Everything Wrong with Love Is Blind: LIB Boston, UK S3, Netherlands

Dr. Cherie Types on Love Is Blind

Dr. Cherie Types explains why she has become increasingly uncomfortable making her usual relationship analyses of Love Is Blind. She says the show once had a clear premise: couples would fall for one another’s personalities before looks, race, or status entered the picture. Now, she argues, the franchise often casts people whose priorities clash with that ideal—and turns the mismatch into a spectacle.

Her main criticisms

• Superficial motives presented as entertainment: Cherie points to contestants who openly prioritize looks or wealthy partners. As a result, the show’s original ideal of “blind” love can seem less like a genuine goal and more like something viewers are invited to mock.
• An old-fashioned romance narrative: She says the series increasingly portrays women in their 30s as panicked about finding husbands, while pairing them with men who seem unserious about commitment. She also criticizes how married alumni are celebrated and, in her view, sometimes shielded from scrutiny. At the UK reunion, she says, Chiara’s role in stirring a love-triangle conflict was largely glossed over while Shane faced questioning—a kind of “marital armor.”
• Concerning relationship dynamics: Cherie objects to storylines that pair women seeking marriage and children with controlling or volatile men. She highlights Mikaela’s tense interactions with Ryan, whom she describes as an angry drunk, as well as degrading comments and questions directed at women. She also jokes about the apparent irony of some especially macho, misogynistic men being virgins.
• Race and representation: Discussing the Netherlands season, Cherie focuses on Mika and Jurian. Jurian said he wouldn’t fall in love with a Black woman, but Mika accepted his explanation and later married him. Cherie interprets Mika’s hesitation to share her surname—and the possibility that it would reveal her background—as a sign of internalized racism. More broadly, she argues that the franchise uses diversity without responsibly exploring these dynamics and can end up pitting people of color, especially dark-skinned women, against one another.

What she may watch instead

Cherie says the Boston season left her so frustrated that her neck muscles went numb. Joking that she needed Botox to relax them, she says she may stop covering Love Is Blind unless the show changes direction.

As more hopeful alternatives, she recommends the Japanese and Korean dating shows Love Village Season 3 and Badly in Love Season 2.

Personalities discussed

Dr. Cherie Types (host), Sheik, Mikaela, Ryan, Chiara, Jack, Shane, Joseph, Francesca, Mika, and Jurian.