Love Is Blind participants undergo a thorough and “very rigid vetting process” ahead of the experiment kickoff in the pods, show creator Chris Coelen says, amid criticism surrounding certain conversations not making the final episode cuts.
“We have background checks and psychological evaluations. Everyone in the world has a story and we aren’t the police,” Coelen, 56, told The Hollywood Reporter in an interview published on Thursday, October 31. “We don’t regulate or monitor their conversations whether they’re being filmed or not, by the way. We’re not dictating to them what they should talk about, what they shouldn’t talk about.”
For instance, season 7 star Tyler Francis declined to tell now-wife Ashley Adoniser that he previously donated sperm to help a friend have children until they left the pods engaged. The couple had a frank conversation about Tyler’s role in the three kids’ lives on the show, but Tyler, 34, later revealed at the reunion that he told Ashley, 32, more details ahead of time off-camera.
“If someone has children or doesn’t have children, that doesn’t preclude them from participating in the process,” Coelen told the outlet. “If someone has a bad relationship with their mother or someone’s had a certain sexual experience in the past or someone is in debt, all those things are very common for the vast majority of people. Everyone has stuff. Everyone’s lived life and our job is not to make sure that everyone talks about everything.”
According to Coelen, the Love Is Blind cast team’s job is not to cut individuals based on certain experiences but rather “provide them a forum” to be honest and find The One.
“Hopefully in the process because it contributes to them being in love, be very open and transparent with each other, even though some topics that can be very difficult,” Coelen, who also produces reality TV hits Married at First Sight and The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On, said. “It’s not our obligation to report to everyone everything that you might find interesting. That’s not really our place, because our job is to document that.”
Love Is Blind has filmed eight seasons — the next journey premieres on February 14, 2025, nearly one year after it was taped in Minnesota — and Coelen’s team makes sure to allow contestants some levels of privacy.
“That’s a lot of time and we don’t want to. We think it’s important that the participant have off-camera time as well as on-camera time,” he stressed to THR. “And for them to really get the full picture of who one another is before they get to the altar and make a decision. So, we try to help them have all kinds of experiences. There’s no way for me to sit here and say I know what people talk about off-camera.”
Two couples from season 7 — Tyler and Ashley, as well as Garrett Josemans and Taylor Krause — got married during the season finale. Both pairs are still together today.
The first seven seasons of Love Is Blind are currently streaming on Netflix.
