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Spoilers forLove Is Blindseason two below.
There is a spectrum of reality dating shows.
On one end theresThe Bachelor.
In some ways, its just as carefully orchestrated and unreal as anyBachelorseason.
But showrunner Chris Coelen insistsLove Is Blindis more an experiment than a traditional reality show.
There are fewer pre-built sets and organized interactions because the cameras are meant to simply follow the cast.
Conversations happen more organically, and Coelen insists producers try not to interfere.
We tell them if theyre going to do it, they really have to get deep.
Its up to them to talk about the things they think are going to be important.
Because thats the mission statement of the show, everybody embraces that.
What do you think is going to happen today?
And theyll say, Im going to make the decision when Im up there.
Im going to look him or her in the eye, and thats when Ill know.
You feel like,Are they serious?
Are they not serious?But its not my business to question them.
Were supportive of them.
Its about them making the right choice for themselves, whatever they do.
Then you sit back in the control room where the monitors are.
Youre like, Oh my God!
How could that happen?!
There are moments where the air sucked out of that entire room and nobody saw it coming.
Its like Im at the Super Bowl.
My adrenaline is just …
I can only imagine what theyre feeling.
And then its like,Hey, we wasted a lot of Netflixs money!
In season two, people have been saying, Oh, the producers wanted a certain kind of person.
It could not be further from the truth.
We wanted to be very broadly inclusive, starting with a few things they have to have in common.
Sometimes people surprise us.
I want a show with a pretty broad selection of people, but some of them didnt find love!
And then they melted down.
It didnt happen for them.
That was it it was very emotional for both of them, and I wish they had made it!
Then we wouldve followed that story.
The truth is there are other people who propose whose stories we dont follow.
We had two more engagements this year that we didnt show.
We had 30,000 to 40,000 hours of footage that we had to boil down to a ten-hour series.
You have to pick the stories you are telling.
Weve talked about that, but its not something anybody has decided they want to do.
Like, why are you so obsessed with peoples body types?
The whole point is that its not supposed to matter!
I dont know, maybe it does matter!
The other thing is that the shows point of view is not love is blind.
We decided not to do that stick with one title.
Its like, cmon dude!
So how do the weddings actually work, logistically?
These are not like lets get everything done in two hours.
Its a real wedding with real people there.
Were filming one per day, but obviously we dont have tons of lead time.
But really, its their day.
And then the producers have a conversation with them?
Its like, How are you doing?
How are you feeling?
This is the end of your journey.
Im there with them in the pods, Im there with them on their wedding day.
Its like, I hope this has been amazing for you.
I hope you feel great about your decision.
Im proud of them!
Its a huge deal.
This is not something trivial for them.
Going into that day, I thought maybe the opposite was true.
Sal was always heart on his sleeve, there for her, in it.
Toward the end, Mallory started coming around a bit, maybe?
It was hard to tell.
But it felt like he was pretty solid at the end.
But truly, every day theyd been like, We are a hundred percent doing this.
No question, this is happening.
Which is unusual for this experiment!
Then to get to that day, after they had literally just had that fight.
Which was not on-camera!
You mustve wished you couldve captured some of that.Of course, yeah, youd want to see the fight.
He felt embarrassed and emotional, and I think he got worked up.
After the bachelor and bachelorette parties, theyre supposed to not see each other until the wedding day.
Theyre supposed to separate and stay in different places, which we arrange for them.
But he didnt do that.
Hes not a prisoner!
We provided them this apartment and places for after the bachelor party, but he went to see her.
And that was a bad decision.
Or maybe it was a good decision!
In terms of them getting married, though, it torpedoed the wedding.
But he still went through with it, and I know he still loves her.
And I will tell you, I know at least that she still loves him.
But I also … well, youll see on the reunion.
And obviously Deepti seems to have no interest in talking to Shake.She didnt.
Hes more interested in hanging out with his friends.
Its like,Wow, thats where you land right after?
On the wedding day, his amount of sweat is really something else.
Was it unbearably hot?
Did they have to be standing out there?It wasreallyhot.
But they wanted an outdoor wedding.
Some people didnt care, but Nick and Danielle specifically wanted an outdoor wedding.
And that particular day was one of the hottest days.
Also, he talks about it!
Hes a very sweaty person.
One question I saw cropping up about this season is whether women are allowed to propose to the men.Yes!
We always say that.
The only person whos ever taken that to heart was Gigi in season one.
Damian started to propose, and she said, No wait, Im going to propose to you.
Its so funny that the women are, I guess you would call it, traditional.
Im also curious about the ubiquitous golden wine glasses.
What is the deal with those?It was something I wanted to do.
There are multiple parts of the show, which is the beauty of how it works.
Everybody who gets engaged gets a big reveal.
And then you have to decide, well, who are you going to bring?
Who do you have the bandwidth to follow?
Normally we have five crews on this show.
We have five field producer bodies.
So its like, oh God, we hadeight!
How do we do this?
Why did we choose to follow her and Kyle?
How could you not follow that?
But do I think we made the wrong choice?
Maybe that sounds weird or silly, but it is the truth.
As a producer, your instinct is to produce.
Step in, do something, make something happen.
On this show, you have to fight every impulse.
God, those people would be a great couple but you cant step in.
It is always so much more interesting if you dont.
There are always moments in the pods.
Every season weve done, there are moments where youre like, Oh my God, what ishappening?!
But somehow it all works itself out.
They figure it out.
The biggest thing weve learned is just step back and let them be themselves.
Really getting to the essence of their motivations and feelings.
The classic example in season one was Barnett and Amber and L.C.
I remember the producer came back and said, This is what hes saying.
I could probably get him to go with either of them.
Hes so on the fence.
I remember thinking,I really like L.C., and I think fucking Ambers crazy.
And I like Barnett!
God, I just really want him to be happy!
He has to make his own decision.
We cannot sway him.
And guess what it worked out for him.
He made the right decision.
Can you talk a little about how you edit the show?
They are the people who are responsible on most shows for going through footage.
To me, thats the most important work!
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
