What ‘Love Is Blind’ Needs To Fix in Light of That Trevor Issue

Since its premiere back in 2020, the Netflix dating reality show Love Is Blind has become a fan favorite. The show has been on air for six seasons and has been adapted into eight international versions following its massive success. However, Love Is Blind is way more than just a reality show. Netflix has promoted the show as a social experiment where single men and women find love and get engaged before ever meeting their partner in person. Of course, some couples make it to the altar in the season finale, while others struggle to maintain their connections once they’re outside the pods and in the real world. So, naturally, things tend to get dramatic on the show now and then. However, Love Is Blind Season 6 took things to a whole new level — all thanks to Trevor Sova!

Sova was one of the contestants looking for love in Love Is Blind Season 6. He started off pretty strong and developed a strong romantic connection with Chelsea Blackwell. After talking for a while, Sova actually ended up proposing to Blackwell. However, she ultimately decided that Jimmy Presnell was a better match for her. Sova eventually had to leave the show since he couldn’t find another match in time. He exited the show a hero, wronged by Blackwell, who kept him hanging till the very last minute before eventually choosing Presnell.

The truth came to light during the Love Is Blind Season 6 reunion special, where it was revealed that Sova had been dating someone outside the show all this time! Sova’s alleged double life has led to a lot of fans questioning the casting process for the reality show, with a lot of arguments about his double life undermining the show’s experimental nature. After all this, it’s clear that Love Is Blind desperately needs to develop a diligent screening process for potential contestants, so something like this never happens again.

Nick And Vanessa Lachey Forced Sova To Come Clean During the Season 6 Reunion

Sova became a fan favorite even though he wasn’t part of the show’s final engaged couples. The news that Sova would be making an appearance in the Season 6 reunion was bothing shocking and exciting. However, the situation took a nasty turn when hosts Nick and Vanessa Lachey exposed the runner-up for sending another woman “I love you” texts right after exiting from the show. “I love you more than anything in this world,” wrote Sova right after he had wrapped up filming. The reality star promised to marry this woman, claiming that he was pretending to be heartbroken over Blackwell just for the cameras.

The Lacheys then gave Sova the chance to explain himself. He admitted that he told the woman in the texts, Natalia Marrero, that he loved her. But Sova rushed to explain that the two of them weren’t really in a relationship. Sova confessed that he wanted to come on the show to see if he could fall for someone he wouldn’t usually go for. Sova added that his dynamic with Marrero was extremely toxic, which is why he came on the show. Of course, Nick Lachey pointed out that Sova had told the woman that he loved her. The host questioned why Sova did so if he never really cared about her. At this point, Sova clearly didn’t know how to defend himself. So, he ended up acknowledging that he was wrong and claimed that he needed “a lot of therapy.” After all the questioning, Sova eventually asked if he could leave and Nick Lachey was more than happy to let him go.

Trevor Sova’s Double Life Sparked Many Discussions About the Show’s Casting Process

Following the explosive reunion, Love Is Blind creator Chris Coelen elaborated on how carefully the team chooses contestants in an interview with Variety. According to Coelen, the producers ensure people who are chosen to go through the experiment are likable enough to be on screen. But that doesn’t mean they compromise on authenticity. In his exact words, “In a lot of unscripted shows, I think that a lot of times, you’re looking for someone who’s a certain kind of character with a certain charisma. We do not do that. We are not leading with that.” He added that for Love Is Blind, the team looks for people who are “genuine.” In the same interview, he spilled the beans on the casting process and revealed that they begin with a local search within a 5-mile radius of the city of choice. Once that’s done, the team starts working on the outreach.

The idea behind the process is to get the word out on a “local level.” Dana Driscoll, exec VP of casting told Variety in the same interview that the show looks for reporters, politicians, realtors, salon owners, pastors, nurses, teachers, and everyone in between. “We want there to be a huge buzz around the city that we’re there and we’re looking for singles who are ready for a deep and meaningful relationship and marriage,” said Driscoll. Coelen added that they try to find people who wouldn’t normally apply to be on a reality show to ensure that the cast comes from varied backgrounds. All of this is done to create a more engaging experience to explore the complexities of falling in love without the contestants being influenced by each other’s physical appearances.

Many People Want To Join ‘Love Is Blind’ for the Wrong Reasons — Just Like Sova

As the show has gained popularity, Coelen admits that plenty of people only apply for fame instead of actually wanting to find love. In light of this, Driscoll asks her team to talk to potential contestants and really develop a relationship with them over the phone. These phone interviews include questions about the individuals and their relationship deal-breakers. Once a candidate passes the phone round, they are asked to give a more detailed interview on Zoom that can last up to 90 minutes. Here, the potential cast members dish out all the details about their lives, past relationships, and more. After this, the team makes the final call and decides the 30 individuals who go on to become part of the show.

While talking about the kind of people the show absolutely refuses to consider, Driscoll revealed that “influencers and actors are off the table.” She added that the contestants on the show need to feel authentic and raw, which is not possible if the team casts an already-known face. However, the real reason behind this choice is that the producers don’t want to turn the show into most other reality shows where the contestants get inside just to earn fame and recognition. To ensure this, the Love Is Blind casting team tries to be diligent from the get-go. They check people’s Instagram accounts to make sure there’s no connection between any of them. In fact, Driscoll revealed that they’ve had to call potential candidates in the past to tell them that they couldn’t be selected because of an Instagram connection.

The Netflix Reality Series Needs To Maintain the Integrity of the Casting Process

Despite the detailed casting process, it’s evident that the team has slipped up a few times. First, they ended up casting Lydia Gonzalez and Uche Okoroha in Season 5. The pair had briefly dated before joining Love Is Blind. However, Driscoll claims that they were never in a committed relationship and did not follow each other on Instagram when they applied to the show. And while this could have been ignored as a one-off mistake, the situation with Trevor Sova proved the exact opposite. Love Is Blind Season 6 reunion revealed that Sova had a girlfriend who he was in touch with up until the very day he started filming for the show.

In response to the shocking revelation, Driscoll assured the fans that the team did all they could. She talked about how she was upset that Sova took someone else’s spot, who could have been on the show for the right reasons. The casting executive shared that like other potential cast members, Sova was asked questions about his current love life and whether he was seeing someone seriously or casually. The contestant was given several opportunities to come clean, but he chose to tell one lie after the other. Driscoll confessed that the team will make sure to have their eyes a lot more open after what has happened with Sova. But she explained that at the end of the day, the team is also human and they “have to trust that all of what the contestants are telling is true.”

Love Is Blind Season 6 is available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.