Love Is Blind has returned to Netflix with a new cast of singles looking for love. As viewers tune in to watch the fourth season of the hit reality dating series, many fans may be wondering: How much do Love Is Blind contestants get paid?
Unlike other Netflix reality shows where cast members compete for a cash prize, such as Too Hot To Handle or The Circle, the only prize at the end of Love Is Blind is true love. But rest assured, the contestants on the dating series are still paid a small salary.
According to a lawsuit filed by season two contestant Jeremy Hartwell in July 2022, the Netflix show pays Love Is Blind stars $1,000 per week, up to $8,000 for the length of filming the show, per Variety. Hartwell alleged in the lawsuit that production paid them “less than half of the applicable minimum wage rate of $15.00 per hour” in California, despite the cast working up to 20 hours a week.
The lawsuit also claimed that, through a “combination of sleep deprivation, isolation, lack of food and an excess of alcohol all either required, enabled or encouraged” by Love Is Blind producers, it created some “inhumane working conditions and altered mental state for the cast”.
Kinetic Content, the production company behind Love Is Blind, has since said there is “no merit” to Hartwell’s claims in the lawsuit.
Not only are contestants reportedly paid a flat rate of $1,000 per week, they must also pay for certain expenses out of their own pockets. Love Is Blind cast members from season one reportedly paid for a majority of their weddings, a production rep previously told Women’s Health. “Of course production supplies some of the basics, but because these are their real weddings, it’s up to them as to how to spend their money,” they said.
Those basics include the venue, food, and music if the couple goes through with the wedding. However, anything additional must be paid by the couple getting married. Love Is Blind creator Chris Coelen previously revealed to Newsweek that weddings are covered by the show, but if “anything over and above what we would normally do then [the couples] are most certainly welcome to do that.”
It might make things a little easier that the weddings are often filmed at the same venue. Last season, each ceremony was filmed at the same venue in Fort Worth, Texas, called the Lone Star Mansion. Speaking to Newsweek ahead of the season three finale, Coelen explained that producers must book wedding venues way in advance.
“It’s hard to book a wedding venue two weeks out so we, ahead of time, make sure we have a really nice venue that can accommodate the weddings,” he said. “We don’t know how many weddings there are going to be, so we have it booked for a period of time. It’s a little scary but it makes it fun!”
The engagement rings are supplied by the show, with the men being given a choice between a handful of rings to propose with at the end of each season. However, contestants are allowed to use their own money if they want to add a special touch to their engagement ring.
Love Is Blind producers also foot the bill for the apartment that each couple shares once they return from the pods. But when it comes to paying for hair and makeup for the show, the women on season three had to spend their own money. In fact, ballet dancer Colleen Reed – who married Matt Bolton in the season three finale – told Vice that she spent an estimated total of $4,000 on hair, clothes, and makeup during her time on the show.
The fourth season of Love Is Blind debuted on Friday 24 March. This season, Brett Brown and Tiffany Pennywell were the first couple to get engaged in the pods, followed by Micah Lussier and Paul Peden. Kwame Appiah and Chelsea Griffin were also engaged in the pods, along with Marshall Glaze and Jackelina Bonds, and Zack Goytowski and Irina Solomonova.
Episodes six through eight dropped on 31 March, followed by the next three episodes on 7 April. The season finale premieres on 14 April.
