Beaming at one another across three different time zones and thousands of miles, the international cast of Love Is Blind agree on a lot. They all prefer a dinner date to a movie date, a big honeymoon instead of a big wedding and pods — obviously — over dating apps.

“I can’t say I prefer dating apps right in front of my husband!” says Midori, laughing. The aforementioned husband, Wataru, is sitting with an arm slung around the back of her chair; the couple are occasionally joined by her energetic dog Lupin, whom they bonded over while getting to know each other on Love Is Blind: Japan Season 1. Both agree that serious relationships are easier to find without superficial swiping — especially since Wataru says he’s not great at taking photos of himself — and now that they’ve found each other, both say they “wouldn’t go back” to the pods.

But for Midori and Wataru, it wasn’t exactly a straight line from pods to partnership. Initially in the experiment, Wataru is torn between Midori and fellow contestant Priyanka; after meeting face-to-face, Midori grapples with self-doubt and second thoughts about the relationship. Nevertheless, they both say “I do” in their final episode. Now, the couple are happily living together in Tokyo — and just received their official marriage certificate.

“I’m a little bit sad, because I feel like you spoiled the show for me!” says Natalie, a contestant on Season 2 of Love Is Blind US. Natalie’s in the middle of watching Love Is Blind: Japan and agrees with Midori that she’s fangirling at the prospect of chatting with others who’ve gone through the experiment. “I’m really happy for you both, but this was definitely a spoiler,” she says jokingly.

When your love story doubles as entertainment for millions, spoilers are just one of the many unintended consequences. Premiering in February 2020, Love Is Blind, the dating show where singles fall in love without ever seeing each other, has wormed its way into hearts around the world. Since then, the show has successfully launched its second season (with an After the Alter special coming soon) and spawned two international spin-offs, Love Is Blind: Japan and Love Is Blind: Brazil. Now Love Is Blind: Japan is casting hopeful romantics for its second season, and a third season of Love Is Blind is set to premiere this year.

Creator Chris Coelen says the show is so popular because this method of finding love is made to be universal. “The pods could literally be in any country, in any city, in any place in the world,” he told Tudum. “The pods aren’t about place. The pods are about an experience.”

But as Wataru helpfully points out, only about 100 people have ever had this particular experience. And this is the very first time that contestants from all three franchises — Wataru and Midori from Love Is Blind: Japan, Natalie and Deepti from Love Is Blind, and Lissio and Luana from Love Is Blind: Brazil — have come together to compare their journeys.

Whether they found love or not, all the contestants agree that the experiment is a more serious way to find a partner than popular methods like dating apps in the United States and Japan and in-person gatherings in Brazil. The pods, they say, are also a way to avoid shallow stereotypes. For example, Midori and Natalie both say they’ve experienced others believing they’ll be “the quietest person in the room” because they’re Asian women, something Natalie spoke up about during her season.

“Look at her!” Wataru says, gesturing to his wife. “She’s not like that.”

The contestants also notice key cultural differences that are reflected in their particular franchises. Midori says that couples in the Brazilian and American versions of Love Is Blind express physical affection much more quickly than they do in the Japanese show, especially during the initial meeting. Natalie says she appreciates how contestants in Love Is Blind: Brazil are “raw” and “don’t hold back their vulnerabilities.”

Mostly, the conversation is a, ahem, pod-measuring contest. Natalie says she’s jealous of Brazil’s and Japan’s pod designs, especially Japan’s “moon,” the lunar-like screen that separates one pod from another. Wataru and Midori reveal that Japan only had five pods to use, so contestants had to switch off and time was limited to just two hours a day, compared to 10 pods and nearly unlimited time for the others. And Lissio is envious that the cast of the American version got to travel internationally to Mexico for their honeymoons, since Brazil filmed during the pandemic and was restricted to domestic travel. 

Everyone agrees, however, that there are very few people who can truly understand the experience of falling in love without ever seeing each other. The group of people that gravitate toward an experiment like Love Is Blind share key personality traits: being serious about the idea of getting married, for example, which is something Deepti really values. “It’s not just like another dating show where you're just kind of seeing how it goes — you really want to find your person and get married,” she says from her apartment in Chicago. “I think that’s very bonding.” During her time on the show, Deepti valiantly tries to make it work with fiancé Abhishek “Shake” Chatterjee; however, after weeks of him making negative comments about her appearance, she leaves him at the altar.

Natalie, also chatting from Chicago, says the experience of seriously trying to find your partner “does change everyone that goes through it.” During her time on the show, she becomes engaged to real estate broker Shayne Jansen, but ultimately leaves him at the altar after a blow-up fight the night before their wedding. “You learn so much about yourself, what you need from a partner and what you want from a relationship. Some people found it, and while Deepti and I didn’t, [Love Is Blind] is going to help as we try to find love going forward.”

While Deepti and Natalie are ready to move on, Luana, who just finished watching Love Is Blind US Season 2, is still angry enough for both of them. “Watching the show, I was so pissed off and, frankly, revolted with Deepti’s partner!” she says. “I cried alongside Natalie.” But that empathy, Luana says, is something else that bonds this group together. “It’s so universal to see yourself in the shoes and in the experiences of other women on the show.”

She and husband Lissio agree with the others, saying that the experiment is so unbelievable that they’ve received comments from people on the street who believed the couple were actors paid to fall in love. They’re snuggled up next to each other, with Lissio occasionally whispering to Luana, who is speaking with the aid of a translator. Earlier, Lissio boasted that she’s taking English classes and improving her skills, but Luana claims she’s too nervous to speak the language just yet.

This back-and-forth is somewhat typical for the couple: In the first season of Love Is Blind: Brazil, Lissio is initially torn between Luana and fellow contestant Carolina Stamatis. But after he chooses Luana, the relationship is (mostly) smooth sailing, with the two saying “I do” to each other in the season finale.

“Like Natalie said, I also heard a lot of people say, ‘Were you desperate [to find love]? So why did you go for something like that?’” Lissio says. “I’m 35. I have a lot of life experience. I thought that if life is knocking on your door with an opportunity like this, it could be a huge growing experience... maybe even for my soul. I thought, ‘Why not? I want my wife, so why not? What could I lose here?’ I only had something to win. So I don’t care about those comments, because now I have a huge present for life here.” He brings Luana closer and addresses his Japanese counterparts. “You think like me, right, Wataru?”

Midori laughs, and Wataru agrees. “That’s totally true. I was struggling throughout the pods program, but in the end, I got a gift out of it,” he says, gesturing to Midori.

The conversation ends, of course, with future plans: Lissio tells Deepti and Natalie that he hopes he and Luana can visit them on the surprise trip to the United States he’s planning for the couple’s one-year anniversary (and since Lissio is speaking English, he's hoping it can remain a surprise). Since Brazil missed out, Wataru suggests a group trip to Mexico. In the end, everyone promises to follow one another on Instagram, and Natalie throws around the idea of creating a Love Is Blind global group chat on WhatsApp. Lissio starts to tease Luana, saying that will be the perfect opportunity for her to practice her English.

Luana starts shushing him, her eyes bugged out and red lips stuck in a wide, forced smile. “The eyes she just gave him!” Natalie exclaims. Even across languages, that look clearly translates.