The Problem With Vanessa Lachey's Comments About The Lack Of Physical Diversity On 'Love Is Blind'

The Problem With Vanessa Lachey's Comments About The Lack Of Physical Diversity On 'Love Is Blind'

Reality dating shows have a problem with body diversity. It's clear whether you tune into Love Island or The Bachelor that even shows designed to feature "real people" tend to favor certain types of people: people with thin bodies. When a reality TV show called Love Is Blind debuted on Netflix in 2020, it was fair to assume that it might break the mold and show how meaningful connections, not appearances, are what really matters when it comes to finding love.

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Unfortunately, even in a show that mandates that men and women blindly date behind the walls of "pods" and only show each other in person when they become engaged based on an emotional connection, there is a lack of physical diversity. While the show included people of different races, religions and economic backgrounds, most contestants had similar, thin body types.

In response to criticism that the few contestants who didn't fit this mold of the show weren't featured prominently and ultimately didn't find love, co-host Vanessa Lachey shared her opinion on why this might be the case in a recent interview with Insider. She attributed it to these candidates feeling “insecure” and preventing them from finding meaningful connections.

"All their lives, because of this crazy swipe generation that we're in and this catfishing world that we're in, they've been so insecure about being themselves that they're so afraid to be themselves," she told Insider of these few outliers. "I wonder if they really don't have enough time in those two weeks to find themselves, A, and then be themselves, and then find that spouse," Lachey said, adding that she wasn't involved in the casting.

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Her comments are obviously problematic as she seemed to imply that all people with larger bodies are insecure when it comes to dating and may have even been involved in catfishing schemes. Her statement also blamed the contestants' inability to find love, rather than those running the show itself (the same people who cast Abhishek "Shake" Chatterjee, a man who spent some of his time in the pods trying to figure out the weight of his blind dates). Overall, it's a gross generalization about people based on their weight - one that simply isn't true.

“We live in a fatphobic society, so for many people, being fat absolutely manifests as a lack of self-confidence,” says Rachel Wright, MA, LMFT, a relationship, sex and psychotherapist. "However, to broadly suggest that there is a correlation for every fat person not being confident? That is fatphobic in itself," she adds. “Your height, shape, color, or anything else about your appearance has no bearing on your ability to find love, and making a connection between them is very dangerous.”

Danielle Ruhl, a contestant on Season 2 of Love Is Blind who revealed she struggled with body dysmorphia during the show, shared her thoughts on Lachey's recent comments in an interview with E! News. "There were certainly more confident women than me who took part in this experience, regardless of body type," she said. “…Weight does not and should not determine a person’s self-confidence.”

People on Twitter also shared reactions to Lachey's disturbing comments. “Like [someone with] a diverse body, their explanation was weak and a cop out” user wrote @mrsraejohnson. “They all don’t have different bodies because they don’t think curves make good TV.

“Maybe it’s just you/your producers who think fat people aren’t desirable/don’t deserve love?” tweeted @MeaghanWray "*Everyone* feels insecure in the dating world! I would bet that fat women are more confident because we had to appease/grow/unlearn/learn THIN PEOPLE."

Needless to say, Lachey is facing legitimate backlash for her comments about the lack of body diversity on Love Is Blind. It's unfortunately just one example of how the people who create reality dating TV shows fail to listen to viewers, cast people with different body types, and address the problem that falls on their shoulders. Consider this a reminder that anyone—regardless of weight or appearance—should be able to look for love on a reality show.