Her Campus Logo Her Campus Logo
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at CWU chapter.

One of my personal favorite genres to watch are romance reality TV shows. There’s something about watching people try to find love that is so chaotic in the best possible way. In this current generation where the dating scene is predominantly online, it can seem nearly impossible to find the one. People will go to great lengths to find their soulmate, even risking it all.

My favorite shows is “Married at First Sight”. This show is a great depiction of how people are willing to trust in the universe in hopes that it all works out. In this show, people are paired up by matchmaking “experts” and do not meet who they are paired up with until their wedding day. The marriage is also one that is legally binding and not just a ceremony. This show really takes the concept of a blind date to a full extent.

eat drink and be married sign
Ben Rosett

I do have to say though, I was shockingly surprised at how good the outcome was. I don’t think I would have enough faith to risk getting married to a stranger. However, sometimes people get to the point in their life where they have nothing left to lose romantically speaking. This show also taught me how much work you do have to put into a relationship. A lot of times people go into relationships thinking it will be perfect but that’s not the case. Especially when getting married to someone you don’t know, there will be conflicts but that still doesn’t mean the relationship doesn’t have potential.

Another show I just finished watching is “Marrying Millions”. This show was definitely hard to wrap my mind around because of how incompatible some of the couples seemed. This show follows six different couples in which one person in the relationship doesn’t have a lot of money and the other one is rich. A lot of the couples also had very large age gaps which really made me wonder if they were just in it for the money. However, most of the couples in the show did seem to really care about each other despite the age gap. I guess it brings in the question if love really is enough to get through any circumstance because these couples did not have it easy.

A recent popular show that just about everyone has watched is “Love is Blind”. This show remains me of “Married at First Sight” with a lot lower stakes. What I found interesting though is how much more successful the couples were in “Married at First Sight” then in this show. It goes to show that there is a lot more that defines if a relationship will work then having a few conversations with a person.

engagement ring in a box
Jackie Tsang

Whether people like to admit it or not, physical attraction does have a lot to do with if a relationship will be successful but so does emotional vulnerability along with many other factors. The failing point of the show “Love is Blind” is that the participates got to chose who they wanted to get engaged to and in some of the cases, they really didn’t know what they were getting themselves into.

Out of all the romance reality TV shows, the one that has the lowest stalks is “The Bachelor” franchise. With that show, the participants know up front who they are getting into a relationship with. The participates also get to spend a lot of quality time with each other before deciding if they want to end up with the person. While engagement is still the end goal, there is no requirement to get married right away. In many seasons in the past, participants have backed out of the commitment.

Reality dating shows really do have a level of entertainment that is unmatched. When it is real people and real experiences you are watching it tends to be that much more engaging. Watching other people struggle with their love life can also make you feel better about yours.

Her Campus Writer Student at Central Washington University Majoring in Digital Journalism and Public Relations