Can a dating show really deliver
They say true love knows no bounds. It can be found where you least expect it, in the workplace, on the commute - and even in the Love Island villa. But just how likely are you to find true love on a TV dating show? We looked at all the data to understand which shows produced the most couples that are still together. We also consulted the zodiac to find out if contestants’ star signs can determine which matches work best, while uncovering who the real power couples are based on show pay-outs. So grab the popcorn, flick the lights down, and snuggle up close – it's time to talk love on the tellybox.
Which tv dating show has
the highest success rate?
From Ex on the Beach to Married at First Sight, and from the UK to Australia and the US – we've combed
through them all. We’ve checked through all the TV dating shows to discover which one really delivers when it
comes to true and lasting love. And, of the shows we examined, Love is Blind is the clear winner. 1 in 3 of the
couples from the US edition are still in each other's arms, while the UK version has a similar success rate, with
29% of the show’s couples still together. Too Hot to Handle and Ex on the Beach offer the slimmest of hopes
for finding your perfect match with a success rate of 5% and 4%.
| TV SHOW | TOTAL COUPLES ANALYSED | STILL TOGETHER | SUCCESS RATE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Love is Blind US | 21 | 7 | 33% |
| Love is Blind UK | 7 | 2 | 29% |
| Married at First Sight UK | 18 | 2 | 11% |
| Married at First Sight AUS | 61 | 6 | 10% |
| Love Island UK | 40 | 4 | 10% |
| Love Island USA | 20 | 2 | 10% |
| Too Hot to Handle | 19 | 1 | 5% |
| Ex on the Beach UK | 24 | 1 | 4% |
Looking across all the dating shows, only 25 out of 210 couples who were together when the show finished are still together today, giving an overall success rate of just 12%.
Put a ring on it –
how many tied the knot?
Of course, some shows go from the emotional to the matrimonial during the course of the series, with couples not only getting together but saying their
vows to stay together too. With shows such as Love is Blind and Married at First Sight, that’s essentially the whole point – these shows consider themselves
‘experiments’ and the format dictates that their love is to be declared officially before the cameras in one way or another.
In Love Is Blind, contestants have to become engaged to one another before they get to meet their new fiancée for the first time, while in Married at First
Sight contestants are paired together for only a few minutes before having to commit at an unofficial ceremony. They then have to live together as if
married, before deciding later on in the series if they wish to make their commitment official at a legal wedding ceremony.
As such, you may expect these to be the shows with the highest wedding strike rate – and you’d be right. The figures prove that both the US and UK
versions of Love is Blind lead the eternal love rankings with 33% and 29% respectively of their competing couples marrying. These are followed in third
place by Married at First Sight UK, but at a much lower percentage of 6%.
| TV SHOW | TOTAL COUPLES ANALYSED | MARRIED | SUCCESS RATE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Love Island UK | 40 | 2 | 5% |
| Married at First Sight UK | 18 | 1 | 6% |
| Ex on the Beach UK | 24 | 1 | 4% |
| Too Hot to Handle | 19 | 0 | 0% |
| Love is Blind US | 21 | 7 | 33% |
| Love is Blind UK | 7 | 2 | 29% |
| Love Island USA | 20 | 0 | 0% |
| Married at First Sight AUS | 61 | 3 | 5% |
Doing it for the kids
Despite having the lowest success rate for couples staying together,
Ex on the Beach scores highest for children per couple. The show’s
24 couples have had 5 children between them.
| TV SHOW | CHILDREN | NO. OF COUPLES | KIDS PER COUPLE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ex on the Beach UK | 5 | 24 | 0.21 |
| Love Island UK | 5 | 40 | 0.125 |
| Married at First Sight AUS | 7 | 61 | 0.11 |
| Married at First Sight UK | 1 | 18 | 0.06 |
| Love is Blind US | 1 | 21 | 0.05 |
| Love is Blind UK | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| Love Island USA | 0 | 20 | 0 |
| Too Hot to Handle | 0 | 19 | 0 |
Which star signs make the best
match on a dating show?
Depending on your beliefs, many will tell you that the sure-fire way to predict which couples will make it is to look to the stars for guidance. The mystical power of the zodiac has been seen as the blueprint for compatibility for centuries across a variety of cultures, so we figured we’d feed in our contestants’ birthday data and give it a spin. Is there anything in it? Let’s see...
