Earlier today a group of friends were discussing the Love is Blind live reunion fiasco. I was unusually quiet and someone asked if I watched the hit reality show. I replied, “I tried a few episodes when it first came out,” continuing, “I just don’t really care about straight people dating shows.” Well, the Netflix Gods must have been listening because a few hours later they dropped the trailer for the second season of The Ultimatum. This time around we have queer and non-binary couples participating in the reality tv social experiment. Finally, some LGBTQ representation in the plethora of Married the Bachelor at First Sight because Love Island is Blind and I Want a Fiancee in 90 Days type shows.
The synopsis of the show, according to Netflix, follows a
“cast made up of exclusively women and non-binary people, each of whom identify as queer and find themselves at a crossroads in their relationship. One partner is ready to settle down and get married, and the other (for a whole host of different reasons) has their doubts. The show follows each unsure couple as they get brutally honest with one another, date other people in an attempt to figure out what they really want and potentially choose another partner altogether.”
no bc the fact that we’re getting the ultimatum with queer women literally just made me cry, i never thought i’d see the day we’d have our own trashy dating show lmao 😭
— caitlin (@gaybealss) April 17, 2023
Hosted by the immensely likable Joanna Swisher Garcia the show promises to be a “wild ride.” The Sweet Magnolias star takes over for Nick and Vanessa Lachey who hosted season one. Production for the show wrapped way back in July 2021 when creator Chris Coelen told Variety, “It’s really exciting. I am deep, deep into post [production] on the show now, and it’s great.”
The trailer promises drama, drama, drama with one contestant saying, “If you don’t like my dog you can get the fuck out.” And another remarking, “You said you wanted to marry me but you fell in love with someone else in a week and a half.” SAVAGE!
So, The Ultimatum on Netflix is doing a queer version on the 24th of May. Wellllllllllll, this might be interesting pic.twitter.com/0COCFXERE8
— 444 🪬 (@2wenty4s) April 17, 2023
Coelen gave some insight into the mindset of the unlucky, or lucky, in love couples explaining,
“What’s fascinating is when you actually look at the reasons that people give for not being ready, there are a multitude of reasons: ‘I come from a family background of bad relationships. I don’t want to repeat my past’ or ‘I’m not ready, I’m too young’ or ‘I need to be financially stable. There may be some validity to some of those reasons, but the real reason is that they’re not sure that they want to marry this person that they’re with. Most of those things that they say are our excuses, and it’s very common.”
The Ultimatum: Queer Love premieres May 24th on Netflix.
(**This post is solely the opinion of this contributing writer and may not reflect the opinion of other writers, staff, or owners of Instinct Magazine.)
