Love is Blind 2021: When does the hit Netflix dating show return? What is 'After the Altar' and what can we expect?

News that the hit dating series Love is Blind will be making a comeback for a second season delighted fans when it was first announced in March 2020, as avid viewers looked forward to the wonderfully weird TV show’s return as the world went into lockdown.

But with the sweeping Covid-19 pandemic causing planned production on all manner of TV series and film to come to a grinding halt in 2020, it’s no surprise that the second season of Love is Blind has taken slightly longer than hoped to materialise.

The arrival of Netflix’s second series of the steamy dating show, Too Hot to Handle, has kept reality lovers going as signs of normal life returned with Love Island’s seventh season in late June.

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So the announcement of Love is Blind’s reunion has obviously got fans’ tongues wagging while waiting for that second season to arrive.

Here’s everything you need to know about Love is Blind: After the Altar and what we can expect from the upcoming reunion.

What is Love is Blind?

Love is Blind debuted on Netflix on February 13th, 2020 as an experimental dating series which sees blind dating, the timeless dating trend which sees people meet without seeing each other, taken to another level.

The show saw 15 men and 15 women enter a home in Georgia, US, for 10 days of speed dating to see whether love could blossom for any of the potential couples who had never seen what the other person looked like while dating them.

Like Too Hot to Handle, the show’s premise aims to try and establish more meaningful connections between couples that go beyond the realm of physical attraction, with contestants only meeting in the flesh after a proposal.

Once engaged and immersed back in the real world, couples plan their wedding and see how their relationship changes or grows into a physical, as well as emotional, connection.

Needless to say, this set-up brings plenty of drama for contestants and makes for an entertaining watch as participants learn more about themselves in lieu of dating apps which steer users towards a physical, rather than emotional, attraction.

What is ‘After the Altar’ and what can we expect from the reunion?

On July 8, Netflix dropped the teaser trailer for an upcoming reunion of contestants and couples from season one called Love is Blind: After the Altar.

Due to arrive on the streaming platform on July 28, the three-part mini series will let fans of the show’s first season gain a glimpse into its aftermath, with the experiment paying off for some couples like Lauren and Cameron who fell in love, got married and still couldn’t seem happier.

But where there was happiness and love for some of the couples who dated in walled-in pods, there was always bound to be disappointment and drama for others.

The first glimpse at the reunion indicates that there is plenty of awkwardness awaiting the reunion of Jessica and Barnett, with the former becoming entangled in a love triangle which didn’t appear to end too well for all involved.

In the trailer for After the Altar, Jessica says “I really crashed and burned in front of the entire world” on the first season, with Barnett simply saying “next question” when a clip shows him being asked by producers about his former love interest.

Netflix UK tweeted recently to suggest that plenty of drama is to be expected as engaged, married and single contestants reunite for the first time.

As users eagerly await the drop of new British series Sexy Beasts, as yet another experimental dating reality show being added to Netflix’s growing range, the company wrote on Twitter:

"Ever wonder how things are going for the strangers who met and married on Love is Blind? The couples and singles are back for a three-episode anniversary party and they do NOT hold back.

"Love is Blind: After the Altar premieres 28 July.”

When is Love is Blind season two?

While the date for Love is Blind’s official season two return is still unknown, the revival of the show for the upcoming reunion has left many fans wondering whether it could be a sign of the show’s full return in the next year or so.

The show announced it was looking for contestants for the next series in March last year, with the second series confirmed to be moving from Atlanta to Chicago and production hoped to be currently underway.

Speaking to Deadline in April 2020, producer Chris Coelen said the response to the first season was unsurprisingly positive and showed great potential for future series.

“This is the kind of show that will end up taking us in a lot of unexpected directions that I have no way to predict right now, “ he said, “and to me, to be able to ensure that that opportunity is there—for us, as producers, and for the participants, and for the audience, ultimately—that’s my main goal.”

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