Netflix ‘Love is Blind' contestant leaves would-be groom at altar over politics
A participant on Netflix's 'Love is Blind' reality show left her fiancé at the altar, saying they were on different 'wavelength' when it came to politics.
In the show's season 8 finale, which aired Friday, Sara Carton told fellow contestant Ben Mezzenga that she couldn't marry him, when it came time either to say 'I do' or walk away.
'I love you so much, but I've always wanted a partner to be on the same wavelength, and so today, I can't [marry you],' Carton told Mezzenga.
'I know that the connection we have is so real, and my heart is there, but we talked about a lot of the values that I hold so close to my heart. Making this decision, my mind is telling me I can't,' she added.
Carton elaborated on her decision later in the show, telling her confidants she was disappointed he was not more engaged on issues including the Black Lives Matter movement and gay rights.
'I remember, like, I asked him about, like, Black Lives Matter, and I'm no expert, but, like, when I asked him about it, he was like, 'I guess I never really thought too much about it,'' Carton said about her former fiancé. 'That affected me, especially in our own city, like, how could it not? How did it not make you think about something?'
The season of the show was in Minnesota's Twin Cities, where were riven in 2000 by protests following the murder of George Floyd by a white police officer who was later convicted.
'I asked him too, like, what his church's views are, and he said he didn't know,' Carton added.
Carton said she watched an online sermon from his church about sexual identity, 'and it was traditional,' she said.
'I told that to Ben, and he doesn't really have much to say about it, you know? I want somebody to think about that stuff.'
In an exclusive interview with People Magazine, Carton stood by her decision, which she said was largely about a lack of depth and misaligned values.
'The whole entire time, I wasn't looking for a right or wrong answer. I just wanted to have depth and be able to understand one another, where we came from, how we grew up, why are we thinking and having this perception of life and the world and the people around us the way we do. I love having those deep conversations,' she said.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Insider
3 hours ago
- Business Insider
Why YouTube is trying to replace your favorite TV shows
A new golf comedy called "Shanked," which follows the hijinks at a country club where employees clash with pampered members, made its debut this month. The first episode runs about 20 minutes and resembles a low-budget comedy you might have once seen on Comedy Central. But it's not on cable. It's on YouTube. Welcome to 2025, when the big question in Hollywood isn't whether YouTube can work in the living room, but rather, how much of the entertainment landscape can it conquer. "Shanked" isn't the only scripted show on YouTube, with top creators like Dhar Mann and Alan Chikin Chow making TV-like series for the platform. Meanwhile, streamers like Netflix and Amazon's Prime Video are also updating their strategies, both by taking cues from cable TV — with ads and costly live sports — and seeing how they can mine social media for creator talent. For the creators of "Shanked," YouTube was a no-brainer. Ryan Horrigan of production company London Alley said he saw a lack of low-budget comedies on TV at the same time YouTube was increasingly favoring 20-minute episodic series. Why not a comedy, he thought. James Lynch, a comedian who co-created and stars in the show, said he felt the lines between entertainment platforms were increasingly blurring. "We love shows like 'Severance,' but every time I go to a friend's house, there's always something on YouTube," he said. Google-owned YouTube has nurtured a creator economy that Goldman Sachs estimated would grow to about $480 billion by 2027. Many in the entertainment and advertising world dismissed YouTube as a repository for amateur videos and movie trailers until it became the No. 1 viewed platform on TVs, per Nielsen, ahead of the "real TV" companies Netflix, Disney, and Prime Video. As YouTube and TV begin to converge, it looks like the Hollywood system as we know it will never be the same. But how the ecosystem will look when the dust settles is much more difficult