Latest news with #LoveisBlind
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
‘Love Is Blind': How A Small Town In Sweden Took On One Of Netflix's Biggest Franchises
EXCLUSIVE: Around one hour's drive from Stockholm in the Swedish countryside, the small town of Strängnäs has recently found its place on the cultural map as the home of numerous versions of Netflix's Love is Blind. Although he's not in Sweden looking for love, Netflix EMEA chief Larry Tanz finds himself in the famous pods chatting with Deadline about this little known hub from which the streamer executes one of its biggest global franchises, and the new versions just keep on coming. More from Deadline Beaten Up By Trio Of Teenagers, John Mulaney Finds Solace In Bone Thugs-N-Harmony On 'Everybody's Live' Season Finale Lindsay Lohan Doesn't Want To Make Netflix Rom-Coms "Forever" Netflix Unveils K-Drama 'Notes From The Last Row' Starring Choi Min-sik, Choi Hyun-wook & Huh Joon-ho Tanz is in Sweden for the first time visiting the Polish Love is Blind, the sixth version to have filmed at the hub, with The Netherlands due next and Sweden, Germany, France, Italy and the UK having come before them. The colossal number of versions currently filming in Strängnäs mean that the town is occupied with a crew of hundreds of people for around 40 weeks of the year. When he zooms out and considers how far the franchise has come, Tanz, who oversees thousands of hours of Netflix programming per year in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, says this was never part of the plan. 'We didn't set out to do this,' he tells Deadline. 'We're not in the formats business. We didn't approach it saying, 'Hey, let's find a format and then put it in a bunch of countries'.' Instead, Tanz stresses that unscripted juggernauts like Love is Blind, Rhythm and Flow and Too Hot To Handle have arrived slowly and organically via local commissioning teams, who he deems 'the powers that be.' These teams have to make their case to Tanz and his Netflix EMEA HQ team in Amsterdam for why a local version of Love is Blind would work in that particular nation. While this rollout has sped up of late, it is not a given that every pitch for a new version will automatically be given the greenlight. 'I am looking at Love is Blind and thinking about what is good sequencing and what is a good arrangement of production,' adds Tanz. 'How can we launch in different countries in a way that is best for each of those countries? That also makes sense in the bigger picture because we put all of these on Netflix all over the world. They're not happening in a vacuum in their own country.' If you're reading this article, you probably know the Love is Blind drill. The series follows men and women hoping to find love as they first meet in walled pods where they can't see each other and decide after several dates whether the power of their connection is strong enough to take the plunge and get married. The show then moves to them seeing each other for the first time, meeting families and other contestants, then deciding whether to get married in final episodes that range from the dramatic to the exceedingly dramatic. In the U.S., the show has aired for eight seasons and more than 100 episodes, while there are now 10 local versions and counting, making Love is Blind Netflix's biggest non-fiction entertainment franchise. A gargantuan effort is required to produce each version from Strängnäs, Tanz says. The set spans 6,500 meters with 20 pods and nearly 60 cameras capturing contestants' every move. A rigorous editing process is then required to locate the fun, heartwarming stories from the dull ones that are tossed aside on the cutting room floor. And that's before the show even relocates to other locations, bringing extreme logistical challenges in and of itself. 'It really is kind of like three or four shows in one,' says Tanz. 'You have the dating and pods, then we have to get everybody out without having them meet each other or talk to each other and then there's living together and then there's wedding planning. We have a big footprint here [in Strängnäs] and an impressive set up but this really is just part one of four. You have to think about things like the logistics of filming an outdoor wedding in Sweden in May, or finding a tropical location near a northern European country.' He pays tribute to the editors, who take a light touch approach but nonetheless have to trawl through an unwieldy amount of footage. 'The social experiment is produced but everything that happens inside is real,' he adds. 'Like anything in the unscripted space we're not deciding who's going to say what or who's going to fall in love or out of love with whom. There's a real time element, which is very challenging.' Each local version is made in consultation with the Netflix U.S. team and while there is plenty for local producers to learn from, the American Love is Blind has found itself in hot water of late after a string of lawsuits were brought against Netflix and the show's producers over complaints ranging from mistreatment, emotional distress and labor law violations. The whole debacle has kickstarted a debate across the Atlantic over duty of care in reality TV. While Tanz is not involved with the U.S. version and can't comment on the lawsuits, he says 'one of the benefits of the hub model is to have consistency and apply learnings from one to the next.' He uses examples ranging from duty of care practices to the UK team bringing in a fire drill procedure that has since been used in other versions. Espresso, fika and alpine motifs Multiple Love is Blind seasons may be produced from the same place via this 'hubbing' strategy, which has become more commonplace in recent years as unscripted shows go global (Both The Traitors U.S. and UK are produced from a Scottish castle, for example), but Tanz stresses that the set is torn down and built back up again to adapt to different cultures every time a new version arrives. Local Swedish crews work with producers and commissioners from each particular nation in order to tailor the set's culture, vibe and look. 