Love Is Blind Should Stop Emphasizing Marriage (& Let The Relationships Develop Naturally Over Time)

When Netflix releases a new season of the hit dating show Love Is Blind, fans are always eager to see which couples fall in love, break up, and get engaged. Plus, each season culminates with a series of weddings, raising the stakes of the social experiment even more. Love Is Blind season 8 premiered on February 14th, 2025, and audiences only have to wait a few short weeks to hear which contestants say "I do" and which say "I don't."

However, this rush to the altar may be setting the Love Is Blind season 8 cast as well as previous seasons up for failure. With such a heavy emphasis on marriage after such a short filming period, Love Is Blind is guaranteeing some couples will get divorced. It's also potentially preventing some promising couples from staying together.

LIB Couples Don't Actually Spend Much Time Together In The Pods

Ten Days Isn't Long Enough To Get Engaged

Love Is Blind season 6's Matthew and AD talking in the pods from an aerial view — Love Is Blind season 6's Matthew and AD talking in the pods

When a new season's cast first enters the pods to begin the five-week social experiment, they need to get to know their potential suitors as quickly as possible to see which fellow contestants they may connect with and which contestants they never want to speak to again. To accomplish this, the first day in the pods is speed dating. For the initial dates, everyone spends about ten minutes with each member of the opposite sex.

From there, the cast chooses who they spend more time with and how long those dates last. Executive producer Chris Coelen told E News the cast "could talk as long as they wanted as they got down toward the end of it." However, season 1 success story Lauren Speed-Hamilton told Refinery 29:

There would be times where we would be talking for three or four hours and we would still keep talking and [a producer] would be like, "Okay guys, that's it. That's enough time."

The pod portion of the experiment only lasts for ten days, meaning the couples likely aren't spending more than thirty hours together before getting engaged.

While it's not unheard of for couples in the real world to get engaged quickly, 30 hours isn't even two full days.

It's certainly not enough time for someone to know who they want to spend the rest of their life with.

Plus, marriage isn't an entirely different relationship dynamic from dating. There are differences between the two, such as cohabitation and shared resources, but it's not possible to skip over the dating phase entirely and go straight to the love and commitment associated with marriage. Even if a couple ties the knot early on, they'll still need to go through the growing pains every relationship goes through, such as figuring out each other's quirks and learning intimate details about each other's pasts. Relationships take time.

Some LIB Cast Aren't Ready To Jump Into Marriage (And That's Okay)

Taking A Relationship Slow Isn't A Red Flag

Nick and Vanessa Lachey on love is blind season 6

At the beginning of every season, hosts Nick and Vanessa Lachey ask the cast, "Is love truly blind? We hope you all prove that it is." This question can be tested without a wedding. While a proposal, wedding, and marriage do indicate that two people are in love, they aren't requirements. Plenty of couples fall in love and wait to take further steps for any number of reasons, and their love isn't any less valid than a married couple's.

Love Is Blind Season 8 Love Is Blind Season 8 Lauren O’Brien And Dave Bettenburg sad with canceled sign

Love Is Blind Season 8 Proves The Show Needs To Be Canceled (The Premise Has Run Its Course After Eight Seasons)

Love Is Blind season 8 dropped episodes 1-6 on Valentine's Day, and it's already clear the show needs to be canceled for good.

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Plus, some people have legitimate reasons to want to move their relationship at a slower pace. Season 6 cast member Clay Gravesande felt he didn't have any role models to show him how to be a good husband and wasn't mature enough to jump into such a long-term commitment. However, he still wanted to remain in a relationship with fiancé AD Smith, and while he would hopefully grow into that maturity over time and become husband material down the line, AD wasn't willing to wait. The two broke up after the wedding.

Waiting To Get Married Can Expose Red Flags

Some Secrets Take Time To Reveal

Some Love Is Blind couples are probably relieved they didn't tie the knot on the reality show. Season 3's Raven Ross seemed heartbroken when her partner, SK Alagbada, said no on their wedding day, but the two remained in a relationship and seemed happy together during the reunion episode. However, when a cheating scandal broke out, with a woman claiming she messaged with SK on a dating app while he and Raven were together, Raven and SK ended their relationship.

Had the two gotten married before the cheating allegations came out, it could have resulted in a messy and costly divorce. Instead, Raven could move on with her life without getting lawyers involved. In 2023, Raven revealed she was in a new relationship.

Ashley Adionser may regret saying "I do" on season 7 of the popular Netflix reality show. While Tyler Francis admitted that he was a sperm donor before he and Ashley tied the knot, he allegedly owed $30,000 in child support and had been an active father until he went on the dating show. While it's not exactly clear why Ashley and Tyler have since decided to end their marriage, there's a good chance these secrets were a factor, and Ashley may have had a different answer at the altar had she known this information in advance.

Maybe The Experts Have It Figured Out

Love Is Blind has had ten surviving couples over seven seasons, giving the show a much higher success rate than shows like The Bachelor, Love Island, and Are You The One. It's hard to know which part of Netflix's social experiment contributes to such happy marriages or if every piece works in tandem. Is love truly blind, or does making a formal commitment solidify a relationship? Either way, it's possible the experts really do know what they're doing with this show's format.

The strongest argument for marriage at the end of each season of Love Is Blindis that no non-married couples have survived. The show doesn't follow every engagement from the pods, and every couple who got engaged off-camera or said "I don't" at the altar has since broken up. It's not clear why this is the case, but quick weddings may make a real difference regarding these relationships' longevity.

Love Is Blind season 8 is streaming on Netflix, with new episodes dropping every Friday.

Sources: E! News,Refinery 29, Netflix/Instagram