Love Is Blind UK’s Nicole is reality TV’s latest sacrificial lamb-Asyia Iftikhar-Entertainment – Metro

It was clear there was something slightly off about Sam (Picture: Netflix)

Fiery love triangles, alluring new dating prospects, and clashing personalities.

It’s no secret this is the recipe to good reality TV, but when does the drama tip into a safeguarding issue? And how responsible are production companies to ensure actively toxic people are not set loose on an unassuming cast?

These are questions I asked myself while watching the first four episodes of Love Is Blind UK today – hosted by Emma and Matt Willis. The show quickly saw a love triangle emerge between the head of a brand and marketing company, Nicole, 29, structural landscaper Benaiah, 33, and product design manager Sam, 31. 

When Nicole – who has been divorced once but is ready to give love a second chance – made a connection with the two of them, we saw her really struggle to decide who she ultimately wanted to end up with. 

But even from the other side of the screen, it was clear there was something slightly off about Sam. From the get-go, women called him out for seeming disingenuous, which is already concerning.

In his first conversation with Nicole she said: ‘You’re making me a bit scared, if I’m honest, cause I feel like you’re saying a lot of the right things and it’s making me a bit afraid.’

And just an episode later, another contestant he had a connection with, Jasmine, shared similar concerns, saying: ‘You know my only apprehension with you, I don’t know why I have this gut feeling you’re telling me what I want to hear.’ 

Eventually Nicole rejects him (Picture: Netflix)

It’s clearly a sore spot for Sam who responded: ‘This is just getting ridiculous… shall I just give up? Maybe I’m meant to be with no-one.’ If there’s one thing I’ve learnt in life, if two separate women are picking up on a bad vibe, it’s not something that should be ignored.

Eventually Jasmine rejected him and he settled on Nicole, proclaiming ‘beggars can’t be choosers’ which is… an off-putting way to decide on your future wife.

Things then quickly escalated after Nicole made an off-hand comment that Sam might not be able to lift her up when they finally laid eyes on each other after they got engaged.

Outside the pod, Sam hypothesised to the other guys in the show about what that might mean about Nicole’s body, saying: ‘I like meat, but, like that’s fine if someone’s a bit like, but that’s a weird thing to say.’

But the thing is, seemingly speculating about someone’s weight directly defeats the entire purpose of Love Is Blind.

Although the audience didn’t get to listen in on all of Sam’s conversations, clearly the discussions taking place in the male quarters – scenes, I suspect, revealed a lot more than we were shown – were shocking enough to ring alarm bells for Benaiah, who felt compelled to tell Nicole that Sam was not there for the right reasons.

Surely this is when producers should’ve stepped in to draw a line in the sand to protect Nicole?

Seemingly speculating about someone’s weight directly defeats the entire purpose (Picture: Netflix)

Especially in a scenario like Love Is Blind where they only have 10 days to get to know someone. Naturally, contestants will be putting their best foot forward and therefore won’t be showcasing their worst attributes with a camera in front of their face.

Benaiah’s concerns were quickly proven right after Nicole chose Sam and immediately regretted it. The swift rift between them was so big that the couple didn’t even make it to the next stage at a Corfu retreat, despite getting engaged. 

As Nicole said in a side-interview after meeting Sam for the first time: ‘Guys, I don’t know what I’ve let myself into here. This is so (sic) dangerous territory isn’t it?’

In episode four, Nicole shared that ‘something didn’t quite feel right’, saying that placing the ring from his proposal on the wrong finger (which he didn’t notice) was one sign something was wrong. She concluded she ‘made a mistake’.

From Sam’s end, he agreed ‘something wasn’t right’ and speculated that her connection with Benaiah was still lingering on her mind.

Even if we don’t get more details, across the show three people vocalised concerns about Sam’s intentions and the energy he was giving off, backed up by stray alarming comments peppered throughout the episodes.

It should have been enough for producers to make a call on whether he should be allowed to progress in the show at all. Instead of repeating horror stories of toxic men from dating shows gone by. 

At the end of episode four – the last morsel of the show we’ll see until the next instalment is released in a week – viewers watched as Nicole and Benaiah were allowed to meet up to see if they could potentially make something work between them after all.

It’s not the first time I have seen the same car crash play out on Love Is Blind (Picture: Netflix)

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that love triangles shouldn’t exist on the show. In this season alone, two other trios have to make tough decisions.

But if a contestant is making genuinely hurtful comments about another, they shouldn’t be allowed to advance in the show just because it makes for good drama.

Ultimately, the emotional safety of the cast should be put above all else. Especially when several people on the show have opened up about their difficult life experiences and insecurities that might have led them there.

It’s not the first time I have seen the same car crash play out on Love Is Blind. In season two of the US series, contestants Deepti and Abhishek got engaged, only for Abhishek to prove himself a walking red flag – from his derogatory comments about Deepti’s appearance to his pervasive arrogance.

The validation of toxic men and their ability to wreak havoc on these women’s lives after only knowing them a handful of days is not a problem isolated to Love Is Blind.

Married at First Sight UK has faced backlash over the years for enabling malicious men. In 2022, groom Jonathan faced criticism when he made comments about his wife Sophie going to the gym to avoid ‘horse legs’.

Similarly, earlier this year Married at First Sight Australia’s Jack was slammed after he told another contestant to ‘muzzle your woman’ about their wife Lauren. 

Over on Love Island, there has been a revolving door of shockingly-behaved men. In 2018, Love Island star Adam Collard came under fire for exhibiting ‘gaslighting’ and ‘emotional abuse’, which was even called out by Women’s Aid.

But the seeming normalisation of men’s erratic conduct meant that he was invited back onto the show four years later as a bombshell entry.

Of course, allowing reality TV to have the full range of humanity – from good to bad – is important because it shows a reflection of a complex society. But when it comes at the cost of actual women, their mental health and safety, I don’t think it is worth it.

There are plenty of other ways to portray and educate on how abusive behaviour can manifest without experimenting on women on national TV. Particularly when they are putting their trust in a production company to have vetted the cast so they are not put at risk.

Especially in the high-stakes context of these shows, where women may not feel as empowered to speak out for fear of being labelled as ‘trouble’ or putting their place on the show in jeopardy. 

I’m sick of potentially harmful situations being played out as just another interesting storyline for viewers to watch in morbid fascination.

It’s reassuring to see Nicole caught on quickly that something wasn’t right and was able to get out of that situation before it could escalate over the weeks. But that situation shouldn’t have occurred in the first place. 

We need to find a way to unblur the line between genuinely explosive and intriguing scandal and platforming toxic men for the sake of it. And soon. 

We should be constantly raising the industry standard, instead of just accepting this as the norm.

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing jess.austin@metro.co.uk. 

Share your views in the comments below.

Entertainment – MetroRead More