I wasn’t remotely a reality TV person until Netflix dropped the first season of “Love is Blind” in early 2020. Within an episode, I was hooked. Unlike some of the other reality shows I’d seen episodes of here and there, the contestants on “Love is Blind” seem unscripted, authentic, human — so much so as to make the results of their unpredictable interactions absolutely disastrous.
@superherotok “Are we rolling” #loveisblindnetflix #loveisblindseason3 #netflixedits095 #netflixeditsaudition #loveisblindedit ♬ original sound - SuperheroTok
But like all TV, reality TV is subject to a great deal of editing before we lay eyes on it. More than a few people have called attention to some editing work that wasn’t hidden as well as the producers probably hoped it was.
In Season 2, engaged couple Sal and Mallory talk over dinner in their shared apartment before the wedding — and while the conversation sounds perfectly fluid, like we’re watching an uninterrupted scene, someone on TikTok pointed out that the amount of food on their plates varies with almost every camera cut.
@straightouttaperu The amount of times we will never notice 🤡 #loveisblind ♬ original sound - karl
And in the “After the Altar” episodes for Season 2, someone else’s sharp eye noticed that when the camera appeared to catch Deepti turning her head to watch Sal and Mallory talking, the way her ponytail moves before her head does betrays the fact that the producers clearly reversed a shot of her head turning.
@raquellynnperez It’s the ponytail for me 😅 #loveisblindafterthealter #loveisblindseason2 #loveisblindnetflix #deepti #deeptiktok #loveisblind ♬ what the fuck was that - champagnemami
There are countless other ways in which the producers edited the show — to heighten the drama, to build suspense, whatever. For the most part, we’ll never know exactly how, or how much, the edits change the way we see these contestants and their relationships. Unless, of course, the contestants themselves speak out about it, like Season 3’s SK did in order to point out that they artificially delayed Raven’s response to his proposal to make it seem like she was on the fence. He said:
I remember in the proposal when I went down on one knee and proposed to Raven, it was shown she was walking away, contemplating, and that stuff didn’t happen. I was in the room. I was down one on one knee, and when I proposed to her, I got an answer back in one second. The whole hesitation [with] her walking around was not... It was not real. It was just edited in there.
Of course, Season 2’s Shake has also claimed edits are responsible for making him look bad — but even the most talented video editor couldn’t achieve the results Shake’s unedited self does.
