Love is Blind is getting roasted. And it’s not even for what its contestants have done. The iconic Netflix show just debuted its season 8 and had its 5-year anniversary. And instead of people focusing on the 32 singles drama, all everyone can focus on is the fact that the cast is less diverse. So much so that people are complaining that they can’t tell some of the men apart unless they’re directly watching the episodes with subtitles on.
In our breakdown for Love is Blind season 8 episodes 1 through 6 we went through all of the seasons of Love is Blind. This is what we found:
Out of 32 singles there were 9 people of color in Love is Blind season 8; 6 women and 3 men. In season 7, out of the 29 singles, there were 14 people of color; 8 women and 6 men. In season 6, out of the 30 singles, there were 11 people of color; 6 women and 5 men. In season 5, out of the 28 contestants, there were 15 people of color; 8 women and 6 men.
I was going to stop here but I kept going…
In season 4, out of the 30 singles, there were 15 people of color, 9 women and 6 men. In season 3, out of the 30 singles, there were 15 people of color; 9 women and 6 men. In season 2, out of the 30 singles, 16 were people of color; 8 women and 8 men. And finally, in season 1, out of the 30 singles, 9 were people of color; 7 women and 2 men.
Now creator Chris Coelen is responding to the backlash. Speaking with Entertainment Weekly he said that the diversity problem wasn’t intentional. “We put people in the pods, and you try to have a very diverse group of people in lots of different ways [at the start]. And then the people who get engaged are the people who get engaged. The people who fall in love are the people who fall in love. If you’re sort of trying to tick a box, there were lots of people who were in the group coming into the pods who ultimately just didn’t find their person and who we didn’t choose to [follow].”
He also went on to add a little bit more context about the connections. They don’t force who ends up with who. But it’s important to note, from my perspective as a viewer, that they choose what story is told in the final edit. And for fans of Love is Blind, the edit seems very white oriented. Coelen said, “There are 32 stories times however many people each person dates. So if each person starts off dating 16 people, do the math, that’s, I don’t know, close to 1,000 stories? Something like that. And you can only tell so many of them.”
If anything, this is a lesson for future seasons on balancing out the number of contestants. But it’s also about what stories Netflix itself felt were worthy when it comes to the final edit. Because there were nine people of color in Love is Blind season 8. And you’re telling me none of their stories were worth following? I don’t know if totally believe it.
Love is Blind season 8 episodes 1-6 are now available on Netflix.
