After two years of waiting for a follow-up to Netflix’s best dating series, “Love Is Blind” fans are finally getting another season next month.
When “Love Is Blind” debuted on the streaming platform in 2020, it introduced a reality show where couples meet and fall in love without seeing each other. The contestants only communicated through specially created pods and they met for the first time right before they got engaged.
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The first season saw some couples, like Jessica Batten and Mark Cuevas, split after refusing to say “I do.” Meanwhile, Lauren Speed and Cameron Hamilton as well as Amber Pike and Matthew Barnett got married and are still together.
In July 2021, Netflix released a three-part update series called “After The Altar” that showed how the lives of the married couples and single contestants have changed since the show finished filming.
Now, it is time to meet a new group of singles ready to dive into this wild experiment. Here’s a quick refresher about the show’s process and what we can expect from the new season.
What happened in season 1?
During season one, Netflix dropped new episodes of “Love Is Blind” every week for four weeks, which ended with a reunion episode.
The first batch of episodes introduced all of the contestants and showed the hosts, Nick Lachey and Vanessa Lachey, explaining the experiment. Contestants mingled with each other as they narrowed down their strongest connections. Then, they met in person, got engaged and traveled to a couples retreat.
In the second group of episodes, the cast members all moved into the same apartment building together. They were introduced to each other’s parents and later planned bachelor and bachelorette parties. Throughout the episodes, the couples would also discuss what their lives would look like after the show and share secrets they didn’t mention in the pods.
Finally, the penultimate episode showed the couples on their wedding day. On “Love Is Blind,” the contestants decide whether or not they want to get married at the altar, in front of their friends and family. In the most dramatic moment from season one, Damian Powers refused to marry Giannina Gibelli, which led to her leaving the ceremony and frantically running through the woods while still wearing her dress. The pair later reconciled on the reunion episode. But, following the release of “After The Altar,” Gibelli told Entertainment Tonight they officially split for good.
When can we expect season 2?
“Love Is Blind” was renewed for second and third seasons back in March 2020, but the streaming platform has provided few details about the new episodes.
On Jan. 13, Netflix released a teaser clip on its social media accounts that revealed season two will arrive on Feb. 11. While last season was filmed in Atlanta, season two was shot in Chicago, according to the show’s press release.
Sticking to the previous release format, episodes one through five will be available on the streaming platform first. Episodes six through nine will drop on Feb. 18 and the finale will be released on Feb. 25.
Nick and Vanessa Lachey are returning as hosts for the 10-part series.
Although the length of time between seasons seems pretty long, it actually makes sense. Powers told Refinery29 that season one wrapped filming on Nov. 15, 2018. That means Speed and Hamilton and Spike and Barnett had tied the knot over a year before “Love Is Blind” premiered.
The extended period between filming and the release date allows the couples to enjoy being married before having their lives documented and it also gives the show an opportunity to provide updates.
What can we expect in season 2?
The initial clip for season two is less than a minute long, but it already teases the new love stories fans will watch.
“The whole point is about finding out who we are as people,” one contestant explains.
Another tearfully says, “It’s like one decision just changes your life,” before there are glimpses of a proposal, a woman sobbing and a couple getting married.
The press release teases that some of the engaged couples will face the challenge of “whether they can turn their emotional connection into a physical one before the fast-approaching ceremony.”
It looks like season two will be worth the wait.