‘Love Is Blind’: How Long Do the Cast Members Date in the Pods Before Seeing Each Other?
The dating reality show Love Is Blind was a hit when it premiered on Netflix in February 2020. It was the perfect guilty pleasure to binge-watch at the start of the coronavirus pandemic when everyone was in lockdown.
The premise of bringing together singles to build emotional connections before ever physically seeing each other was too good to pass up. Everyone longs to be loved for who they are on the inside. So how long do the Love Is Blind cast members date in the pods before they reveal themselves to each other?
‘Love Is Blind’ producers seek very specific participants
According to Variety, the casting is quite detailed. You must fit a certain niche to make it onto the show. Cast members need to be genuine and truly seeking a long-term relationship. They must be ready to find the love of their life and get married. Plenty of other reality shows exist where people want to find love, but oftentimes it is not super serious.
Love Is Blind starts with 20 men and 20 women all from the same city. While casting all over the country might offer a better chance at diversity, sticking to the same city gives participants a real shot at creating a life together post-show. The numbers eventually dwindle down to 15 men and 15 women. And production only follows six couples who get engaged.
‘Love Is Blind’ cast members date in the pods for 10 days before seeing each other
The premise behind Love is Blind was to create an environment where couples could establish a deep emotional connection before they ever physically see or touch each other. Production achieved this through the use of pods. Each person is in their own pod, only separated by a glowing wall. They can’t touch or see each other, but they can converse through speakers.
The process starts with a round of speed-dating. Cast members spend 8-10 minutes with each of the opposite-sex cast members, so they have an opportunity to talk to everyone.
Notably, production confiscates phones so they have no connection with the outside world, according to Women’s Health. This allowed for zero distractions. Rory from Season 1 explains, “There’s parts of you that you don’t realize you’re carrying until all the noise stops, and I think that happened to a lot of people. It’s very raw and very real. For 10 days, you’re just sitting with that, and you can’t run. A lot of us had to just look our demons directly in the eye and understand them.”
The intense dating lasted 10 days. Couples could visit the pods at any time and stay for as long as they wanted. The pods were soundproof, allowing for deeper conversations. There was no intervention of any kind. While the couples were not supposed to know how each other looked, they’d often reference celebrities to help form a mental picture.
After 10 days, the couple gets engaged and then gets to see each other. Once the couple meets, they spend a week in paradise to connect more. Finally, they live together in the real world, meet each other’s families, and plan their weddings. At the wedding, each person can decide to give a final yes or no to marriage. Engagement and marriage are not required of anyone to be on the show.
The ‘Love Is Blind’ producers didn’t expect so many engagements
Both seasons of Love Is Blind saw an unexpected amount of engagements. The producers predicted that a couple pairs would get engaged and planned to film five engagements. They never anticipated there would be eight. Ultimately, six engagements were shown on the show.
The engaged couples who didn’t make the cut were given their cell phones back and released to build their relationship on their own.
