Season 7 of “Love Is Blind” forced the show to finally address a subject that it has kept at arm’s length: politics.
For most of the couples who get engaged on the Netflix series, politics is never a topic of conversation. Aside from a disagreement between Season 3 cast members Bartise Bowden and Nancy Rodriguez about abortion, the contestants on “Love Is Blind” typically aren’t shown expressing their political views.
However, that doesn’t mean the discussions don’t happen. Each day in the pods, the contestants are handed “conversational guides” with multiple suggestions, including “how they would tackle conflicting political views,” according to Vulture.
But for the show’s seventh season, out Oct. 2, “Love Is Blind” decided to actually air opinions about conservative and liberal standpoints and the upcoming presidential election for the first time— fitting for a season located in Washington, D.C.
In Episode 4, Marissa George, a 32-year-old lawyer who previously spent seven years in the Navy, opens up to Bohdan Olinares, a 36-year-old Ukrainian refugee who served as a Marine, about how differing political stances affected her past relationship.
“I think I told you I dated the Trump supporter for three years,” Marissa said in the pods. “He was a good person and everything. There’s just a difference in thinking about how our society works.”
Bohdan and Marissa both agreed that their views skew more liberal.
In an interview with TODAY.com, Marissa explains why she wasn’t afraid to broach the topic of politics, which is typically a taboo reality television subject, and share her beliefs.
“It’s really important to me that the person that I am with and marry, we align politically,” she says. “I know some people like to be apolitical, but I just don’t believe that you should be apolitical. It’s just my opinion. ”
She continues, “We’re making laws that really impact people’s lives. It’s really important to me to be with somebody who wants to raise kids with an open mind and who takes a part in their society and in their country.”
Marissa says that based on her past experience, similar political beliefs is a necessity for future relationships.
“Because I’ve dated someone who was a Trump supporter,” she reiterates. “It just doesn’t work, right?”
Marissa and Bohdan weren’t the only couple who shared their thoughts on the 2020 and 2024 presidential elections. In the pods, Stephen Richardson, a 34-year-old electrician and former Marine, revealed his voting history to Monica Davis, a 37-year-old sales executive, during one of their dates.
She asked him if he voted in the last two presidential elections and he confirmed he did.
Stephen said he was a centrist who voted for President Donald Trump in 2016 and President Joe Biden in 2020. He then opened up about his background, revealing that he recently learned he has West African roots and his dad is Black.
After listening to his story, Monica replied, “I’m really glad we’re having this conversation because the world is changing and I can’t wait for it to evolve even further.”
While Monica and Stephen got engaged, Marissa later ended her relationship with Bohdan and decided to pursue her connection with Ramses Prashad, a 35-year-old program associate at a justice reform nonprofit, instead.