to parse. YouTube is encouraging episodic series Lately, YouTube has been rolling out tools and features to encourage creators to make shows for the living room. It's also doing more to match advertisers to creators to support the kinds of shows you're used to seeing on TV. At Brandcast, YouTube's big annual presentation to the advertising community, it underlined the point by showing off top creators like IShowSpeed and Michelle Khare, who are making episodic series. And it's making a big push to win an Emmy to prove it can support quality TV. Viewership is one thing, but advertising, the lifeblood of entertainment, is another. Many major brands still want to be associated with buzzy scripted shows and movies that drive the mainstream conversation, like "The White Lotus," and most creators aren't close to that yet. Only a handful, like MrBeast and Dude Perfect, are making Hollywood-style productions. AI tools could reduce that friction, though, by cutting time and costs from video production. "Creator content is dominating TV watch time — not just on phones, but on the biggest screens in the house, replacing what used to be traditional television. Yet brands are still spending like it's 2015, chasing impressions over impact," said Nick Cicero, founder of Mondo Metrics, a media measurement company. Advertisers are closing the gap, though. Ad holding company giant WPP recently estimated that creators would earn $185 billion between direct brand deals and platform revenue share, surpassing ad spending on TV companies like Disney and Paramount. Top ad spender Unilever also said it would move to spend 50% of its advertising on social media platforms, up from about 30%, and work with 20 times more influencers. Can Hollywood adapt? YouTube's growth could be a problem for Hollywood, which is built on direct ownership of IP and entertainment that moves the culture but costs a ton. Studios and streamers aren't spending like they were when everyone was trying to catch Netflix, but they still need new stuff to keep viewers coming back and capture younger audiences. Creator-led shows offer one way forward. But can they pull it off? There are promising signs. Amazon is the most prominent example of a company betting huge on a creator. It spent more than $100 million to make MrBeast's "Beast Games," which became its most-watched unscripted show, and just renewed it for two more seasons. Netflix has done deals with The Sidemen, kids' educator Ms. Rachel, and more. Warner Bros. Discovery's HBO Max has a new reality show starring Jake Paul and his brother, Logan, "Paul American." And Disney's Hulu has a hit in "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives." Entertainment companies have gotten more sophisticated about how they work with creators. They're tapping them for their ideas rather than simply looking for a piece of their audience, in contrast with some past flopped creator experiments. Netflix is looking at YouTubers as producers as well as on-screen talent, an unscripted agent told Business Insider. NBCUniversal's Peacock just announced a slate of shows developed by creators via an accelerator program. Tubi has an initiative called Stubios to nurture up-and-coming filmmakers. Media and entertainment companies are also looking at other forms of low-cost content, like soapy mini-dramas and video podcasts. There are challenges, however. Creators like YouTube because there's no gatekeeper. It gives them a lot of data, lets them own their content, and gives them a relatively generous 55% cut of the ad revenue. Creator talent reps told BI some of their clients had walked away from potential Netflix deals because the streamer wouldn't budge from the Hollywood playbook, in which it owns ancillary rights to things like e-commerce revenue. Scott Purdy, a media consultant at KPMG, said entertainment companies would likely start to look at YouTube and other social platforms as potential places to actually launch shows, starting with low-budget fare. "For most companies, most options are on the table," he said. Meanwhile, producers like Horrigan are blue-skying other creator-led formats to put on YouTube. "Talent is still going to want to play in both sandboxes, but we're moving up the stack," he said. "What's next — is horror going to be a thing on YouTube, teen romance? I think that's going to be a thing as well."
