Reality Dating Shows 'Love Is Blind' and 'Wort' Offer Contrasting Paths to Marriage
Translated & summarized from Maariv by baba
Netflix's "Love Is Blind" season concluded with numerous breakups, while the Israeli show "Wort" returned with strong ratings, presenting a traditional matchmaking approach. Despite "Love Is Blind's" high failure rate, it remains popular globally, attracting millions of viewers. Netflix acquired "Wort," bringing two contrasting dating shows to its platform. Both series explore the journey to marriage, with "Wort" having a more successful track record in its previous season.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- Netflix's "Love Is Blind" season ended with many breakups and scandals.
- The Israeli show "Wort" returned for its third season with strong ratings on Reshet 13.
- "Love Is Blind" garnered millions of views globally, ranking fifth on Netflix.
- Netflix acquired "Wort," featuring it alongside "Love Is Blind" on its platform.
- "Wort's" previous season ended with three weddings, one resulting in a child.
Netflix's reality dating show "Love Is Blind" has concluded its latest season, marked by widespread breakups and scandals, contrasting sharply with the return of the Israeli show "Wort" on Reshet 13, which has garnered intriguing ratings. "Love Is Blind," which premiered in 2020, challenged participants to find love and get engaged without seeing each other, aiming to prioritize personality over physical appearance. However, the show's format, which compresses major life decisions into a few weeks under intense scrutiny and isolation, has been criticized for creating an environment conducive to hasty choices and emotional pressure, leading to a high rate of relationship failures.
Despite the dramatic outcomes, "Love Is Blind" continues to attract viewers. The eleventh season garnered 3.7 million global views in the week of October 19-25, and an additional 2.8 million the following week, ranking fifth among Netflix's English-language series. This sustained viewership highlights the public's enduring fascination with the pursuit of love, even when it leads to spectacular collapses.
Meanwhile, the third season of "Wort" premiered on Reshet 13, presenting a different approach to matchmaking. This Israeli series involves matchmakers, families, traditions, and social norms, framing romantic choices within a broader context of values and expectations. The premiere episode achieved an 8.3% rating with 226,000 viewers, surpassing "The Patriots" on Channel 14 in ratings, though slightly lower than its own previous season premiere.
Netflix has also recognized the appeal of "Wort," acquiring the first two seasons in December 2025 and adding them to its Israeli catalog in September. This brings two dating shows with fundamentally opposing philosophies under the same streaming umbrella: "Love Is Blind" offers a rapid, drama-filled social experiment, while "Wort" documents a matchmaking process rooted in tradition and family. Both shows, however, share the common goal of marriage and expose intimate moments of their participants' journeys to the audience.
While the Boston season of "Love Is Blind" ended without any remaining married couples, the previous season of "Wort" concluded with three weddings, one of which resulted in a child. The article suggests that while successful relationships are a welcome outcome, romantic failures can also be a significant source of television content, as dramatic breakups often generate more discussion than smooth unions. The enduring appeal of these shows, regardless of their success rates, lies in their ability to capture the public's imagination through the universal quest for love and connection.