‘Love Is Blind’ creator says he ‘lost his mind’ during live reunion mishap

Months after “Love Is Blind” fans experienced a “collective internet meltdown” when the show’s first-ever live reunion was delayed, creator Chris Coelen is opening up about the “chaotic night” filled with technical difficulties.

On April 16, Netflix was supposed to air the live “Love Is Blind” Season Four reunion where contestants like Zack Goytowski and Irina Solomonova would confront each other about questionable comments on the show and have an unedited conversation.

Instead, viewers waited for hours until the streaming giant finally tweeted that the reunion would be filmed and uploaded the following day. As fans across the world groaned and voiced their frustration on social media, Coelen was in his home panicking.

He spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about the reunion mishap in an interview published on July 18, revealing that the event was not his idea.

“I lost my mind,” Coelen told the publication, recalling how he felt as he watched the delays continue. “I was sitting in front of my TV like, ‘What is happening? Give me the updates. What’s going on?’”

Coelen, who founded the production company behind the show, Kinetic Content, in 2010, said he was not in the studio when the reunion was filmed despite being uncertain they could pull it off.

“It was Netflix’s idea to do a live reunion. They came to us, and we all had some misgivings about it,” he shared.

Instead of the “Love Is Blind” team producing the sit-down, the show’s creatives brought in Michael Davies, who produced “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.”

Coelen explained, “Normally in that situation, I’d be in the control room. I’d be in the host’s ear. And I wasn’t. But I know a lot of people put a lot of effort into it.”

He had to rely on updates throughout the “chaotic night” as Netflix tried to resolve the issue.

But, he doesn’t view the Season Four reunion as a complete disaster.

“Ultimately, the great thing that came out of that night was it showed how much significant interest there is in ‘Love Is Blind.’ I really appreciated that,” Coelen said.

Even with that optimistic mindset, the creator, who also oversees other reality shows like  “The Ultimatum,” “Married at First Sight,” and “Claim to Fame,” said he isn’t eager to try the live format again.

He agreed with Andy Cohen, who said, “Live reunions are a very bad idea” days after the fiasco.

“Would we do a live reunion again?” Coelen asked himself. “Possibly, but what is the benefit? I’d have to think about it and obviously talk to my partners about the real benefit of going live. A quick turnaround, sure, but we’d have to analyze if there’s a real benefit. And if we were to do it again, I would most likely be there.”

He added, “Does it really matter if it’s live or not? Whether that registers with the average audience, I don’t know.”

While some reality shows like “The Bachelorette” have had live finales for years, other series like “Vanderpump Rules” opt for edited discussions over multiple episodes.

Cohen, who hosted the three-part reunion for the Bravo series last month, previously explained why taped shows are a better idea on his SiriusXM show, “Radio Andy,” in April.

“You can’t say, ‘Oh, we’re going to do it tightly in an hour,’” the reality television expert said at the time. “Sometimes it takes longer to get someone revved up emotionally, by the way. You want them to be feeling the most intense feelings that they can about the seasons.”

This article was originally published on TODAY.com