Whether you love it or hate it, you can’t argue that Love Is Blind is one of the more popular reality shows on television today; and really, what is there not to like?

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Love Is Blind is a unique dating reality show, in which men and women can date each other, without seeing each other, hence the name of the show. That concept has drawn accolades (and some hate), but its road to popularity was paved by the following 10 series that tried their best to bring out the best (and worst) of love.

Blind Date (1999-2006)

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If you grew up in the late-90s to the early-2000s, this was a staple of middle-of-the-night TV viewing.

Blind Date had a simple premise: Pair men and women who didn’t know each other and set them up on blind dates to see how the chemistry between the two was. At the end of each episode would be a segment called “Checking In,” which checked in on the two to see how the date went. It was guilty pleasure reality television, and we loved it.

Change Of Heart (1998-2003)

Change Of Heart

This romantic game show had all the ingredients in place to be an iconic series, and iconic it was.

The premise of Change of Heart was quite dangerous, as it sent a member of an unmarried couple on a date with a new partner to test their devotion to their boyfriend/girlfriend. The results were often shocking, and for five years, Change of Heart was one of the more entertaining dating game shows on the television landscape.

Flavor Of Love (2006-2008)

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Image via VH1

Flavor Flav of Public Enemy just wanted to find love. Thankfully, for him, he was looking in the 2000s, a time when any and every producer was trying to find a subject to revolve a reality television show around.

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Thus, we had Flavor Of Love, a twisted take on The Bachelor that found 20 women living in a mansion in L.A. to try and compete to win over the heart of Flavor Flav. Weird? Yes, but Flavor of Love was such a messy, beautiful reality show that you couldn’t turn away from.

NeXt (2005-2008)

NeXT

This series was MTV’s devious take on Blind Date, which seemed tame compared to NeXT.

NeXt (purposely spelled with the “X” capitalized) found a contestant being set up on five blind dates, who waited in an RV for their names to be called. If he/she didn’t like the date they were on at the time, they would tell them “Next,” and the next contestant would show up to try to win them over. NeXT was the peak of millennial dating reality programming, messy and entertaining, just how we liked it.

Wife Swap (2012-2015)

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Wife Swap wasn’t a “dating reality show” in the traditional sense. It was more of a social experiment to see how a family would react to another mom showing up for a week.

That was the premise of Wife Swap, which followed families who “swapped wives” for a week, with the cameras rolling showing how that family would deal with the habits and culture of another wife. Oftentimes hilarious, Wife Swap was a guilty pleasure show that should have been on the air longer than it was.

Love Island (2019- )

love-island-reality-show

Starting as a British reality show, Love Island got an American import in 2019 thanks to CBS, and the results have been great for the network.

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The reality show follows a group of contestants living on an island in Hawaii to see if anything “spicy” can flare-up between the forced couples (oh, that didn’t sound good), and the remaining “couple” on the island would receive a $100,000 grand prize. While not as scandalous as its British counterpart, the American version still has enough sizzle to keep us entertained.

For Love Or Money (2003-2004)

For Love Or Money

It’s an age-old question that has been fawned for years. If you were offered a choice between choosing to be with someone or taking a cash prize, which one would you choose?

For Love Or Money attempted to force contestants to answer, as the bachelor or bachelorette had to choose between being with someone they just met, or taking the cash prize while not having any contact with that person again. It was a pretext to The Bachelor, except with the added twist of having to rip up a big check if you choose to love.

Catfish (2012- )

catfish-show

In the troublesome world of dating online, it can be easy to fall for someone who looks good in photos, but looks different once you see them in person.

One show that attempted to expose these frauds was MTV’s Catfish, based on a movie of the same name about a film crew that exposes “catfish” personalities, and tries to get romantic justice for that person. There’s been some criticism of this show, but one thing is for certain: It sure is nice to see catfishers get their just deserts.

Are You The One? (2014- )

Are You The One

With the downfall of The Real World and The Challenge becoming a bit stale, MTV had to create a reality show to keep people hooked (since they don’t play music videos anymore).

Enter Are You The One?, which premiered in 2014 and features contestants who go on dates that are already chosen by their competitors. Think of Are You The One as a hybrid of The Real World, Road Rules, and The Challenge put together, with the unpredictable spice of blind dating mixed in. What you come out with is a spicy, messy affair that’s too good to turn away from.

The Bachelor/The Bachelorette (2002-)

'The Bachelor' Jesse Palmer & Trish Schneider

It’s safe to say that The Bachelor and The Bachelorette are the King and Queen of romantic reality television.

At the time this long-running franchise kicked off on ABC, dating shows were seen more like game shows. The Bachelor (and The Bachelorette a year later), changed that narrative; and while it still technically operates as a game show of sorts, this franchise has created its own space in revolutionizing not only romantic reality television but how people see reality TV as a whole. Case in point: Love Is Blind would not exist without The Bachelor and The Bachelorette.

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