Oh, the drama! Dating shows provide unrelenting amounts of entertainment in their most basic form. Add in nudity, a ticking timeline and the opportunity to explore a connection with multiple people, and there’s enough content to keep audiences on their toes forever.
With odd formats come surprising romances. Bachelor in Paradise contestants Carly Waddell and Evan Bass got off to a rocky start in season 3, which aired in 2016, but they ended the show engaged.
“If you were here, boots in the sand, there’s no way that that relationship was going to happen, much less getting engaged. And I’m pretty sure they had a baby,” former BiP host Chris Harrison joked to Us Weekly in June 2018.
Harrison noted that the show’s unpredictable nature factored into its matchmaking achievements. “I really don’t even know what to wish for or what to hope for because I don’t know if you could ever pick who ends up in Paradise,” he told Us. “But I know that our success rate is very, very high. I don’t know what our batting average is, but it’s got to be enough to keep us in the big leagues.”
Bass and Waddell announced in December 2020 that they had called it quits, but the following year, a new season of BiP ended with three engagements and two couples who got back together after filming. Joe Amabile‘s season 7 appearance wasn’t his first outing on the ABC reality series, but the second time was the charm — he got engaged to Serena Pitt during the finale.
After the pair’s betrothal aired on TV, Pitt’s parents were still a little skeptical about the BiP process. “They’re like, ‘You’re engaged to a stranger!’ when I called them,” the Canada native told Us in October 2021.
“That’s the difficult part, right? Because they’ve never met me,” her fiancé added. “We’re slowly building the relationship.”
Despite the potential for success, however, the heightened circumstances of dating shows can also lead to tensions in budding romances.
“It takes away all the love and romanticism and the specialness of the moment when you’re just told by this certain date I need to have a ring or I’m leaving,” Temptation Island season 1 contestant Evan Smith admitted to Us in March 2019. “Ultimatums, they don’t work. It’s no way to live, no way to operate, especially in a relationship or when love is what we’re talking about.”
Keep scrolling for a look at some of the wildest dating shows in TV history:
The Bachelor Nation spinoff, which premiered in 2014, introduced fan favorites from the franchise and encouraged them to find love among the group on the beach in Mexico. Cheating, fights and actual long-lasting relationships ensued. Rick Rowell/Walt Disney Television via Getty Images via Getty Images
Could there be a more awkward way to make a love connection? The VH1 series took pairs to exotic locations to see if they could find romance … in the nude. The three-season show ran from 2014 to 2016. VH1
Couples met their future spouse for the first time on their wedding day. The series debuted in 2014 and aired on multiple networks before finding a home on Lifetime. With matchmaking help from a sociologist, a relationship coach and a spiritualist, some of the duos actually survived to appear on spinoff Married at First Sight: Happily Ever After? Larry Remiker/Lifetime
That’s not Prince Harry! The 2014 Fox show lasted only one season — for obvious reasons. Contestants believed they were dating the actual prince, but instead a look-alike stood in. Perhaps Duchess Meghan could have married Harry a bit earlier if she competed on the series. FOX via Getty Images
The 2009 ABC series’ title says it all. Contestants went on dates sans lighting, later deciding if they wanted to stay with the person they chose once they came face to face. Rick Rowel/Walt Disney Television via Getty Images via Getty Images
From couples to singles (kind of). Pairs traveled to Hawaii to test out other relationships in the original Fox series, which debuted in 2001. USA Network rebooted the series in 2019. Mario Perez/USA Network
Money + love = trouble. With a $1 million prize at stake, competitors tried to find their perfect matches over the course of the MTV show, which premiered in 2014. MTV
Just an average Joe. Women on the 2003 Fox series thought they were dating a wealthy man, but “Joe Millionaire” was actually just a normal guy. A revival of the show titled Joe Millionaire: For Richer or Poorer premiered in January 2022, with one major twist. Instead of one Joe, there were two — and only one of them was actually wealthy. Kevin Winter/FOX/ImageDirect/Getty Images
The Game Show Network series, which first aired in 2010, put all the competitors’ dirty laundry on the table — or in the briefcase — before the opposite sex agreed to a date. Game Show Network
Flavor Flav searched for his Mrs. Right on VH1 from 2006 to 2008. The show spawned multiple spinoffs, though the rapper ultimately found love outside the series. Chris Polk/FilmMagic
Worst idea ever? The 2001 UPN show left one unlucky person chained to four strangers with the intention of connecting romantically. YouTube
After the success of Flavor of Love, VH1 debuted the spinoff Rock of Love, which followed Poison frontman Bret Michaels as he searched for a partner who could cope with the rock star lifestyle. Season 3 upped the ante even further by having contestants live on a tour bus instead of in a typical reality dating show mansion. VH1/YouTube
Netflix debuted Love Is Blind in February 2020, just as the world started settling in for the first round of coronavirus lockdowns. The premise was oddly prescient: singles get to know each other without meeting face to face, communicating from their individual "pods." If they decide they like each other, they can meet in person — so long as they get engaged first. Season 2 dropped in February 2022. Netflix
The premise of Sexy Beasts is also based on the idea that romance shouldn't be dependent on looks, but instead of staying in pods, participants wear elaborate masks that cover their entire heads. Costumes include a dolphin, rooster, panda, tiger and demon. Netflix
The Love Trap is a British reality series that went viral because of its unusual elimination method. A contestant gets to know three people over the course of an episode, and at the end, they must choose which person is already in a relationship. The unlucky person doesn't just leave, however — they get dropped through a trapdoor in the floor. YouTube
What if The One was someone from your past? A group of six suitors searched for love amongst a selection of individuals they previously connected with in their daily lives — from high school study partners, neighbors and social media admirers to one-time hookups and even an ex-partner. The first season premiered on Prime Video in June 2022. Lisa Rose/Prime Video
Netflix added another wild dating show to its portfolio in 2022 with Dated & Related, which follows a group of singles as they look for love alongside their siblings. Contestants enter the mansion with their brothers and sisters, who try to help them connect with potential partners in the house. "Is this about to be the most awkward dating show in history?" asked host Melinda Berry in the show's first trailer. Netflix
0 Comments