The Ultimatum: Marry Or Move On is Netflix's new hit reality show, and many fans are noticing plenty of similarities between this show and Love Is Blind. Some of the ways the two shows are comparable are obvious: the hosts, Nick and Vanessa Lachey are the same and it was created by Chris Coelen. But there are other noticeable similarities as well.
The Ultimatum, like Love Is Blind, quickly became the top streamed show on Netflix upon its release. It was hyped up by Nick and Vanessa during the Love Is Blind season 2 reunion, and the interesting idea earned the attention of many viewers. Like Love Is Blind, there were a handful of couples whose storyline was followed throughout the series, resulting in either a proposal or marriage...or a breakup. Unlike Love Is Blind, the couples had been dating for a year or two beforehand, and they had all reached a breaking point in their relationship where one partner wanted to get married and the other wasn't yet ready.
Love Is Blind and The Ultimatum are unique from other Netflix reality shows like Too Hot To Handle and The Circle and traditional dating shows like The Bachelor in that they are not cut off from the outside world while filming most of the season. The first few weeks, the contestants decide who they are most compatible with, and afterward, they go back to their normal lives while they continue to film. The contestants are given their phones back and they go to their normal jobs, and the filming takes place outside work hours.
The realness of the two shows can be a positive and a negative. It's nice to see two people working on a relationship in the real world, having to deal with issues that wouldn't arise if they'd met in the Bachelor mansion. But since the producers have less control of the contestants' activities during the filming period, some of the most important moments don't make air. In Colby and Madlyn's relationship, for example, viewers don't see Colby making out with another woman at a bar and they miss the two make up after their breakup, before the proposal/wedding. Therefore, it's hard to get excited when Madlyn reveals at the reunion she's pregnant because all the viewers have seen is why the two are not good for each other.
Love Is Blind and The Ultimatum are breaking the mold of the reality dating show that encourages engagement and marriage within an accelerated timeline because they allow contestants to date within the structure of their normal lives. After watching season one of The Ultimatum: Marry Or Move On, however, and seeing everything that wasn't caught on camera, it's understandable why most reality shows keep contestants locked down without access to the outside world. They want every big moment to make air.