Well, if you’re a singleton born between September 22 and October 23, you might want to weigh up putting yourself forward for a TV dating show. Those born under the star sign of Libra are the ones who see the scales tipped in their favour when it comes to finding love on the telly, with an impressive 37% of them still together with their dating show partner, while 26% of them walked down the aisle together.
Cancer comes second, so those summer kids born between June 22 and July 22 get their time in the sun too (which is apt, given where the majority of these shows are filmed). A third (33%) of the Cancerian contestants we analysed are still together with their show partner, with 28% of them having since got married too. Scorpio (October 23 to November 21) takes third spot, with 32% still together with their dating show match, but only 23% of those exchanging vows.
It’s a good job that there’s plenty of fish left in the sea however, as contestants born under Pisces seem to show the least chance of success on our TV dating shows. Of the 26 contestants that were born between February 19 to March 20, 0% managed to take their relationship beyond the show once the cameras stopped rolling.
| RANK | STAR SIGN | STILL TOGETHER | MARRIED |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Libra | 37% | 26% |
| 2 | Cancer | 33% | 28% |
| 3 | Scorpio | 32% | 23% |
| 4 | Aries | 15% | 11% |
| 5 | Virgo | 10% | 0% |
| 6 | Aquarius | 10% | 0% |
| 7 | Capricorn | 9% | 9% |
| 8 | Taurus | 9% | 9% |
| 9 | Gemini | 7% | 7% |
| 10 | Sagittarius | 5% | 5% |
| 11 | Leo | 4% | 0% |
| 12 | Pisces | 0% | 0% |
When it came to which star signs have the perfect chemistry, we asked Chat GPT to help. Using the star signs of couples still together, we asked AI to give a compatibility score for each pair.
From yearning to earning:
who are the social power couples?
It’s a story as old as time, but the fact is that when the cosy warmth of the honeymoon period fades a little it’s time to face reality and discuss the future. And for couples to thrive and to truly enjoy matrimonial bliss, one vital factor stands out over all: moolah. Dosh. Cash.
Unsurprisingly, as reality TV stars, there is a good potential for earnings thanks to all the media attention that contestants receive, especially when social media comes into play. From product features and online interviews through to influencing opportunities, today’s TV lovers aren’t short of an opportunity or two to make a buck based on the size of their following. But who are the real power couples when it comes to profiting on personal passion? And which shows offer the biggest potential for a decent payday?
Well, it may come as no surprise to many that – had they stayed together – Tommy Fury and Molly-Mae Hague, who were runners-up in the fifth series of Love Island UK in 2019, would be taking the crown as highest earners by some distance. Professional cruiserweight boxer Fury and former model Hague had a daughter, Bambi, in 2023, and lived in a £4million mansion together. They became engaged in July 2023, but went their separate ways in August 2024 when Hague announced her “heartbreak” at the split to her 7.9m Instagram followers, the biggest social media following of any Love Island UK contestant at the time.
TVs lucrative lovers
So with Tommy and Molly-Mae no longer an item, who would be crowned highest earners in the wake of their high-profile breakup? Step forward Marnie Simpson and Casey Johnson of Ex on the Beach UK. They starred in the 8th series of the show and were married in March 2023. Between them, they have a combined following of 5.34m on Instagram. Simpson was previously a contestant on Geordie Shore, while Johnson is a former boy-band member. Their relationship has been boosted by the arrival of two sons in 2019 and 2022.
Hot on their heels are Lauren Speed and Cameron Hamilton, who fell in love on the first day of shooting the first series of Love is Blind US in October 2018. Only five days later, Hamilton proposed to Speed, they married in November, and the rest is history. They even renewed their vows on their fifth anniversary in 2023, and with a combined Instagram following of 4.5m, they have plenty of earning potential. Since the show aired in the US the happy couple have published a book together, launched a podcast, and hosted their own TV game-show ‘Game Night’.
