This may be hard to believe, but season nine of Love is Blind was even more unsuccessful than the rest. The contestants started as complete strangers and ended that way, too.
Was it still peak entertainment, keeping viewers on the edge of their seats with the endless drama? Absolutely. But, ultimately, it disproved the entire thesis of the show by once again showing that no, love is not blind, and likely never will be.
When Netflix first released the show in 2020, it shook the world of reality television and dating culture by proposing a simple question: Is love really blind? This premise seeks to explore whether physical attraction really matters, or if personality and compatibility are enough to sustain a healthy relationship.
On the show, singles speed date from separate “pods,” getting to know different people before several get engaged, all within just 10 short days. After a big reveal where the couples finally meet face-to-face, they go on a honeymoon and have only a few weeks to decide whether to say “I do” at the altar.
No couples from this season remain together, and only two made it to the altar before saying no and walking away—a record low for the show. Why was this season such a disaster, and where did production go wrong?
There seem to be two key reasons people go on the show: They either want influencer fame and attention, or they have had no luck with love and dating in the real world and think their last resort is to go on a date-to-marry reality show.
It shouldn’t come as a real shocker to say that both of these motives hardly ever work out.
There was an extreme level of incompatibility between the couples who got engaged this season, which surfaced almost immediately after meeting face-to-face.
One standout couple this season is Madison Maidenberg and Joe Ferrucci, who seemed to hit it off in the pods but quickly proved this was simply initial infatuation.
Ferrucci immediately discovered he was not attracted to Maidenberg, telling the cameras at their honeymoon that she was not his “usual type.” He still continued with the experiment, leading to intense heartbreak on Maidenberg’s end, as she felt blindsided.
The lack of communication, paired with the obvious lack of personality and shared values, led to many arguments that did not seem to be resolved during the reunion—Maidenberg told the crowd that Ferrucci was seen flirting with another contestant the night of his tux-fitting. Yikes.
Another couple, Patrick Suzuki and Kacie McIntosh, did not even make it to the honeymoon before calling it quits. Although she would not confess to him the real reason for breaking it off, McIntosh admitted to the cameras that the physical attraction was missing for her.
“I don’t think my attraction to him is going to grow that much, and it sucks,” she said with tears in her eyes. “I just know it won’t.”
Everything was going well prior to their face-to-face meeting, which means looks were the only barrier standing in the way of their progression. If she had said this upfront to him, things might not have gotten as messy when she eventually refused to give him the wedding ring back. She still refuses to admit that looks were the issue.
It seems to be a recurring pattern on the show that contestants are not upfront with each other if the physical attraction component is missing, leading them to drag their relationships on unnecessarily until a dramatic breakup occurs.
Bad casting added to the incompatibility issues that made this season unsuccessful.
Fans online have been speculating why the producers continue to cast highly unlikeable people, and it is clear that many contestants are just there for fame or drama. It seems the show has become less about answering the question of whether love is blind and more about stirring up entertainment and headlines.
One contestant, Megan Walerius, ended her relationship with Jordan Keltner mainly due to lifestyle differences, as she told the camera that she “isn’t fit to be a mother”—heartbreaking given Keltner has a 5-year-old son, Luca.
This season wrapped filming around last April, and in a moment of peak drama during the live reunion on Oct. 29, Walerius shared that she had given birth to a baby boy just two months before the reunion. Producers have capitalized on Walerius’ questionable character, making it a center point for the reunion.
This season did prove two things: Contestants really do not know each other at all after this process, and love really isn’t blind. This was evident during the reunion, where each former couple sat on opposite sides of the stage.
With almost no couples keeping in contact, and many having moved on to new relationships, it was almost like the season never even happened.
