Obviously, Nick Lachey did not mean to sound boastful when he introduced himself as the host of Love Is Blind back in 2020.
Speaking with The Daily Beast ahead of the chaotic Netflix dating show’s (even messier) Season 2 premiere, the pop singer-turned-dating coach made clear that he only said he’s “obviously” Nick Lachey during that series premiere because his co-host and wife, Vanessa, had already introduced herself—and obviously he’s her husband.
“That was certainly not me saying I expect anyone to know who I am,” he said with a laugh. “It was so funny the way that took on a life of its own. Those little moments, you just have to have fun with.”
Love Is Blind became an instant hit when it premiered in 2020 as part of Netflix’s ongoing reality-TV invasion. The series puts 15 men and 15 women searching for love via telephonic speed dating in private rooms, known in show parlance as “pods.” (It’s still only straight dating, unfortunately—maybe some day we’ll get a queer cycle á la Are You the One?) The first five episodes of Season 2 will premiere on Feb. 11, followed by Episodes 6 through 9 on Feb. 18, and the finale on Feb. 25.
Love Is Blind Season 1 might have been a delicious mess of love triangles, runaway brides, and wine-guzzling dogs—for the record, Jessica Batten has denied that she actually gives wine to her golden retriever—but this season is even wilder. I won’t spoil anything here, except to say that if you thought last year’s Jessica-Amber-Barnett love triangle was intense, just wait until you see some of the tangled, sticky emotional webs that form this time around.
Lachey might have used the obligatory “bigger and better” descriptor to sell this season, but “confounding and crazier” feels more honest. This, I assure you, is the highest compliment I could bestow upon a show like Love Is Blind as a dating show connoisseur. To borrow a quote from another Netflix show, I really do love mess.
When asked what drew him and Vanessa to co-host a show like Love Is Blind, Lachey described how its seemingly bizarre formula resonated with their own journey as a couple. The two have been married for more than a decade after a year-long courtship and eight-month engagement—and they’d both been hosting programs individually already.
“We finally said, you know, why don’t we start to do this together?” Lachey said. “We both love to do it, and we actually enjoy each other.”
When asked what about the show’s formula reflected his own experience, Lachey thought back to the times he and Vanessa dated while working on opposite coasts—she in New York, he in Los Angeles.
“We spent a lot of time—hours and hours and hours—just talking on the phone until your ear hurt, basically learning everything we could about each other,” he said. “Looking back, those times apart and spending that much time getting into each other, talking into the wee hours of the morning, that really kind of laid a foundation for our relationship that was really meaningful and important as we went forward.”
When the first season started filming, Lachey added, neither he nor Vanessa had any clue how the show would play out—or if it would work at all. “Literally we would come home from work and just have a drink and sit at the bar in the hotel. ‘Let me tell you what happened today on the guys’ side.’ ‘Let me tell you about the girls’ side,’” he said. “We’re in it, and we’re talking about it and having the water cooler talk while it’s in production.”
Things have not changed much since Season 1. The pods are still confoundingly decorated, and there’s no shortage of mind-boggling romantic decisions to scream about. (“You’ve had this fight already!” I caught myself yelling aloud at my TV as one couple began talking in circles. “You’ve had this fight so many times!!!”)
Perhaps the biggest shift is the one we all knew to expect—location. Whereas last season unfolded in Atlanta, where all of the show’s daters live, this year brings us to the Chicago dating scene. Should there be a third season, Lachey said, viewers will explore a brand new location.
It might be hard for any “character” this season to top the drama supplied by, say, Season 1’s Giannina Gibelli going up against Too Hot to Handle interloper Francesca Farago for her on-again, off-again boyfriend Damian Powers’ heart. But players like Shaina Hurley, Danielle Ruhl, and Abhishek “Shake” Chatterjee seem guaranteed to generate just as much chatter and then some.
If you’ve gotten the impression that Love Is Blind’s co-hosts don’t spend too much time chattering with the contestants, you’d be correct. As Lachey put it, he views his role more as a “traffic cop” than a relationship counselor. “It’s like, when your kids turn 18,” he said. “You’re like… ‘We’ve given the best advice we can, and now you gotta go out and make your own mistakes and figure your own way.’”
The women of Love Is Blind Season 2
NetflixStill, it can be hard not to feel second-hand mortification as some of the more misguided baby birds try and flap their wings on the way out of the pods. “There’s definitely times you’re like, ‘Please don’t—oh, yep, he did,’” Lachey said with a laugh. “You can’t help but feel bad at times, but that’s part of the process… People are people, and humans are humans, and we all have our own journeys and they’re under an enormous amount of pressure.”
Sure, sure, okay. But let’s get to the real question at hand: In an alternate universe in which he were single, would Nick Lachey ever consider appearing on Love Is Blind? Of course!
“I tend to be a pretty emotionally open person anyway,” he said. “So I don’t think I’d have a problem kind of going all-in and jumping in with both feet and hoping for the best… If you’re looking for love and you haven’t found it, why not? I’d go for it.”
