Love is Blind is Netflix’s hit reality dating show. The stated goal of the format is to create happily married heterosexual couples. Season one proved that this goal in no way prevents the show from casting bisexual people. Yet, the overall representation of bisexuality has ranged from nonexistent to very bad.
So far, two of the eight seasons have featured bi cast members. In both cases, coming out led to the end of their relationships. In season one, Carlton Morton had a total meltdown when his fiancée was surprised to learn about his bisexuality. In season eight, Brittany Dodson rejected her suitor when he couldn’t embrace her fully — including her sexuality.
After season 8 aired, Madison Errichiello revealed that she had also come out as bisexual on the show. When asked about her experience of talking about her sexuality in the pods, she said:
The first person I opened up to about it was Ben [Mezzenga], funnily enough. He didn’t really have much to say, but it wasn’t bad energy. He just was like, “OK, cool. Love that for you.” I had the conversation with Mason and Alex, too. It didn’t feel like I was coming out to them, but more like, “This is who I am. I’ve dated women; I’ve dated men.” No one said anything negative — they just wanted to know about my dating history, how many women I’ve dated, and things like that.
She also described a conversation she had with Brittany after Brittany came out to Devin Buckley:
After her conversation with Devin [Buckley], she was really upset, and she came back and started talking about how he didn’t receive it well. We got to connect over our queerness, and I was heartbroken for her. I felt for her, but I think it was closure on her side of things. We’re still really good friends.
When confronted about a lack of racial diversity on the show, creator Chris Coelen told EW:
“Well, the show casts itself,” executive producer and creator Coelen tells EW. “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]. 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. If you’re sort of trying to tick a box, there were lots of people who were in the group coming into the pods who ultimately just didn’t find their person and who we didn’t choose to [follow].”
He basically argued that he has very little control over representation on the show. Host Vanessa Lachey made a similar argument when audiences complained about a lack of body diversity on the show. She says that people who are not as conventionally attractive have the same opportunities to be on the show, but they have no control over who makes a connection in the pods. Her theory is that people who are not conventionally attractive lack the confidence to be their true selves in the pods:
Their whole life, they’ve been so insecure about being themselves because of this crazy swipe generation that we are in and this catfishing world that we’re in, that they’re so afraid to be themselves.
In both cases, people involved with the show have claimed they’re powerless to influence its diversity. And yet, Madison gave them a chance to spotlight a happy, confident bi woman coming out to men who fully accepted her for who she was. Instead, producers chose to focus on Brittany’s rejection — reinforcing the idea that bi men and women are less desirable as partners because of their sexuality.