‘Coupled’ puts women in dating driver’s seat
Fox’s courtship show wants to woo you with its differences
Hold the roses, the gimmicky entrances and promise of an eternal commitment after a courtship shorter than the shelf life of some of the contents in your fridge.
Survivor mastermind Mark Burnett is behind Fox’s new dating show, and it’s not your average Cinderella story. In the series, which reads like the dating app Bumble come to life, a dozen women live in bungalows on the Caribbean island of Anguilla, where suitors are dropped off one by one via helicopter. After a short conversation, the ladies decide whether to walk right and explore their connection with the suitor at a tiki bar, or walk left and return to the bungalows to see if sparks fly with another guy.
“In this show the women are very empowered,” Burnett says. “Typically, there’s these shows where women just get chosen. Sort of like a meat market, and this is not that. This is like normal, real life. ... The women absolutely can opt in to get to know the guy better, or not.”
Terrence Jenkins (Terrence J), who jumped from E! News last December, prefers to be thought of as “a young, handsome black Cupid” rather than the host, and he takes to heart his mission to help 12 women find love. He’s also the face of a heterogeneous cast, one dating-show viewers may be pleasantly surprised to see.
“This is the first time you’ve seen a network day show where there’s been diversity in the males available,” Burnett boasts. “You’ve never seen a black Bachelor. And (you see it) right in Episode One. It’s reflective of America.”
The appearance of cellphones, provided for contestants by the show, also makes Coupled feel very lifelike, as contestants are encouraged to text one another as they would off-camera.
“What it becomes as you watch the series is the glue between the women who are still at the bungalows, who are waiting for more men. And, they’re communicating with their girlfriends who are over at the villas, who are going through various stages of dating,” he says. “And it feels like real life.”
After filming for about six weeks, couples that formed were faced with the decision of whether to continue their romances stateside. Again, women were placed in the driver’s seat as hopeful men waited by a helicopter to see if their partners would join them. Will love be in the air on Cou
pled? See for yourself when the show premieres Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Fox.