I’m a Love is Blind expert – the UK series was too tame, here’s what Netflix bosses need to do
POLITE, patient, politically correct. These are adjectives that I would use to describe the cast of Love is Blind UK.
After the crazy affair that is Love is Blind US – where some couples had drunken screaming matches on screen (Chelsea and Jimmy) while others got into unseen altercations the night before the wedding, turning an ‘I do’ into an ‘I don’t’ (Shayne and Natalie) – Love is Blind UK felt tame.
When three couples said no at the altar, it was a real shock, given they had hardly any open conflict while living together.
Tom shied away from calling Maria a freeloader when she put her desire for a man to foot the bill down to her religious beliefs.
Demi quietly bowed out of the relationship without addressing Ollie’s lack of respect towards her until their final moments, when he stood open-mouthed in front of their friends and family.
Freddie clearly had a big difference of values from Catherine – they disagreed over whether or not it is ever appropriate to eat out at Nobu – but had never so much as snapped at her when he solemnly pronounced ‘I do not’.
Don’t get me wrong, I would much rather hang out with this cast than some of their unhinged counterparts across the pond.
But do British singletons make for good television?
I think not.
If the UK series is to succeed, it has to go one of two ways.
Either more of the couples need to get married, turning it into a positive tale of how love can overcome all obstacles. Or producers need to recruit more outspoken candidates.
Only two out of six couples were still together a year after the show was filmed.
Given the low success rate, viewers would have expected a lot more fireworks.
This couldn’t be further from the reality that was screened.
During this series all the couples were so mild mannered that even their families and friends didn’t attempt to play bad cop.
In heartbreaking scenes Fatima told Tom he could call her mum – minutes before he said no to her girl at the altar.
Despite the shock, she didn’t take him to task afterwards, unlike an American mum who tearfully berated her daughter’s groom for publicly humiliating her.
No one close to Demi reacted badly to Ollie telling his friends another woman looked “sublime” on their final night together before the wedding.
Freddie felt comfortable enough to tell Catherine’s friends to their faces that he thought she was high maintenance, without having so much as a glass of prosecco flung at him.
Equally, Freddie’s sister was in stealth mode when she pulled him aside to tell him she didn’t think he should get married. She carefully avoided causing a scene or confronting any of the negative traits she saw in Catherine face to face.
Maybe Brits are too polite to break up any other way than peaceably – but if the show’s fate is on the line, producers need to start picking singletons who will bring some vim and stand on their convictions.
Meet the cast of Love is Blind UK
HERE is the full list of hopeless romantics looking to find love...
- AARON is a 33-year-old chicken restaurateur from Milton Keynes whose best friend is England footballer Ivan Toney.
- BENAIAH is 33 from Preston and works as a structural landscaper who travels the world.
- STAFFORDSHIRE-born Bobby is 33 and works as a globe-trotting luxury shopping guide.
- CATHERINE, 29, works as a dental nurse from Jersey who is adopted.
- CHARLIE is 34 from Hertfordshire and is general manager of a gym.
- DUBLIN-born Conor is 31 and is the owner of a health food business.
- LONDONER Demi is a 30-year-old safeguarding and attendance manager.
- SOCIAL worker Ella is from Derbyshire and is 27 years old.
- GRAPHIC Designer Ellis is 27 from London and says she was raised by her dad who is “husband goals”.
- FUNERAL director Freddie is 32 from Bolton and has a brother with Down’s Syndrom.
- 32-year-old Jake from Leicestershire is a civil engineer who tragically lost his mum.
- MENTAL Health Nurse Jasmine is from London and is 29 years old and grew up in the Phillipines.
- JOANES is a resident service manager who was born in Angola but lives in Luton and is 33 years old.
- FASHION tech founder Jordan is 33 years old and lives in Surrey.
- LISA is a baby photographer from Edinburgh and is 34 years old.
- MAKE-UP artist Maria is 30 from Southampton and was devastated by the death of her dad in 2020 during Covid.
- NATASHA, 32, is a career coordinator from Cheshire and wants to find her forever love like her parents who have been married for 42 years.
- HEAD of brand and marketing’s Nicole is 29 from Surrey and was previously married, but hasn’t given up on love.
- CREATIVE project director Olivia is 28 from London but has lived and worked in Los Angeles.
- OLLIE works in software sales, lives in London and is 32 but hasn’t been in a serious relationship for six years.
- 37-year-old Priya, who was once engaged for 24 hours, is from Berkshire and works as a procurement manager.
- RIA is 34 from London and her job is a commercial contracts manager.
- SPORTS-mad Richie is a 30-year-old from Gloucestershire who works as a sports turf maintenance director.
- TECHNO DJ and Cellist Ryan is 31 from Edinburgh, but was born in Korea.
- SABRINA, 35, is a director of marketing and communications from Belfast who describes herself as “unlucky in love”.
- SAM is a 31-year-old Londoner who works as a product design manager and is desperate to find The One.
- MUSIC boss Sharlotte, 35, London, is a global communications director at Universal.
- JUNIOR Doctor Shirley, 27, is from London, but was born in the Netherlands and falls for emotionally unavailable men.
- STEVEN is 37 years old from London and is a gym owner.
- 38-year-old Tom is a PR and advertising consultant from London who describes himself as a mummy’s boy.