Tom's Guide
5 hours ago
- Tom's Guide
I just found the one racing movie you should watch before seeing 'F1' — and it's streaming on Hulu now
The 'F1' movie with Brad Pitt is due to hit theatres at the end of the month, and don't I know it. I feel like I'm seeing ads for this $200M sports drama flick everywhere right now, from in-cinema trailers to YouTube pre-rolls. Obviously, the marketing blitz is working because I'll be there opening night to check out this new high-octane blockbuster from Joseph Kosinski, director of 'Top Gun: Maverick,' but June 27 feels pretty far away. And my need for speed requires quenching a little bit sooner. That's why I was delighted to discover this week that 'Gran Turismo' has just arrived on Hulu (it was on Netflix previously). Based on a true underdog story, it's a pretty underrated racing movie, and incorporates the long-running PlayStation game, too. If you can't wait to see 'F1' on the big screen, "Gran Turismo" is the perfect stopgap to keep your adrenaline high before heading out to your local multiplex in a couple of weeks. Based on the story of real-life race car driver Jann Mardenborough (played by Archie Madekwe here), 'Gran Turismo' sees a gamer go from playing driving video games in his bedroom to getting behind the wheel of supercharged cars on some of the world's most iconic tracks. At first, Jann is just a dedicated Gran Turismo player, but when Nissan teams up with PlayStation to launch the GT Academy, he's given the chance to take his virtual driving skills onto real tarmac. Helmed by Nissan exec Danny (Orlando Bloom) and former racer, now trainer Jack (David Harbour), Jann's gaming skills prove surprisingly transferable. Dreaming of competing in some of the biggest races in the world, Jann faces several hurdles both on and off the track to prove that he's not just a seriously good Gran Turismo player, but also capable of becoming a professional racer. Before 'Gran Turismo' was released in August 2023, I was fairly dismissive of the concept. It came relatively early in PlayStation's push to adapt its numerous popular video game franchises into movies and TV shows, and I just didn't understand why, out of all the company's many successful IPs, they had selected 'Gran Turismo,' a sim racing series, to convert for the big screen. Well, I was definitely wrong in this case, because Jann's story proves to be perfect material for a feel-good underdog tale. There are all the usual trappings with Jann's humble beginnings, and personal obstacles, including a father who disapproves of his dreams, adding some emotional drive to the mix. One of my favorite aspects of 'Gran Turismo' is how director Neill Blomkamp incorporates the video game elements through some slick transitions and nifty effects. Viewers are constantly reminded that Jann's origins come from racing in the virtual world, which only serves to make his successful transition to real-world racing all the more impressive. It's an especially easy and enjoyable watch because of its eye-wided and almost innocent tone. There are a few deeper moments, such as when Jann is involved in a tragic on-track accident, but largely, this is a movie about chasing your improbable dreams and proving doubters wrong. As should be the case in any motorsports movie, the racing sequences are the highlight. They're tightly edited, seriously fast paced and slick as oil. Even when the narrative becomes a little cookie-cutter, it's never an issue because you're eagerly awaiting the next time that Jann gets behind the wheel and puts his foot to the floor. The ever-reliable David Harbour is also great in a supporting role. He starts as the traditional cynic, sure that gamers can't become racers, but softens as the movie progresses and becomes firmly entrenched in Jann's corner by the end. Bloom and Madekwe are also strong in their roles Critics certainly didn't trash 'Gran Turismo' at release, and it currently holds a respectable 65% score on Rotten Tomatoes. However, this probably wouldn't qualify it for a spot on the podium. One of the key criticisms was how the story reworks real-life events to better suit the structure of a movie, but this wasn't an issue for me. After all, "Gran Turismo" is far from the first movie to play a little fast and loose with the 'true story' that inspired it. It's just part of the game. Meanwhile, viewers seem to really love the film. It holds a near-perfect 98% score on RT's Popcornmeter (the site's silly name for its audience score rating), with recent reviews calling it 'excellent from start to finish,' 'very entertaining,' and 'one of the best car movies ever.' If you have a Hulu subscription and want something to bridge the gap until 'F1' arrives, then 'Gran Turismo' is a great candidate. It might lack some of the cinematic flair of rivals in the genre like 'Rush' or 'Ford v Ferrari,' but its underdog story is charming, and the high-speed races are seriously thrilling. If you're looking for more top options on the Disney-owned streaming service, here's our guide to the best movies to stream on Hulu right now. And yes, I will be spending the next few days trying to convince my colleagues that 'Gran Turismo' is worthy of inclusion on the list. Watch "Gran Turismo" on Hulu now
Tom's Guide
7 hours ago
- Tom's Guide
