Dating shows attract weirdos, Netflix ones especially. I don’t know what they’re screening for over there at headquarters, but it ain’t emotional maturity. Love Is Blind has drawn some suspicion about their casting process in recent years—they seem to be sliding into random people’s DMs more than anything else. Whatever they’re doing, it creates villains the likes of which most reality TV producers can only dream. Over six seasons, these have included but are not limited to:
1. Jessica Batten
2. Shayne Jansen
3. Shake Chatterjee
4. Irina Solomonova and
5. Uche Okoroha.
Villainy knows no gender in life or art. In dating, however, the men usually suck harder (pause for about 30% of readers to exit in rage). This is true of Love Is Blind as well. Fuckboys abound. I thought Uche was the worst ever, but I was wrong. With season seven premiering this week, we have a new Worst Guy Ever: Leo Braudy.
Leo is an art dealer, and if he’s to be believed, just about every person he’s related to has either had cancer or died of it. It’s all very sad, but he’s grateful because it means he inherited his family’s lucrative art dealership business, and now he’s in his 30s and doesn’t have to worry about money. Why’s a guy like that single, you ask? Because he’s always feared that women just want him for his money. Which is why it’s the first thing he brings up on every date. How much money he has.
Perhaps the funniest thing to ever happen on LIB was when Leo was on a date with one of his connections, Hannah, and he said something like, “I’m just so glad you haven’t asked about my job. Usually, people hear that I’m an art dealer and they’re like, ‘What’s the most expensive piece you’ve ever sold?’ Or something, and it’s like ‘Ugh!’” And Hannah was like, “Oh, yeah, no problem. I mean, when you said you’re an art dealer I was honestly like, ‘That’s cool,’ because I…don’t really know what that is.”
Leo couldn’t choose between Hannah and another girl, Brittany, and Brittany was like, “That sucks, dude,” but then he made kissy noises through the pod wall, so, problem solved? When Hannah’s connection with someone else was stronger, and she tried to break up with Leo, he threw a tantrum and gaslit her in a sick attempt to get her to change her mind. Hannah has since called the experience “traumatic” and said she “blacked out.” She then went back to the girls and was like, “Turns out Leo is a manipulative asshole and he wouldn’t let me break up with him,” and then tried to warn Brittany. Leo went back to the guys and was like, “Hannah was crying so hard. She doesn’t have the strength to do the right thing.” He went back and apologized and then was like “We’re not compatible.” Dude…yeah!
Leo proposed to his second choice, but a title card at the end of the episode informed viewers that the couple was not selected to be followed by cameras after their proposal and that they broke off their engagement weeks later. This has never happened before.
“There are different ways that non-scripted shows are produced. Sometimes you have an idea of where things are going while you’re filming. And we don’t. We film everything as it happens, and then after it ends, we piece together how we got there,” explained executive producer Chris Coelen. “We have the budget to follow five couples and sometimes we stretch to six couples and we figure out how to stack our crews.”
So, Leo and Brittany didn’t make the cut. Gee, I wonder why? At least he has his career!
