The topic of "diversity" is disappointingly a hot-button issue again as politicians target recent Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives in government and business. Recycled racist talking points around Affirmative Action have been repurposed for this movement with accusing anyone who isn't in the majority of unfairly taking a spot from someone more capable. This makes the timing of Love Is Blind having the least diverse cast of engaged couples for Season 8 look even worse.
Fans who turn to the dating show for escapism from this upsetting political movement are understandably upset. There is a meme of photos of Season 8's engaged men — Daniel Hastings, Alex Brown, Mason Horacek, Ben Mezzenga, and David Bettenburg — with people asking if they're the same man. People have made serious comments and jokes about the Minneapolis season being a part of the rollback of DEI. Some have complained that it's harder to keep track of stories because of the similarities. Netflix revealed there would be 32 people going into the pods to possibly find their spouse. This is the most in the show's history, and people want to know what happened.
"Well, the show casts itself," showrunner Chris Coelen told Entertainment Weekly. "We put people in the pods, and you try to have a very diverse group of people in lots of different ways [at the start]."Of course, that's not totally the case. The show accepts applications and they recruit through other avenues like social media to select the cast for the pods. Season 8 started with five Black women and one Asian woman out of 16 women. There were three Black men out of 16. It's also not enough to have a diverse cast on dating shows. You have to make sure you're casting people who are open to marrying the minorities you cast for true equity. These are all the responsibilities on the show and not the participants.
Coelen continued, saying, "And then the people who get engaged are the people who get engaged." But every season there are more engaged couples from the pods that aren't shown due to time and resources. The Reality Receipts Podcast reported there were unseen two engagements in season 8. One of the couples is Kylie Schuelke and Brian Sumption. They revealed in an Instagram post that they're still together.
The second couple has a more difficult update. Brittany Dodson ended things with Devin Buckley after his reaction to her past relationships with women. She got engaged to Mo Ndiaye, who was almost completely absent from the episodes. Story Time With Rikkii claimed Brittany chose not to continue filming with him after he said he didn't know if he could "get there" with a Black woman. They dated after the show and broke up.
Cosmopolitan reported that Mo commented on an Instagram clip of the podcast, which is no longer there. "Problematic? And who ended what?" he asked. Cast member Molly Mullaney replied and claimed he told her that he felt bad for "problematic things" he said. Mo seemingly denied that Brittany refused the cast trip. "That is all news to me," he reportedly wrote in a deleted comment, allegedly adding "I'll leave that one alone" to the claim that Brittany ended their engagement.
The rumor that a Black woman on a reality show finding out her partner doesn't date Black women has unfortunately happened before. Black women who watch these shows are also hesitant to get emotionally invested because of the disappointment. The Bachelor Season 29 is currently airing with its second Black star, Grant Ellis. Black women wondered if he'll be interested in Black women in his season after the disaster of Matt James picking Rachael Kirkconnell, who had a picture of herself at a plantation party. That couple broke up and headlines covered their breakup at the same time as Grant's season premiered.
The one rumor that is on production's side is that they allegedly had trouble casting in Minneapolis. "The main thing that everyone is missing is that people here are so humble, they do not want to be famous," interior designer Juliana Ghani claimed in a TikTok. She claimed she was born and raised in Minneapolis. "I know people that the casting team reached out to that are fun, energetic, they go out all the time, diverse. They don't want anything to do with Love Is Blind." One commenter claimed a restaurant where they worked refused to let the Netflix show film there. Someone else claimed a casting director reached out to her but she didn't want to fill out the 250 questions in the application. Another woman commented that the more diverse communities in the city are "VERY traditional" and wouldn't do reality TV." Ghani replied, "1000% my parents, cousins etc would [never] be cool [with] me on the show."
Some people celebrated on TikTok that no one from the Somali community went on the show. One person reacted to the cast with the "Thank God" sound. Another Minnesotan from the city had a similar perspective: "The population of people who are not white and want to go on a reality television show to be embarrassed probably, because nine times out of ten you will be embarrassed and you will embarrass your family — that's low," she said.
The diversity and equity of the season is lacking, but there is one Black couple with Devin and Dr. Virginia Miller. It's unclear if their participation could be considered as "inclusion." That requires authentic representation and true belonging, according to Race Forward. Black people who continue to watch Season 8 also watched Ben say he stays out of giving his opinion on Black Lives Matter. This upset Sara Carton, but she later accepted his proposal. That would make many Black viewers feel not included or fully seen this season.
Every season of Love Is Blind is an experiment beyond its obvious question about blind love. Reality shows don't typically film in Minneapolis and according to some residents, many community members don't want that to change. That understandably would make things harder for casting with the best of intentions. But the claim that the lack of diversity was because of the participants is also not the full truth. Good casting takes time and a lot of effort from people behind the scenes. A cast that isn't well-rounded won't be enjoyable to watch — and that will hurt the show.
