The Love Machine

LOVE IS BLIND creator CHRIS COELEN drops a new group of singles into his strange experiment-and wrestles with all the lawsuits against the series.

- KATHRYN VANARENDONK

Where couples see each other for the first time.

IN A DARKENED ROOM on a soundstage in Santa Clarita, California, seven engaged couples who have never seen each other will stand behind sliding doors on opposite sides of a long red carpet. The doors will open. They will meet for the first time, and they will react however that experience makes them react: with shock, delight, or barely disguised dismay.

This particular reveal is not going well. "Look at her face," says Chris Coelen, the creator and executive producer of the series Love Is Blind, who watches from a large bank of screens. "She is not sold yet, in my opinion. Her face is so... She had a big sigh." They're filming the upcoming seventh season of Netflix's signature dating reality show. They know they'll have to make cuts, and this couple is obviously on the chopping block. The man, Josh, asked producers beforehand whether they could help him get a prenup, which seems to confirm their suspicion that he and his new fiancée are more excited about being on television than about being married to each other. (In order not to spoil the upcoming season, future cast members' names have been changed.) The woman, Kayla, is the only remaining cast member who hasn't said "I love you." When Josh and Kayla walk toward each other, she squeals. He slings his suit jacket over her bare shoulders. Kayla tells him she swears her butt is usually bigger but she hasn't worked out in two weeks. "You've got a great body," Josh says repeatedly. Their kisses, which produce a rhythmic smacking sound, echo through the otherwise silent, cavernous soundstage.

One of the pods where participants blind-date.