'The Germans had a sort of alpine motif and then for the last Swedish season there's this beautiful view of Stockholm in the background,' says Tanz. The Swedes were also responsible for introducing fika AKA Swedish 'coffee and cake' culture to filming, while Tanz jokes that the Italian crew refused to roll cameras without their espresso machines and the French 'evolved the whole catering approach with a starter and a dessert.' On a more serious note, each version has to account for the social mores unique to that particular culture. This is evidenced by Love is Blind: Habibi, the Arabic version, which is filmed in Lebanon rather than Sweden but still falls within Tanz's remit. In Habibi, for example, the couples do not share a hotel room together before they get married, while an Imam is brought in to help with the engagement and wedding process. 'An executive asked whether [Love is Blind: Habibi] would work and our Arabic executive explained that it's actually pretty common in their culture for people to be set up and go on a path to being married without having dated or lived together,' adds Tanz. 'Those aspects are what we really hone in on, making it culturally specific. It's really fun to see these different conversations.' Tanz provides other examples of cultural dividers between versions, such as how the Swedish couples always 'stick together and pair off' once they've matched up while in the UK 'the love triangle concept is more common.' This, in fact, provided high drama in the first UK season when contestants Sam, Nicole and Benaiah found themselves in such a triangle. 'Someone one day will do their dissertation on cultural norms, dating and marriage and by that point there will be like 30 seasons of Love is Blind and they will be able to analyze why Germans like talking about horoscopes, or why some countries like to talk about romantic things in their very first conversation,' adds Tanz. He returns to these cultural norms and specificities frequently when talking up the desire for more local versions of Love is Blind rather than just relying on the American original to pull in punters from around the world. The eureka moment came when conversations began over the British version several years back. Tanz explains: 'A long time ago the U.S. version was the 'Global English language version' and then someone said, 'This would be great in the UK' but then someone else said, 'We already have Love is Blind U.S., and it's popular in the UK'. But the thing is it's not very British. We knew there was a really British version of this, and that comes down to the casting.' While each Love is Blind version is of course 'not happening in a vacuum,' Tanz says the ratings still skew local. 'The main audience is watching their own [local] version. There are big fans who watch all of them and talk about all of them but overwhelmingly the Dutch audience is connecting with the Dutch Love is Blind, the Swedish with the Swedish Love is Blind, and so on.' So Netflix may not be 'in the formats business' per se, but Tanz acknowledges that franchises like Love is Blind are not going anywhere anytime soon. 'What's great about them is we just get better at understanding how to produce them and what audiences are going to respond to,' he adds, wrapping up before heading on a tour of the Strängnäs set. 'If we didn't have these franchises, and we were making great, original, local ideas in every country, that could work too. But when we find these things that are so powerful that different countries and different audiences feel like it's their story, or their show, I mean that just speaks to the strength of the idea. Love is Blind is one of those special things.' 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Business Insider
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Business Insider
Nick Lachey co-hosts 'Love is Blind' with his wife Vanessa and says they follow a 'golden rule' to keep their marriage strong
Nick Lachey and his wife, Vanessa, host Netflix's "Love is Blind" together. He says they follow a "golden rule" that keeps their marriage strong, even while working together. "Try and keep it as separate as you can," Nick Lachey said. Working with your spouse isn't easy, and that's why Nick Lachey and his wife, Vanessa, have a strict rule about mixing business and their personal lives. During an appearance on Wednesday's episode of " Richer Lives by SoFi" podcast, Lachey spoke about what it's like to co-host " Love is Blind" with his wife. "I think the best thing you can do is not bring your work home with you," Lachey told host Vivian Tu. "Which is tricky when you work with your spouse, you know, and I think we do a really good job of doing that for the most part." The 98 Degrees boy band member says that he and his wife try to set clear boundaries: Whatever happens at work stays at work, and vice versa. "Sometimes you show up for work and there's an argument at home that you brought with you to work, and you don't want that to bleed over," he said. "I think it's kind of good to compartmentalize and recognize that, you know, you're here doing a job," he said. The couple started dating in 2006 and got married in 2011. They share three children together. They began hosting Netflix's " Love is Blind" in 2020, now in its eighth season. In 2022, they also started hosting another Netflix reality dating show together, " The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On." "So, I think that's our golden rule. It's 'Don't bring work home. Don't bring home to work.' Try and keep it as separate as you can," Lachey said. In a joint interview with Brides in February, the couple shared that they go to marriage therapy and set aside two days a week to prioritize their relationship. "Anything that's worth having takes work," Lachey told Brides. "To me, that's a cornerstone of life, and marriage is no different. There's no shame in that." Lachey isn't the only star sharing insights on what it takes to maintain a strong relationship with their spouses. Jay Shetty and his wife run a business together, and like the Lacheys, they avoid talking about work over dinner. Gordon Ramsay and his wife, Tana, make it a point to dress up and go on regular date nights. On the other hand, there are celebrity couples who would rather not work with each other — like Usher and his music executive wife.
