Atlanta. Chicago. Dallas. Seattle. Houston. Charlotte. Washington, D.C. Minneapolis-Saint Paul. Denver.
Ohio.
One of these things is not like the other.
That offends me, as a proud Columbus resident who was eager for our city’s moment in the sun − or at the very least, on Netflix. Are we not big enough for the attention of the Lacheys?
Let me explain.
‘Love Is Blind’ scores with wild premise
Since 2020, the Netflix reality show “Love Is Blind” has delighted, astonished and amused audiences with its somewhat bonkers premise. A group of singles gather in a mysterious holding facility with a truly comical number of pillows and a dozen or so “pods.”
These pods are adjoining lounges (also featuring their fair share of pillows) separated by an opaque screen of some kind through which a man and woman can chat, but not see each other. The participants spend several days going on “dates” in the pods getting to know each other, before a few of them decide to get engaged.
Only then do they meet face to face, go on a fancy vacation, live together and ultimately head to the altar for a high-stakes “yes” or “no.”
Nick and Vanessa Lachey are also there.
With me so far?
Attention ‘Love Is Blind’ producers: Ohio is not a city
One of the key differences between LIB and my first love in the world of reality TV dating, “The Bachelor,” is that the cast largely hails from the same city. That means for the couples that do make it through the blind dating, the vacations and the time in a lushly appointed corporate apartment before saying “I do” have a real shot to make it without having to uproot their lives.
That list at the start of this column? That was the cities − cities, I say − that have played host to “Love Is Blind” in seasons past.
And when season 10, the one about to feature a bevy of Buckeyes, was announced, producers announced they were looking for singles in Columbus, Ohio. (More on that later.)
To be sure, a few past seasons have included participants from beyond the metro area. Chelsea and Kwamme, a successful couple from Seattle-based season four, had to decide if Kwamme’s status as a Portland resident would stimy their burgeoning romance. (Brett, half of that season’s golden couple with Tiffany, was also a Portlander, although that was less of a plotline on the season.)
The D.C. season included Baltimore residents.
But viewers were not encouraged to check out the Pacific Northwest season, or the DMV one.
But us Buckeyes? I guess we’re all the same, as we’re about to enjoy the “Ohio” season of “Love Is Blind.”
Is Columbus’ dating pool to shallow? Or is our brand too weak?
The 2024 post announcing a forthcoming “Love Is Blind” season in the Buckeye state did promise it would feature Columbus. And our sources on the ground (and on the internet) have confirmed the couples spent their post-pod, post-vacation time right here in the Arch City.
In fairness, casting directors said they would be casting statewide in the runup to the season. Based on our early analysis of the contestant pool, roughly half the cast this season hails from central Ohio. They’ll be joined by a handful of folks from northeast and southwest Ohio, plus at least one from Toledo representing the northwest quadrant.
Some I’ve chatted with argue the expansion to the entire state is a reflection of the weak dating pool here in Columbus. Others point to a common theme: while Columbus may be big, our brand as a city isn’t. Some argue it’s non-existent.
As an outsider who relocated here I will admit, even as it pains me, that prior to moving to the great state of Ohio I knew very little about Columbus beyond the presence of Ohio State. I had no idea it was the biggest city in the state and the second biggest in the Midwest.
Even that 2024 casting announcement commits one of the great offenses against our populace: they can’t just be casting in Columbus, it must be Columbus, Ohio. (Heaven forfend a Hoosier or a Georgia resident thinks Netflix is coming for THEIR Columbus.)
But that’s why I’m disappointed to see this season branded as it is. We ARE a big city, with lots to entertain the Netflix viewing audience. We’ve got professional sports, a pretty large college with a pretty good football team, and more than enough bars and breweries for our lovelorn singles to haul their golden chalices to.
Experience Columbus is still planning to capitalize on the city’s moment in the sun, according to some plans they shared with us. I’m excited for my friends who were all too eager to visit me when I lived in Nashville and suddenly less so when I moved to Columbus to catch my adopted home on their silver screens.
And I have friends (and colleagues!) in other parts of the state, so I suppose it’s not too terrible to be associated with them.
But I draw the line at this Reddit comment, from the show’s discussion page:
“If y’all thought Colorado and Minnesota were bad…..
Wait till you get a bunch of pod people asking each other where they went to high school and what specific neighborhood streets they lived between.”
That, Netflix viewers, is a Cincinnati thing.
This is Columbus.
Eleanor Kennedy is the senior digital director of The Columbus Dispatch, who has written approximately 17 million texts to friends analyzing past seasons of “Love Is Blind.”
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: ‘Love Is Blind’ doesn’t get Columbus or Ohio. Buckeye State isn’t one town | Opinion
Reporting by Eleanor Kennedy, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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