It’s As if This ‘Love Is Blind UK’ Contestant’s Red Flags Were Ignored

Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for the first 4 episodes of ‘Love Island: UK’.

The Big Picture

• Love Is Blind
  focuses on singles forming connections without seeing each other, aiming to create lasting relationships.
• Casting issues have arisen, with contestants like Sam joining for fame rather than love, raising concerns about authenticity.
• Contestants like Benaiah see through insincere intentions, calling into question how producers failed to identify red flags.

Love Is Blind is Netflix’s reality TV dating series that purports to be a social experiment about whether relationship-minded singles can fall in love with each other sight unseen. Contestants do a round of speed dating where they gradually narrow down their options while searching to find their future spouse. Compared to the other dating series on the streaming platform, like Too Hot To Handle or Perfect Match, Love Is Blind has a more consistent track record in terms of actually pairing couples that stay together once their season wraps.

That’s not to say the dating series hasn’t faced problems in the past, especially when it comes to casting. In Season 6 of the series, glaring holes in the casting process became apparent, as one contestant came onto the series lying about his intentions, seemingly hoping to secure reality TV fame on the series rather than love, since he secretly had a girlfriend throughout the casting and filming process. While Netflix producers insist that the casting process for the series is rigorous, it is difficult to find evidence that a contestant is truly serious about finding a blind match by searching through social media posts, which is a tool casting admittedly utilizes while seeking out potential contestants in the city where they intend to film.

The conundrum that Love Is Blind producers face about finding contestants with the right intentions has already become obvious in the first drop of episodes for Love Is Blind: UK. Almost immediately, when contestant Sam Klein was introduced to the dating pods, the women he was speaking to through the wall couldn’t be sure if what he was saying was true. Many of Sam’s actions during his time in the pods revealed that he was not there in the spirit of truly committing to the Love Is Blind process for the right reasons, and the other contestants were quick to suss this out. If the audience and the other contestants were able to pick up on Sam’s inauthentic motivations so easily, why weren’t the producers able to do so during the casting process?

Sam’s First Moments on ‘Love Is Blind: UK’

The very first thing viewers hear from Sam Klein is a “joke” he makes about having an interest in one of the women that another male contestant was describing having a spark with on their first date. It turned out that he did not form a connection with the lady in question, and was simply teasing the anxious Romeo-to-be. This could be interpreted as being just a bit of cheeky banter, or simple male peacocking, but considering Sam’s propensity for dramatic moments throughout the pod experience, it seems to be a bit of foreshadowing as well.

In a series about taking physical appearance out of the love equation when it comes to dating, it’s ironic to see someone posturing in front of the mirror, commenting on how good the lighting is, and saying it’s always good to take a look before stepping out. Of course, there is nothing wrong with being concerned about one’s physical appearance when filming a television series that will be streamed around the world. But it is interesting how often Sam talks about his appearance in the first four episodes. In his first confessional, Sam explains to the producer off-camera that he used to feel insecure when looking in the mirror, so he has done “some things” to change his appearance, including a nose job among other things. Then he describes how he prepared for the Love Is Blind experience by hitting the gym, starting a new skin care routine, “the whole lot.”

Sam’s concerns about his own physical appearance are a red flag, as presumably, he will have the same high standards when it comes to the romantic connection he formed on the series. And it didn’t just come up once or twice, but was brought up on his dates as well. When getting to know Jasmine in the pods, Sam was asked why he thinks girls weren’t giving him “the chance” he claimed he’d been asking for. He immediately made it about his appearance on Instagram or when seen on night outs at a bar, doing the subtle brag thing that people do, hinting that he is so good-looking that women don’t take him seriously.

Another potential red flag is Sam consistently describing himself as “Peter Pan,” saying he is “just a big kid.” Maybe the concept of Peter Pan syndrome is more prevalent in the US than in the UK, but for most adult women it is somewhat off-putting to picture having to raise this “big kid” into adulthood, which is where someone needs to be if they intend on getting married at the end of a social experiment designed to match people up based on literal blind dates. Sam’s immaturity seems pretty obvious after the first four episodes, especially considering he speaks more about his needs and what the women can bring to his life, rather than showing curiosity about how they will fit one another, as a pair. So it’s curious to think how the Love Is Blind producers and casting department might have missed these red flags in the interview process.