Daily Mirror
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Netflix stars expecting first baby together after meeting on reality show
Love Is Blind favourites Lauren Speed-Hamilton and Cameron Hamilton tied the knot after meeting on the Netflix reality show five years ago and have been going strong ever since. Love Is Blind's golden couple, Lauren Speed-Hamilton and Cameron Hamilton, have announced that they're expecting their first child - five years after falling in love and tying the knot on Netflix 's hit reality dating show. Lauren posted about the joyful moment she discovered she was pregnant on Instagram, sharing a photo of her holding a positive Clearblue pregnancy test with Cameron's arms wrapped around her. She added to that with a series of other tender snapshots where the couple could be seen holding up ultrasound images, kissing, and holding hands. Lauren told followers: "The moment that changed everything. After 4 years of prayers, patience, and a whole lot of love…seeing the word PREGNANT on our Clearblue test made it real! Now we finally get to share this joy with all of you." The announcement was met with a lot of love from fans, who have been following the couple's story since the show's first season aired. One follower wrote, "Congratulations, you all! You're going to be the BEST parents." Another gushed, "I absolutely love to see it!!! My favourite Love is Blind couple! I want to watch your season all over again!!!" This news comes after the couple faced the tough process of trying to have a child while struggling with fertility problems. In a recent interview with People magazine, they opened up about going through with in-vitro fertilization (IVF) after years of trying to conceive. Cameron shared: "We were counting down the days 'til we could test because we did IVF. We did the classic test and we both went into the bathroom to look. We saw the word pregnant - that was just a huge moment." Lauren, now 37, still remembers the emotional impact of realising she was finally pregnant. She added: "We just looked at each other. I fell to my knees and cried. It's been a long time coming. We've literally been trying to get pregnant for four years." Their IVF journey has been anything but easy. On their podcast The Love Seat, Cameron seemed to well up while speaking about how strong Lauren stayed throughout the whole process. He said: "Knowing that IVF wasn't something you naturally wanted to do but you did it for me - you showed me a new level of love that I'd never seen before." Lauren said that facing this challenge only brought them closer together, adding: "It's actually made us stronger. We support each other. We're more in tune now." The couple rose to fame in 2020 as one of only two successful pairs from the first season of Love Is Blind, which is a reality series where couples get engaged before ever seeing each other. They then have a matter of weeks to prepare for their wedding and decide if they are really ready to commit for life. Since the cameras stopped rolling, this couple have continued to inspire viewers with their lasting love for each other, and now they are ready to take on the new challenge of being parents side by side.
