Anna’s Pop Corner: The Perfect Match

Well, Netflix is back at it with another dating show that nobody asked for. This time, instead of finding a whole new cast of “sizzling singles”, as they’re called on “Too Hot to Handle”, they just rounded up everyone in their mid-20s to early 30s that are from their other reality shows.

Contestants included Francesca Farago (Too Hot to Handle Season one & Love is Blind), Joey Sasso (The Circle Season one), Nick Uhlenhuth (The Circle Season two), Chase DeMoor (Too Hot to Handle Season two), Dom Gabriel (The Mole) and more. You may be wondering, ‘who’s keeping all these people in line?’ Well that would be celebrity host Nick Lachey.

The rules are simple: everyone enters the house single, matches up with one person for the night, competes in a compatibility challenge the next day, winners are sent to the boardroom and choose two new contestants for people already coupled up to go on a date with. At the end of the night, the people not matched up, go home.

There are many similarities to other reality dating shows in the Perfect Match.

“The quest to pair up in couples or be forced out of the villa/resort/mansion/etc. is very Love Island, and framing that quest as a search for a soulmate is very Are You The One?” ” Brett White wrote for Decider.

What sets this one apart is the fact that everyone basically knows each other already and for most people watching, we already know the contestants as well. It kind of reminds you of that one friend group in high school that only hooked up with each other.

“It’s great seeing A-listers like Joey and Francesca and Shayne all in one place — kinda like when Iron Man, Thor and Captain America all fought in that forest in Avengers, except if they were making out with other superheroes in Panama,” White stated.

By far, my favorite contestant was Ines Tazi from The Circle France. Tazi brought a different kind of humor to the show, mostly because she did not understand most American phrases. Another thing she struggled to understand was the purpose that everyone else went on the show.

“I really- from the beginning- had my brain conditioned that this was a real love show,” Tazi stated for HOLR Magazine. “I didn’t see it as a strategy show. Now, I look back at it and I’m like, “Ines, of course, it’s a strategy show!” I didn’t know it was so strategic. I was so emotionally open. I don’t think I had a strategy but I was probably the least strategic person in there.”

If you’re looking for a show to binge in a day or keep on in the background while you clean, this is definitely the one. Trashy reality television has come a long way since the early 00’s and will always have a special place in my heart, my true perfect match.