes – the person you just got engaged to – and then you don’t see them again for a few days. It’s crazy."
"And so it was daunting, like having to talk for four hours straight without even looking at the person is amazing."
How Dating Works In The Love Is Blind Pods
The Love Is Blind dating process is more complicated than it looks on TV. On the first day of the pods, every contestant goes on 15 dates to ensure woman has dated every man, and vice versa. A mutual matching system helps to determine who gets a second date, producers don't interfere with the choice.
Season 1's Lexie Skipper explained the process and how many dates the stars of Love Is Blind actually go on.
“It’s the most dates I’ve ever been on in my life!"
"We were essentially speed dating – every meeting lasted for seven minutes. And then, at the end of the day, everybody ranked their dates from 1 – 15. Each day from there, the number of dates you went on would decrease, and the length of those dates would increase, as producers knocked people off the bottom of each other’s lists."
Lexie added that the speed dating was essentially an "algorithm," as "producers were matching up your priority list with other people’s priority lists, and looking at who was high on each other’s matches." Of course, many of the dating rounds are not shown on the reality TV show, with viewers unaware that all contestants chat to each other.
Do Love Is Blind Couples Choose Their Pod Date Activities?
The contestants have total control over the date and are encouraged to bring mementos into the pod. They can also request meals and activities, helping them create the right date atmosphere. In the past, contestants have asked for everything from games to mini golf to workout equipment. Who can forget when Season 1's Cameron wanted to present now-wife Lauren with a tree that his parents grew in their backyard?
“Imagine you walk in and you’re like, ‘Why is there a tree in the pod?’” Love Is Blind creator Chris Coelen explained. “It's all meant to bring out and showcase what people find important, what they want to think about, what their values are — who they are, really.
The Love is Blind pods are approximately 12 feet by 12 feet, and there are 20 pods — 10 for men and 10 for women.
Chris has defended contestants as they only have 10 days to find their future partner, claiming the time spent together is typically more meaningful than dating in the real world. The reality show creator describes the experience as, "10 days of 24/7 intensive therapy."
“They talk about the deepest things in every possible way about every conceivable subject. They’re trying to identify every single thing that might be important to talk about before they choose to marry someone. After the fact, people have said they know — not just the person they’re engaged to, but multiple people — better than they’ve ever known anyone else. Better than they know their parents. Their siblings..."
"It’s insane. They really do fall in love."
What Love Is Blind Contestants Do When They Are Not In The Pods
Season 1 saw the Love Is Blind contestants sleeping in trailers next to the lounges. Season 1 star, Kenny Barnes believed the uncomfortable living conditions were designed "just strip us down from our comfort level." But in subsequent seasons, the contestants were upgraded to cozy hotel rooms and sleeping facilities.
Since singles aren't allowed to see each other before popping the question, the male and female cast members live in separate areas and have a different team of producers.
"Life at the facility felt like a sorority," Season 1 cast member, Lauren Speed explained. "You'd think that people would be catty because some people would like the same guy."
"But we actually formed a sisterhood, no lie."
Kenny also revealed how the cast amused themselves when not in the pods. Kenny explained that the guys did plank competitions, cooked together and went for runs to amuse themselves.
Season 7 of Love Is Blind premieres on Netflix on October 2, with a whole new batch of singles looking for love, sight unseen... this time from Washington, D.C.
