A ‘Love Is Blind’ Contestant Is Suing Netflix

The Big Picture

• Love Is Blind faces another lawsuit alleging wrongful employment practices and emotional distress from a former participant.
• The lawsuit claims that the production team was aware of the contestant’s concerns about her fiancé’s behavior but forced her to stay engaged.
• This is the second lawsuit against the show, with previous claims of false imprisonment by another participant. The impact on the show’s future remains unclear.

Love Is Blind is preparing to air its sixth season beginning in February 2024, but season 5 proved to be the most controversial. In addition to not many couples making it to the altar, a major lawsuit has come the way of Netflix and Delirium TV. Renee Poche participated in Season 5 of the show, but her storyline was not featured. She is now suing the company behind the show for “unlawful employment practices” as well as “unfair competition” and “intentional infliction of emotional distress,” according to PEOPLE. Poche was engaged to Carter Wall, but the two did not make it to air despite Poche voicing her concerns about Wall.

Poche alleges that Netflix and Delirium TV were aware of her concerns. Wall, who is described in the complaint as a “walking red flag,” was reportedly forced to be engaged to Poche still despite Poche voicing her concerns about Wall, telling the production team that Wall’s alleged “erratic and alarming behavior and emotional instability” was a concern to her. Poche claims that Netflix and Delirium TV still forced her to participate in and move forward with the engagement and the show against her concerns. Netflix is saying that Poche speaking on the issue is a breach of her non-disclosure agreement (NDA), and are seeking $4 million as a result.

“My experience on Love is Blind was traumatic,” Poche said in a statement to PEOPLE. “I felt like a prisoner and had no support when I let Delirium know that I didn’t feel safe. I tried to deal with these emotions over time and eventually felt like I needed to share what had happened. I felt it was only right to let others know the truth of what all of the castmates had to endure.”

This Is the Second Lawsuit Against Love Is Blind

Poche’s claims that she was asked to stay with Wall mark the second in the show’s history with contestants. A previous lawsuit from Tran Dang included a claim that she was falsely imprisoned by the production team. Both Dang and Poche’s claims include them both talking to production about their situations with the production team not doing anything to help the women in question.

What this means for the show is unknown as in Dang’s case, Love Is Blind creator Chris Coelen denied the claim. He said at the time: “If anybody ever came to us and said they felt unsafe in any way, we would immediately remove them from the experiment and talk to them, and try to get to the bottom of it … We do not tell people what to say, what to do, we consistently tell people that this is their journey, this is their life to lead as they choose. We’re there to follow it.”

Season 6 of Love Is Blind will premiere on February 14 on Netflix. All past seasons are available to stream.

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