This is the one Netflix movie I'm watching on Father's Day — and it's a gripping apocalyptic thriller with heart
Father's Day is here, and like every year, the question of what to watch inevitably comes up. My dad and I don't exactly have a long list of traditional movies as we usually lean toward gritty thrillers, sci-fi flicks, or anything post-apocalyptic (bonus points if it involves zombies). His first suggestion was actually 'Cloverfield.' It's a great sci-fi flick for sure, but we've both seen it more than a few times. I told him to pick something he hadn't seen for once, and after a few minutes of scrolling, he landed on 'Cargo,' which still fits our tastes. I'd seen it back when I first wrote about it as a great watch for anyone excited about '28 Years Later,' and I remember really enjoying it. So I was pretty keen to revisit it. 'Cargo' is a fitting movie because at its core, it's about a dad doing everything he can to protect his child even when time's running out. It's intense and emotional without being overly sentimental, and it's perfect for anyone who also enjoys gripping thrillers. I can confidently say (in my opinion, of course) that it's Martin Freeman's best role. So, if you're looking for a Father's Day movie that delivers both adrenaline and emotion, here's why 'Cargo' is worth adding to your Netflix watchlist. Cargo follows Andy (Martin Freeman) and their infant daughter Rosie as they navigate a post-apocalyptic Australia ravaged by a deadly virus that transforms people into infected creatures. Their safety is compromised when Andy is bitten by an infected individual. As the virus progresses, he realizes he has only 48 hours before he succumbs to the infection. Determined to ensure his daughter's survival, Andy goes on a dangerous journey across the Australian outback to find someone willing to care for Rosie. Along the way, he encounters various survivors, including a young Aboriginal girl named Thoomi (Simone Landers), who is also dealing with the loss of her father to the infection. Andy's quest leads him through desolate landscapes and abandoned towns, all while trying to protect Rosie and find a safe haven for her future. Set against the dry, desolate backdrop of the Australian outback and beautifully shot by seasoned cinematographer Geoffrey Simpson, 'Cargo' is anchored by a deeply human and emotionally grounded performance from Martin Freeman. He stars as Andy, a soft-spoken but determined father making a dangerous journey with only his infant daughter, Rosie, by his side (or rather, on his back). Freeman is usually cast as the comic relief or plays second fiddle, but in this thriller, there's solid evidence that he is more than capable of leading a movie on his own. And he brings a surprising amount of emotion to this apocalyptic story, enough to have you reaching for tissues. Story-wise, it leans more toward a thoughtful, character-focused narrative than your typical chaotic zombie bloodbath. It might not fully scratch the itch for hardcore horror-thriller fans, but the eerie atmosphere and slow-building tension should be enough to keep you engaged, even when the middle portion of the movie slows down to focus on Andy's struggle. In 'Cargo,' the zombies aren't front and center either. They're definitely present, but more as a constant, looming danger than the main focus. Instead of driving the action, they linger in the background, allowing the story to zero in on the human side of survival. This shift ultimately works in the movie's favor, spotlighting the ways people respond under pressure as well as just how far someone will go to protect the ones they love. In this case, Andy will do anything and everything to find his daughter a home before he succumbs to the infection. The gore, when it does appear, is used sparingly and with purpose. So don't worry, zombie lovers, there are still scenes where the infected transform in all their grotesque, oozing glory, and even a moment where entrails are tossed into a cage to bait the infected. Thankfully, these scenes have meaning and aren't thrown in for the sake of ticking off a genre trope. Most of all, 'Cargo' ended up being a surprisingly perfect Father's Day pick. There's tension, survival, a bit of gore for the horror fans, and just enough heart to make you think about the people you'd do anything for. Watching it (again) with my own dad somehow made it land even harder. If you're looking for a solid movie to watch with your dad on Father's Day, 'Cargo' is a great pick. It's got enough suspense and action to keep things interesting without going over the top. Plus, it's fitting for the occasion considering the story focuses on a dad trying to protect his daughter in some seriously tough circumstances, which makes it feel deeply personal (and very emotional). Those seeking more proof that this movie is good will only have to glance at its 88% score on Rotten Tomatoes. The site's critics consensus reads: 'Cargo takes a refreshingly character-driven approach to the zombie genre that's further distinguished by its Australian setting and Martin Freeman's terrific lead performance.' 'Cargo' is available to stream on Netflix. For even more streaming recommendations (and potential Father's Day picks), check out these five thriller movies.
