'Love Is Blind' hosts Nick and Vanessa Lachey talk about controversy surrounding Netflix dating show (2025)

The reality TV dating show Love Is Blind is back for Season 8 on Netflix, with singles in Minnesota hoping to make romantic connections that lead to marriage. Hosted by Nick and Vanessa Lachey, the singles once again move from making an emotional connection in the pods, where they can't see each other, to exploring if that connection lasts in the real world.

Love Is Blind has been a massive hit for Netflix and has resulted in 13 marriages before this new season. It quickly became an addictive, binge-worthy watch, with many people around the world glued to their screens.

But it's also been the topic of significant controversy, including a series a lawsuits and misconduct allegations from previous participants on the show.

In 2023, Insider published a piece titled "Love Is Blind is hell on earth: Contestants say producers deprived them of food and sleep, preyed on their anxieties, and refused to let them quit," in which several contestants told the publication that being on the show was a "traumatic" experience and that they were uncomfortable with the conditions while filming the show.

Jeremy Hartwell, who was on Season 2 of Love Is Blind, claimed the producers "deprived them of food, water and sleep, plied them with booze." Hartwell did not get engaged on the show and was given minimal screen time in the season. The lawsuit has since been settled.

Just last year Season 5 participant Renee Poche filed a lawsuit against Netflix and production company Delirium TV. While her relationship didn't appear in the final cut of the season, Poche claimed that she was forced to spend time with her abusive ex, according to the initial report from Variety. When she spoke about her Love Is Blind experience publicly, the production company then filed a US$4 million lawsuit against her for violating her nondisclosure agreement. That arbitration is still taking place behind closed doors.

Love Is Blind is also far from the first or only reality TV show to face criticism and lawsuits, with several allegations about shows like Love Island, American Idol and The Challenge, some going back decades.

'I don't think people understand what they're signing up for at times'

But with more and more instances of Love Is Blind being described as a "toxic" experience publicly, what makes people want to be on the show? In early episodes of Season 8, we already see a singles identifying that it's this specific dating format that they were interested in seeking out.

While there are certainly a lot of factors that go into someone choosing to being on a show like Love Is Blind, the show's hosts have seen some people's motivations for participating.

"It's that simplistic thing that ... everybody, not just in the United States or Canada, everybody in the world wants to be loved for who they are," Vanessa Lachey told Yahoo Canada. "You want to know that you love me for me. You love all the good about me, all the crazy about me, all the quirks about me. You love me. And this is an opportunity to give them that chance to fall in love for who they are."

But Vanessa Lachey went on to stressed that the singles can't entirely understand exactly what it takes to be on a reality show, an experience that can't be replicated before they're in it.

"I don't think people understand what they're signing up for at times," she said. "It really breaks my heart when people are like, 'Oh you signed up for this. You get it.' ... No, you don't know what it's like to have a camera [on you at all times]."

"Even in the pods, the cameras are hidden, so you actually get lost after eight to 10 hours of back-to-back dates. ... And then when you're in the real world, they've even said, 'This is weird. We're in a hot tub, and [someone's] standing right there with a camera.' You can't fully allow yourself to be comfortable. So I think that they don't understand that layer of it."

While the goal is to make a positive connection on the show, unfortunately, the reality is that it's close to impossible for every single to really start a relationship from being on Love Is Blind.

"We always tell them, ... we wish we could promise that everyone was going to find their person on the show," Nick Lachey said. "As we greet them for the very first time in the lounges, we always tell them, if you invest yourself wholly in this experience, if you go for it and you hold nothing back in your true, authentic self, you may not find your person, so to speak, but I promise you you'll leave here a changed person."

"You will learn something about yourself or about relationships. You'll take something away from this experience that will be positive in your life. Moving forward, I think we've seen that."