Have you been watching Season 4 of Love Is Blind?
This season may actually be our favorite since Lauren Speed and Cameron Hamilton captured our hearts on Season 1. We are loving that three Black men made it past the pods to engagement and what made it even better is that the three men, Kwame Appiah, Marshall Glaze and Brett Brown are extremely emotionally intelligent and have a bond that is plain for the audience to see. At one point on the show Marshall even expresses how rare it is for people to see Black men open up with one another the way they do.
We had a chance to talk to Kwame, Brett and Marshall about their bond and why that representation matters on reality tv.
“That was definitely a highlight for all of us, just keying in on the fact that we are Black men and it’s not necessarily talked about in our community, bare your soul, and to be vulnerable and talk about your feelings,” Marshall told BOSSIP. “It’s not a good thing in our community, but it’s just really great to have the connection with these men, and not just the Black men but Zack and Paul and everyone else who was in the men’s lounge. Just being able to have that common ground to be talking about things that otherwise we wouldn’t, if we were talking shop. We wouldn’t ordinarily talk about our feelings like if we were just sitting around, chillin’, drinking beers or whatever.”
“Brett says this a lot — it’s about the portrayal, as Black men growing up watching movies or characters on tv,” Kwame added. ” The Black men are always the dominant strong “Shaft.” It never feels like young Black men get the example of people being vulnerable as a strength. If we’ve been blessed through anything from this experiment, in terms of a platform, it’s that that is the light we were able to shed before we’ve even gotten to see it. I’m very grateful; that thats the light that’s shed.
“The portrayal generally of Black men in today’s society is very limited,” Brett agreed. “If you think about scripted TV and movies, we’ve been put in a certain lane and because of that, society views us as only a handful of things. I’m grateful to go through the kind of experience that opened the opportunity to show vulnerability and to kind of let the guard down, and to be on a platform for people to see it. It’s a big deal and I’m just happy that the portrayal is going to be seen on a large scale. And again, not just Kwame and Marshall — Zack, Paul, everyone else.”
Going into the fourth season we were particularly aware of the shortage of Black women who’ve found love on the show, something that Season 1 star Lauren Speed pointed out last Fall on Twitter.
With that in mind, we also asked Tiffany Pennywell, who met and became engaged to Brett Brown in the pods (after famously falling asleep just as he was professing his love to her!) whether she felt production did its part to make sure there were avenues for love for the ladies of color on the show.
“Looking at the girls I felt as though they were very diverse,” Tiffany told BOSSIP. “One thing you can’t force is a relationship to develop in the pods. I consider myself a Black woman, I’m proud of how I represented myself on the show and I’m happy with the relationship that I ended up with.”
Was that a hint? Netflix has only released the first eight episodes so far, so the world has yet to find out whether or not Tiffany and Brett both say “I Do” at the altar but we’ve got a good feeling about them because when we asked Tiffany about the best thing to happen for her because of the show this is what she had to say.
“I think the relationship that I was able to find on the show was completely unexpected,” Tiffany told BOSSIP. “I came not expecting much just to put myself out there and see what happened. I’m just so thankful that I followed my gut instincts and I’m very happy right now.”
Sure sounds promising to us! Guess we’ll have to tune in to see what happens at the wedding. While we’re on the subject, it’s also worth noting that Netflix made a huge announcement today that they’ll be catching up with the couples – and singles – of season four in Netflix’s first LIVE reunion special, Love Is Blind: The Live Reunion.
The event will stream from Los Angeles on Sunday, April 16 at 8pm ET/5pm PT.
Hosts Nick & Vanessa Lachey will join the cast for this front row seat as they unravel all the season’s twists and turns, share reactions to watching their stories unfold, and find out which couples are still together after saying “I do” and “I don’t.”
Leading up to the reunion, Netflix and the Love Is Blind cast are bringing the pods directly to fans in New York, Nashville and Los Angeles to experience what it’s like to connect with each other sight unseen. Fans in Nashville and Los Angeles are also invited to attend special Love Is Blind S4 watch parties. For more details and to sign-up click HERE.
This is Netflix’s second-ever live event after Chris Rock: Selective Outrage on March 4. Beginning in 2024, the SAG Awards will stream live on Netflix globally.
How to watch LOVE IS BLIND: THE LIVE REUNION on April 16:
4:50pm PT/7:50pm ET: Love is Blind: The Live Reunion will be available for members on Netflix. If members click on the “Watch Live” button prior to the official start, they will be taken to a waiting room until the reunion begins.
5:00pm PT/8:00pm ET: The live reunion begins, hosted by Nick & Vanessa Lachey.
Members will be able to rewind, pause and jump to Live.
If members join late, they can opt to “Play from the Beginning” or start watching from where the Live currently is.
If members pop out of the Live event, the title will remain under the “Continue Watching” row.
Love Is Blind: The Live Reunion will be available for streaming on Netflix following the live event, and closed captions in additional languages will start rolling out in the days following.
Got a burning question to ask the cast? Tweet or comment your question using the hashtag #LoveIsBlindLIVE on Twitter and Instagram. Learn more about how to have your say in the reunion HERE.