Chris Coelen, the creator and executive producer of “Love Is Blind,” has addressed criticism about the lack of diversity in the show’s eighth season. In a recent interview, Coelen explained that the show “casts itself” and that the producers try to have a diverse group of people at the start of each season. “We put people in the pods, and you try to have a very diverse group of people in lots of different ways,” Coelen said.
“And then, the people who get engaged are the people who get engaged. The people who fall in love are the people who fall in love.”
Coelen emphasized that while diversity is important to the franchise, the ultimate goal is to showcase the participants with the most intriguing stories. He noted that there were many contestants who didn’t find their person and weren’t chosen to be featured on the show.
Season 8, which features the largest group in the show’s five-year run with 32 Minneapolis-based participants, includes only one Black man and one Black woman who made it out of the pods. Monica Danús, who identifies as half-Chilean, is the exception among the predominantly white couples featured this season.
Addressing diversity in casting
“We always, always, always strive to seed the pods for the greatest possible success, and within that, diversity of not only ethnicity or race but backgrounds, financial status, body types, and looks,” Coelen said. When sifting through the footage, Coelen said it’s challenging to share everyone’s experience. “You’re less concerned about that, to be honest, than just trying to have a group of people that you hope are somewhat compatible and then seeing what happens,” he said.
“We don’t decide, ‘Oh, this is a good couple. That’s a good couple.’ We don’t steer it in any way. They figure it out on their own.”
The first six episodes of “Love is Blind” season 8 are streaming now on Netflix.
Episodes 7-9 will be released Friday, Feb. 21.