USA Today
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- USA Today
'Love is Blind' stars Lauren and Cameron Hamilton expecting baby after fertility struggles
'Love is Blind' stars Lauren and Cameron Hamilton expecting baby after fertility struggles Show Caption Hide Caption How Netflix 'Love is Blind' stars kept their marriage secret Cameron Hamilton and Lauren Speed from Netflix's "Love is Blind" chat with USA TODAY about their engagement and keeping their marriage a secret. Entertain This!, USA TODAY Lauren Speed-Hamilton and Cameron Hamilton's lives are about to be filled with a lot more love. The couple, who met during the first season of Netflix's reality show "Love is Blind," shared on Instagram that they are expecting their first child together. "The moment that changed everything," they captioned a carousel of pictures, including a photo where they hold up a pregnancy test with a positive result. Lauren and Cameron have been open about their fertility struggles and noted in their post the happy news came after four "years of prayers, patience, and a whole lot of love." They told People magazine that they used in vitro fertilization. In an episode of the "Love Seat" podcast last year, Hamilton shared that "we've been struggling to conceive." He said that during this struggle, his first instinct was to "dive into the research on fertility, IVF, try to consume everything I can, come up with a strategy," but added that "even more important than that is turning toward your partner and their emotions." 'Love is Blind' producer is in search of 'nice guys' after Season 8 drama "When I saw what you were going through, in terms of taking the medications, doing the daily shots, knowing that IVF and all this stuff wasn't really something that you naturally wanted to do, but you did it for me, you showed me a new level of love," Hamilton told his wife while becoming emotional. Speed-Hamilton, who said on the podcast that the conversation about fertility was "not the easiest" for her, also said the situation made the couple "feel a little more connected" and in tune with each other. "When you go through something that's big and heavy or weighs on your hearts, it creates a bond, and I think that it's actually made us stronger," she shared. 'We can do our own thing': 'Love Is Blind' couple engaged after Season 8 elimination Hamilton has previously urged fans not to ask couples when they're going to have children. In a 2023 Instagram post, he said this inquiry, which he and Speed-Hamilton get "thousands" of times, is "inappropriate." "Couples share with me all the time how hurtful it is when they are pressured about having kids, especially since oftentimes they are struggling to conceive," he wrote. "Let's show compassion for couples by appreciating them for who they are and letting them share their baby journey when and if they choose to." 'Love Is Blind' universe celebrates pregnancy of AD, Ollie This wasn't the only happy news to hit the "Love is Blind" universe. On May 25, AD Smith and Ollie Sutherland, "Love is Blind" stars who met while filming the Netflix series "Perfect Match," announced that they're also expecting their first child together. "The love is blind couple we never saw coming but absolutely needed.!!!" one fan commented on their announcement post. "Congratulations!!! Who's cutting onions."
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Love is Blind' stars Lauren and Cameron Hamilton expecting baby after fertility struggles
Lauren Speed-Hamilton and Cameron Hamilton's lives are about to be filled with a lot more love. The couple, who met during the first season of Netflix's reality show "Love is Blind," shared on Instagram that they are expecting their first child together. "The moment that changed everything," they captioned a carousel of pictures, including a photo where they hold up a pregnancy test with a positive result. Lauren and Cameron have been open about their fertility struggles and noted in their post the happy news came after four "years of prayers, patience, and a whole lot of love." They told People magazine that they used in vitro fertilization. In an episode of the "Love Seat" podcast last year, Hamilton shared that "we've been struggling to conceive." He said that during this struggle, his first instinct was to "dive into the research on fertility, IVF, try to consume everything I can, come up with a strategy," but added that "even more important than that is turning toward your partner and their emotions." 'Love is Blind' producer is in search of 'nice guys' after Season 8 drama "When I saw what you were going through, in terms of taking the medications, doing the daily shots, knowing that IVF and all this stuff wasn't really something that you naturally wanted to do, but you did it for me, you showed me a new level of love," Hamilton told his wife while becoming emotional. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lauren Speed-Hamilton (@need4lspeed) Speed-Hamilton, who said on the podcast that the conversation about fertility was "not the easiest" for her, also said the situation made the couple "feel a little more connected" and in tune with each other. "When you go through something that's big and heavy or weighs on your hearts, it creates a bond, and I think that it's actually made us stronger," she shared. 'We can do our own thing': 'Love Is Blind' couple engaged after Season 8 elimination Hamilton has previously urged fans not to ask couples when they're going to have children. In a 2023 Instagram post, he said this inquiry, which he and Speed-Hamilton get "thousands" of times, is "inappropriate." "Couples share with me all the time how hurtful it is when they are pressured about having kids, especially since oftentimes they are struggling to conceive," he wrote. "Let's show compassion for couples by appreciating them for who they are and letting them share their baby journey when and if they choose to." This wasn't the only happy news to hit the "Love is Blind" universe. On May 25, AD Smith and Ollie Sutherland, "Love is Blind" stars who met while filming the Netflix series "Perfect Match," announced that they're also expecting their first child together. "The love is blind couple we never saw coming but absolutely needed.!!!" one fan commented on their announcement post. "Congratulations!!! Who's cutting onions." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Love is Blind' stars Lauren, Cameron Hamilton expecting first child