| TV SHOW | CONTESTANT 01 | CONTESTANT 02 | TOTAL COUPLE FOLLOWING ON INSTAGRAM | STILL TOGETHER? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ex on the Beach UK | Marnie Simpson | Casey Johnson | 5,347,000 | Yes |
| Love Is Blind US | Lauren Speed | Cameron Hamilton | 4,500,000 | Yes |
| Too Hot to Handle | Emily Miller | Cam Holmes | 3,500,000 | Yes |
| Love Is Blind US | Amber Pike | Matt Barnett | 2,500,000 | Yes |
| Love Island UK | Camilla Thurlow | Jamie Jewitt | 2,147,000 | Yes |
Show me the money:
TVs most profitable programmes
When it comes to social earning potential, where should TVs wannabe passion-hunters apply? Well, for individual contestants, the show that really floats their boat is Love Island UK. With an average contestant Instagram following of 1.24m it has a stonking earning potential of £2,528 per post, based on a 3% engagement rate. Too Hot to Handle, a reality game show inspired by the classic Seinfeld episode ‘The Contest’ (look it up!) and featuring a virtual host called Lana, is also worth throwing your hat in the ring for. With an average contestant following of 1.12m, the average earning potential of £2,279 per post isn’t too shabby either.
| TV SHOW | AVERAGE CONTESTANT FOLLOWING | ENGAGEMENT RATE (3%) | POTENTIAL EARNING PER POST AVERAGE ($) | POTENTIAL EARNING PER POST AVERAGE (£) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Love Island UK | 1,237,783 | 37,133 | $3,283 | £2,528 |
| Too Hot to Handle | 1,116,044 | 33,481 | $2,960 | £2,279 |
| Ex on the Beach UK | 1,037,958 | 31,139 | $2,753 | £2,120 |
| Love is Blind US | 679,033 | 20,371 | $2,703 | £2,081 |
| Love Island USA | 238,537 | 7,156 | $953 | £733 |
| Married at First Sight AUS | 136,701 | 4,101 | $548 | £422 |
| Married at First Sight UK | 115,067 | 3,452 | $462 | £355 |
| Love is Blind UK | 107,243 | 3,217 | $430 | £331 |
Couple up for cash
Not surprisingly, the results follow the same pattern for couples too, with Love Island UK and Too Hot to Handle topping the social earning charts for couples as well as individuals. Love Island contestants can expect to pocket £5,053.13 for their joint account per post, while Too Hot to Handle participants can take home £4,556.48 together.
| TV SHOW | AVERAGE COUPLE FOLLOWING | ENGAGEMENT RATE (3%) | POTENTIAL EARNING PER POST AVERAGE ($) | POTENTIAL EARNING PER POST AVERAGE (£) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Love Island UK | 2,475,566 | 74,267 | $6,562.50 | £5,053.13 |
| Too Hot to Handle | 2,232,087 | 66,963 | $5,917.50 | £4,556.48 |
| Ex on the Beach UK | 2,075,917 | 62,277 | $5,503.50 | £4,237.70 |
| Love is Blind US | 1,358,067 | 40,742 | $3,601.50 | £2,773.16 |
| Love Island USA | 477,074.1 | 14,312 | $1,900.50 | £1,463.39 |
| Married at First Sight AUS | 273,402.4 | 8,202 | $1,090.50 | £839.69 |
| Married at First Sight UK | 230,133.3 | 6,904 | $919 | £707.63 |
| Love is Blind UK | 214,486.6 | 6,435 | $856.50 | £659.51 |
So whether or not you’re a fan, and even if you’re considering giving TV dating a go yourself, the fact is that there is a level of success to be had on these shows. And while Love is Blind comes away as the most successful show of them all when it comes to finding love onscreen, you could argue that all the shows are winners given their huge levels of popularity and following. With those kind of figures showing no signs of wavering just yet, it looks like the public’s love affair with TV dating shows is set to go the distance. What’s not to love?
The best dating shows
look better on the best TVs
If you’re someone who loves nothing more than to kick back on the sofa and let your favourite dating show whisk you away for a bit of sun-filled escapism, then Currys can supply the best television to take you there. Nothing beats watching contestants compete for each other's affections with a sun-soaked backdrop, and an 85 inch TV is going to put you front and centre on the seashore. Just make sure you have a cooling cocktail handy.
But if you don’t quite have that kind of room space available, a 70 inch TV or a 50 inch smart TV will still do a fantastic job of beaming the love-hungry contestants into your home, in crystal-clear quality. And if you want to get the quality of the picture just right, but you’re not sure of what specs to look out for when it comes to QLED vs OLED, then don’t worry – Currys can help you choose the right television for what you’re after.
methodology
Data was manually collected using a combination of Google search and Chat GPT for couples on the show and follower numbers were collected manually from Instagram.
The data on the earning potential was calculated using https://influencermarketinghub.com/instagram-money-calculator/
