Chelsea Griffin on Love Is Blind Season 4.
Love Is Blind is back for Season 5 and if you've ever wanted to be on the show, now is your chance to apply.
As another round of couples try to find their forever partners in the pods, the casting team behind the show is already looking for people to join the Netflix show for future seasons.
Kinetic Content, the production company behind LIB, is casting in four U.S. cities and for the first time, they will even have a former star of the franchise helping them with the process.
Chelsea Griffin, who got engaged and married to Kwame Appiah in Season 4 of LIB, will be working with the casting team.
So what will Griffin be doing exactly and what does the application process for Love Is Blind actually consist of?
Narcity spoke with Donna Driscoll, the head of casting at Kinetic Content, to get that information.
Driscoll answered everything from what goes into casting the Netflix show to what tips applicants should keep in mind if they're considering sending in an application.
Here's what she had to say.
How will Chelsea be involved in the casting process for Love Is Blind?
Chelsea Griffin posting about casting for Love Is Blind.
@the.chelseagriffin | Instagram
Driscoll says Chelsea was eager to join the casting team at Kinetic Content after her own experience on the show.
In an interview with People, Griffin explained that she was just another single woman living in Seattle when the casting team found her.
"I've always had the kind of passion for helping people. And after I went on the show I was like, ‘You know what? They were amazing and I really do think the show has really, really awesome potential for such great success, if it's casted well.’ And I was like, ‘I kind of want to be a part of that,'" she told People.
Now that she's officially part of the crew, Driscoll says Griffin will be doing everything from vetting people who apply to pitching them to Driscoll and then moving onto the interview process.
"I think she's such an amazing person and human in general and the way that she's already connected with the audience speaks volumes and so we wanted to take the chance and see how she would do with the casting process," the casting director told Narcity.
"She's definitely a bonafide member of the team at this stage."
How does the casting for Love Is Blind get underway?
Driscoll says the casting process starts with getting the word out first.
"We want everybody in the churches, hair salons, bowling alleys, coffee shops, government officials and news stations. We want everybody talking about the fact that Love Is Blind is currently in their city in casting."
Once people know the show is casting, that's when the applications start rolling in.
How do I become a contestant on Love Is Blind?
Anyone who is interested in joining LIB should fill out an online application.
The application consists of over 70 questions, including basic ones like your name, ethnicity and occupation.
Applicants will also be asked to upload a 15-second video explaining why "you're ready to find love in the pods."
The questionnaire also asks for your "best face photo" and a complete "body shot."
You'll also be asked to answer several personal questions like your dating history, whether you want children in the future, why you're single and what's been missing from previous relationships.
What does the application process for Love Is Blind look like?
Driscoll says they tend to see a lot of applications come in whenever they're casting for LIB and every single one gets read and considered. A phone interview is the next step, which Driscoll says is to weed out anyone who isn't there for the "right reasons."
"I feel like there's a misconception that because the show is so popular, it's very easy to cast or find people, but it's actually not. It gets harder and harder with each season because you want to make sure that we're holding on to that authenticity we had in Season 1," she explained.
Following the phone interview, the team will do a casting interview over Zoom, background and psych checks and a compatibility questionnaire.
Once that step is done the casting team will pitch the applicants to the network and get feedback. That's when the applicants are whittled down to the top 60 and finally the top 30, which consists of 15 men and 15 women.
The casting director acknowledged that the application process is long and can take up to five months, but she doesn't want people who are considering applying to get discouraged by it.
"I remember talking to Chelsea [Griffin] about it. She was thinking halfway through the application, 'Oh my gosh, this is such a long application,' but then she thought, 'If there's a man that's finishing this application, he must really want to meet the love of his life too,'" Driscoll said.
Driscoll adds that the casting team will also encourage applicants to watch a full season of Love Is Blind so they can ensure that the experiment is right for them.
"It's not right for everybody. It's not for the faint of heart [...] You could potentially find a love your life and end up starting a journey together as a husband and wife."
Driscoll says they also recruit people over social media.
What can you do to make your application stand out?
Driscoll says applicants tend to get wrapped up in what they think the casting team wants to hear, like that they're the "life of the party" or they'll make "great television."
"It's really not about that for us. What it really is about is about readiness and being here in the application process for Love Is Blind, because you have a genuine desire to find a love of your life," she told Narcity.
"We don't want to hear I'm here to find the love of my life. We want to know why you, why this process, and why now. We really want really meaningful and unique answers because everybody has a different why."
Do contestants on Love Is Blind get paid?
Driscoll confirmed that contestants are paid to appear on the show as they do have to take time off work for filming in the pods and for the honeymoon getaway.
However, she would not comment on the exact amount but did express that everyone is paid the same amount.
In a lawsuit filed by season 2 contestant Jeremy Hartwell in July 2022, it was revealed that contestants on the Netflix show are paid $1,000 per week during filming. That works out to $8,000 for the duration of filming, as per US Weekly.
One person who was associated with the show, and who did not want to be publicly identified, confirmed the details to Narcity, saying that contestants received $1,000 a week.
In which cities is Love Is Blind currently casting in?
Kinetic Content is currently casting for Love Is Blind in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota; Phoenix, Arizona; Nashville, Tennessee; and Denver, Colorado.
Can Canadians apply for Love Is Blind?
Technically Canadians can apply to be on Love Is Blind, but since the show is filmed in the U.S. and in specific cities where contestants live, Canadians would not get cast on the show.
There are Love Is Blind spinoffs in other countries though, including Brazil and Japan. The U.K. version is also expected to air on Netflix in 2024, as per a report by Cosmopolitan.
Driscoll says she would love to see the show come to Canada so hopefully that happens soon!
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.