There may be plenty of reality dating shows with wild premises out there, but MTV’s Are You the One?This is a class by its own.
Producers secretly pair contestants into pairs at the start of each season based on results from a matchmaking algorithm. The cast members then go in together to try and find the perfect match. If they succeed, they will share a prize of $1,000,000, but each time they make a mistake, the prize money drops.
The potential matches in the first seven seasons, which premiered in January 2014, were exclusively heterosexual. In season 8, however, the entire cast identified as sexually fluid, meaning that “perfect matches” were no longer limited to couples of the opposite sex. The change was lauded for improving inclusivity on the show —And the fact that it became exponentially harder was just an added bonus.
One of the show’s most successful love connections happened in season 1 between Amber Lee and Ethan Diamond. Ethan proposed to them during the reunion special in March 2014, after they had fallen for one another while filming. They were married in September 2014 and later welcomed their daughters Scarlett & Serena.
Amber finally found her husband. Are You the One?Before filming ended, she had considered leaving the show. “At one point I pulled a producer aside and said I wanted to go home,” she wrote in a February 2021 essay for HuffPo. “I didn’t think I was cut out for reality TV and I felt completely over my head.”
Amber met Ethan after another producer encouraged her to stay. “We talked about everything from our family values to our hobbies, which were remarkably similar,” she recalled. “Honestly, we didn’t even have to say much ― the vibeAnd presence of Ethan was so warm and comforting that I immediately felt at home with him.”
While Amber and Ethan were a “perfect match,” some of the show’s other successful couples weren’t paired together by the matchmaking algorithm. Jenni Knapmiller and Curtis HadzickiThey were matched with in season 2 of 2014. John MoustisAnd Shelby Yardley, respectively.
Curtis & Jenni started dating after the cameras stopped rolling. The couple got married in October 2020. “I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to properly thank you for all that you do,” the California native wrote via Instagram at the time alongside a photo of himself sharing a kiss with his fiancée. “I love you forever.”
Scroll down to see the couples featured Are You the One?They are still together.
