Here’s Why Love Is Blind: Germany Was Such A Flop

Fans of reality TV dating shows will certainly be familiar with Netflix’s hit Love Is Blind. The blind dating show is so successful that it’s now in its seventh season and boasts more than ten international offshoots hosted in different countries.

The most recent of the international versions is that of Love Is Blind: Germany. Though the first season has just finished airing, it wound up being sorely lacking — what was it in particular that made it so unsatisfying?

Only One Couple Stayed Together

The start of the season was filled with the usual drama; there were love triangles, some miscommunications, and quarrels about partners’ loyalty once they saw a previous match from the pods in-person for the first time. By the time the wedding ceremonies rolled around, only three couples actually remained together: Hanni and Daniel, Sally and Medina, and Alina and Ilias.

Chaos struck at the wedding ceremonies when, in an almost unprecedented event in the show’s history, only one couple chose to get married. The other two announced that they felt the timeline for marriage was too fast (despite it being literally what they knowingly signed up for) and refused to exchange their “I do’s.” One of the cast members, Hanni, explained that while she still had feelings for her partner, to marry him she’d have to be “1000 percent” sure:

I only want to get married the one time. And I want you to have the best wife that you could ever wish for in this life. And…if I can’t be that person right now, then I don’t want to disappoint you and say yes…just because I’m feeling it in that moment at the altar. It should be a 1000 percent yes.

Another cast member, Sally, echoed a near-identical statement during her vows:

I know we both only want to do it one time. And properly. But this is only the end of the experiment. Not the end for us.

Her words were later made somewhat ironic when she announced at the reunion that she and Medina were no longer together. This left only one couple, Alina and Ilias, to tie the knot.

The Reunion Was Awkward And Punishing

The season was also very poorly done in that the reunion was strange and seemed to largely focus on bullying Hanni. In a bizarre move, the hosts pulled up a series of hate comments written about Hanni by fans and read them to her, citing how they thought she dressed too scantily clad for her pod dates. They also allowed the other cast members to pile on their criticisms of her, and it became clear that many believed she had only done the show for fame.

Hanni became so overwhelmed during the reunion that she began to cry and was unable to answer questions for a short while. Once she’d calmed down and the hosts returned to her, she spoke about how she felt deeply misunderstood by the rest of the cast, and that even if she tried to advocate for herself and explain her feelings, she didn’t believe they’d have an interest in listening.

Ironically, the only person from the cast who appeared to be on her side was her former partner, Daniel, who still stood by her even though he was stung from her not saying yes at the altar. The whole scene was a challenging one to watch, and I couldn’t help but feel like the original version of the show would never allow its host and cast members to bully an individual as had happened here.

As of this article’s writing, a Season 2 of the show has not yet been announced.