“Love is blind”, proclaims Jessica in William Shakespeare’s play ‘The Merchant of Venice’ – but is it?
The question has been hotly contested for millennia, and is now being tested by the hit Netflix show of the same name, hosted by Matt and Emma Willis.
And one Guernsey native found herself in the hotseat (or pod), starring in the third UK series of the show.
Express caught up with former Ladies’ College student Faye Domaille to find out what it is really like to date from a pod, how much of the reality TV show is actually real, and whether love really is blind.
WARNING: This article contains spoilers for season 3 of ‘Love is Blind’.
“I just thought, ‘why not?'”
Faye was a 28-year-old Executive Assistant in London when she stepped into the pod, but the journey began months before.
She was approached by its producers on Instagram.
At the time, she’d been single for 10 years and despite “actively” dating, seeing people for 6 months at a time, none ever became more serious.
She told Express, “I was getting fed up of meeting people and just ending in the same cycle that I’ve always been in. So I just thought, ‘why not?'”
She was invited to meet the producers who would decide who made the cut. When she found out she would be going on the show, she “didn’t really believe it”, adding: “I was like, ‘are you sure?’
“It genuinely took a good week for me to digest the information – it’s very, very surreal.”
‘Running around like a headless chicken’
The show begins with the cast dating in ‘pods’.
Small, windowless rooms with a comfy sofa staring at a glowing, paper-thin wall.
The cast go on dates, not seeing each other’s faces, sounding each other out to see if they could be the one.
Faye only found out she would be packing her bags and entering the pods with short notice.
She had to pack two so they’re prepared for the two weeks away and, if they get engaged, another two weeks in Ibiza.
Faye said: “In that week, you’re running around like a headless chicken. You’re getting so many messages saying ‘what’s your reveal outfit going to be?’, ‘what’s your first date outfit going to be?’, ‘what’s your outfit for your interviews going to be?’
“Logistically, there is so much organisation that you are having to prepare for in the run up to it.”
‘My little heart was going out my chest’
In the show, Faye succeeds and gets engaged to Jack, a chef from Cornwall.
After 2 weeks of talking, Jack popped the question to tears of joy, but the nerves weren’t quite gone.
“It’s very weird, you know this person by their voice, you don’t have a clue what they look like,” she said.
“I’m going to lie that I was really nervous, because for some reason I thought, ‘Jack has such a good personality, he is so outgoing and so fun, I just know I’m not going to be attracted to him.
“I know he’s not going to be my type because I just can’t see someone being so fun and have such a great personality and then also being attractive.’ In my brain, it’s just so rare to find.”
Faye said it was “the most scared I’ve been about filming”.
She added: “My little heart was going out of my chest because I had no idea what to expect.”
Luckily, Faye did find Jack attractive and they set off for the next part of the show, at the ‘retreat’ in Ibiza.
‘It’s all muddled up’
Despite being ‘reality’ television, Faye said it’s important to remember that what you’re watching “is an edit and it is heavily dramatised”.
Jack and another cast member, Ciara, were filmed getting into a disagreement, but when the cameras weren’t rolling, Faye said, there wasn’t “much animosity there”.
Faye added: “For instance, when you watch us all dating in the pods, the days are all quite muddled together.
“You might see Ciara and Jack’s date from day 6 and see it next to my date with Jack on day two.
“So you might think, ‘blimey, Ciara and Jack are getting on like a house on fire,’ but the truth is you’re seeing a date that actually happened a week later.
“It’s edited in a way that makes the most entertainment, which is great for viewers.”
At their wedding, Jack is shown to be late, just woken up and asking for an energy drink.
But Faye said, in reality, he’d been filming his car scenes for hours before that happened.
Happy ever after or back to reality?
Love really was blind when Faye and Jack tied the knot.
But did their love stand the test of time? Or was it just a blind date that was never meant to endure?
The reunion episode comes out on Netflix on Sunday 30 August, where fans can find out if Jack and Faye’s matrimony stayed holy, and what Faye and the rest of the cast have been up to since.
And if all else fails, Faye is clear on one thing – her perfect date: “A cliff walk, then jump in the sea, and then a pint at the Imperial.”
Sounds idyllic to us. We’ll drink to that.