Sam Dated Two Prospects In the Pods

On one of his dates with Jasmine in the pods, she pressed him on why women wouldn’t take him seriously based on his appearance, asking “Do you feel like you give f*** boy energy?” Sam became immediately defensive; his voice was at a higher pitch as he quickly denied this, and he then stammered out some nonsense: “I don’t go around, like, chatting to a girl, like, I don’t know.” He then repeated his claims of just being a “big kid” who just “wants to have fun.” In a confessional interview, Jasmine expressed her “gut feeling” that Sam is just one of those handsome guys who is used to getting whatever he wants. Her radar is impressive, considering she is missing out on all the body language and mannerisms that seem to confirm her assessment of the way he speaks to her.

On Sam’s first date with Nicole, they spoke about their fitness regimens, and he referred to himself as a “smooth talker.” He also relied on his appearance right away, telling Nicole “if you saw me, I think you’d be impressed.” Nicole also picked up on the “too good to be true” of it all, telling Sam she was feeling “a bit scared,” because everything he said seemed tailored to what she wanted to hear. Another red flag on this date was that Sam used the same, “remember me, Sam from London” bit with both Nicole and Jasmine when departing the pods. Having prepared the same sign-off with both women speaks to the inauthentic nature behind his efforts.

Sam was set on Jasmine as his number one, but unfortunately for him, she decided to pursue another connection. Facing rejection in the pod, he was receptive to her words, though obviously disappointed. His answers to her were curt, and when he left the pod he aggressively chucked the signature matte gold wine glasses associated with the Love Is Blind brand. When he returned to the men’s quarters, he told the other guys it was “the worst experience of my life.” If getting rejected by a woman, in a series where the concept is to date multiple people at once, is actually the worst experience of Sam’s life, then he has lived a pretty charmed life. But this hyperbolic reaction, the aggressive throwing of the wine cup, and the quick switch to love-bombing Nicole after Jasmine rejected him, are major red flags. It’s giving toxic.

One Contestant Saw Right Through Sam

Nicole and Benaiah connected right away on an authentic level in their Love Is Blind experience, especially in their ideal off-grid lifestyles and the idea of conscious living. Nicole referred to their connection as “kindred spirits.” In every conversation between the pair, it seemed like a genuine connection was forming as they went deeper into the pod process. Although he was not able to reassure her as quickly as she might have liked that he had marriage on his mind, the two seemed truly well-suited to one another. That is why Benaiah found it so distressing to be in competition for Nicole’s affections with Sam, who he had overheard speculating about Nicole’s weight after she hesitated to think if he would be able to lift her off the ground.

Benaiah worried about Nicole pursuing her relationship with Sam, not for his own sake, but out of concern for her, as he suspected Sam had untrue intentions in coming into the Love Is Blind experience. The concern that Benaiah shows for Nicole in telling her his suspicions of Sam being there for “fame” rather than for love was a self-sacrificing moment because it went against his character to be gossiping about another contestant. And who knows, if it weren’t for this forewarning from someone she trusted, Nicole may have chosen to see the experiment out, rather than listening to her gut after she accepted Sam’s proposal initially. After she said “yes,” Sam said “I think I Iove you” rather than simply saying it without the qualifier, which seemed to give Nicole pause. He did the same thing when they met face to face, and Nicole then called off their relationship before the couple was supposed to move on to the second stage of the experiment by traveling to Greece together.

If Jasmine and Benaiah were both able to see through Sam’s bad-faith actions so easily, the question returns to how could the casting process have allowed someone so insincere to enter the “social experiment” in the first place? Viewers picked up on it and the contestants picked up on it. Was Sam that convincing in his interview process? Or, is it possible that the producers know that a scenario where a bad-faith romantic entering the pods and interrupting a genuine connection would be a sure way to stir up drama in the series? If so, they certainly got what they were asking for in Sam, after the dramatic revelation that Nicole had listened to her intuition that she had made the wrong choice. But now that the pods’ experience was over, the first four episodes ended on a cliffhanger about whether Nicole would be able to reunite with Benaiah after falling for Sam’s romantic posturing. This makes for excellent reality TV, but draws the Love Is Blind casting process into question.

The first four episodes of Love Is Blind: UK can be streamed on Netflix in the U.S.

Watch on Netflix