Meet the Midwest Romantics Headed to the Pods for ‘Love Is Blind’ Season Eight

Netflix’s most popular dating show — and consequential, at least in terms of shaping the labor rights landscape of reality TV — is back, with Love Is Blind revealing its cast for Season Eight.

This year, the show is headed to Minneapolis with a cast of 32 Midwest singles who are ready to mingle via pod and hopefully find the love of their lives (and not get four minutes of awkward screen time before never being seeing again).

To introduce the cast, Netflix has shared a three-minute teaser, in which the romantic hopefuls discuss things like how they’re family and friends describe them, what they’re looking for in a partner, and what they’re most nervous about. They also answer two of the most important questions: What gives them the ick, and what’s likely their most annoying trait? 

For those craving even more information about these random strangers they’ll be binge watching next month, there are more in-depth bios for every contestant up on the Tudum website. 

The first six episodes of Love Is Blind will fittingly premiere on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14. Episodes seven through nine will follow on Feb. 21, followed by 10 and 11 on Feb. 28; the finale airs March 7. Vanessa and Nick Lachey are slated to return as hosts. 

While Love Is Blind has been a major hit for Netflix, it’s also courted some controversy. Most notably, Renee Poche, a former contestant, filed a lawsuit against Netflix and the show’s producers, alleging that her ex on the show was broke and abusive, but that producers did nothing about it (the show and its reps have denied the claims). The dispute, however, evolved into a labor matter, with Poche and another contestant, Nick Thompson, filing complaints with the National Labor Relations Board over allegedly unlawful contract provisions related to confidentiality and noncompete clauses. 

Last December, the NLRB filed its own complaint against the Love Is Blind producers, and classified the show’s contestants as employees. That could allow those on reality TV shows to start organizing, a major change as several reality stars have recently accused major studios and production companies of exploitation and abuse.