The Unscripted Fallout of Broken Engagements on Love is Blind

The End of Jackelina and Marshall’s On-Camera Relationship is A Lot of What’s Wrong With Reality Programming.

Amanda Eagleson
8 min readApr 14, 2023
Woman Relaxing at Home in Evening and Watching TV
Photo By Kaspars Grinvalds

Making the case that the reality show Love is Blind is somehow exceptionally harmful seems silly in the current media landscape. Milf Manor exists after all. A concept parodied fifteen years ago on 30 Rock as an example of bottom of the barrel reality TV (though there it was Milf Island), actually exists.

Also I watch Love is Blind. And then I watch reels of comedian Dana Moon brilliantly imitating the contestants at their worst. And then I share those reels with laughing emojis on my Instagram. So if the case is to be made it should perhaps come from someone less problematic.

But having watched up through episode 11 of Season 4. And having looked at the social media of the show’s cast, particularly Jackelina (after her unfortunate break-up with the likable Marshall). Love is Blind is a lot of what’s wrong with reality programming.

Most of us are instinctively aware that the consumption of these types of shows isn’t great. But there should be more responsibilities placed on producers to provide care for participants when the episodes drop. There is likely a need for industry…

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Amanda Eagleson

Poet, Writer at Optimistic Learner and Digital Economy Forum. Board member at Vancouver Poetry House. www.optimisticlearner.com