'Love Is Blind' rocked by Trevor Sova girlfriend scandal as Netflix defends its 'diligent' casting process
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: 'Love Is Blind' Season 6 was a disaster after Trevor Sova was exposed to having a girlfriend outside the pods. However, Donna Driscol, the Netflix show's vice president of casting, has assured viewers that they will implement more rigorous casting procedures
In a recent interview with Variety, Donna shared that the Netflix show is diligent through "every single step" of the process. Meanwhile, show creator Chris Coelen claimed that they try to get "as broad a cross-section of people as possible," when narrowing down the selection of candidates.
Additionally, every contestant has to go through the same casting process. Donna explained that the casting team goes the extra mile to ensure that none of the candidates are connected before the show. She mentioned that they cross-checked the contestants' Instagram pages three times to uncover potential connections between accounts.
The rigorous casting changes were implemented after Season 6 alum Trevor Sova was exposed for having a girlfriend right before the show. Trevor had formed a connection with Chelsea Blackwell, who later got engaged to Jimmy Presnell. He admitted in the texts to being disingenuous on the show and promised to marry his girlfriend.
'Love Is Blind' Season 7 creator looking for 'genuine' contestants
'Love Is Blind' Season 7 creator Chris Coelen and vice president of casting, Donna Driscol, want 'genuine' contestants to audition for the dating show. Chris explained to the outlet, "In a lot of unscripted shows, I think that a lot of times, you’re looking for someone who's a certain kind of character with a certain charisma. We do not do that. We are not leading with that."
He added, "We're looking for people who are genuine." However, Donna made it clear that "Influencers and actors are off the table." The show's president also shared."I want the people to come in and feel very authentic and raw and that's not to say that an influencer, model or actor could not do that."
Donna revealed that they want "singles who are ready for a deep and meaningful relationship and marriage."
Trevor Sova claims to be in therapy after texts exposed his girlfriend scandal
Leaked text messages between Trevor Sova and his girlfriend Natalia Marrero surfaced on social media, confirming that the duo was romantically involved right up until he left to film 'Love Is Blind.' After his scandal came to light, Trevor took to Instagram to apologize for being untruthful. He has since deleted his Instagram account.
The Netflix show alum wrote, "I knew allegations about me had been made the night before we filmed the reunion but I for some reason didn’t read the actual texts and when I saw them pull up on a screen I felt like I was in a nightmare." Trevor added, "Only that nightmare was about to be viewed by 50 million people and I had 3 seconds to think of a response."
He confessed, "That being said I admitted I was wrong, I admitted I wanted to talk to an actual therapist vs my first time discussing it being filmed in front of an audience." Trevor also noted that he had been seeing a therapist and slowly acknowledging what he needed to do to better himself after the scandal.
Netflix's Uche Okoroha and Lydia Velez Gonzalez dated before 'Love Is Blind'
Before Trevor Sova's girlfriend drama, 'Love Is Blind' Season 5 alums Uche Okoroha and Lydia Velez Gonzalez were other contestants who tried to deceive the Netflix show. Lydia had previously dated co-star Uche before their casting on the show.
The revelation came after co-star Aaliyah Cosby tried to connect with Uche in the pods and simultaneously developed a close friendship with Lydia in the women's quarters. After an off-camera falling out with Lydia, Aaliyah ended up leaving the experiment right before Uche's proposal.
However, Lydia and Uche were adamant that they did not know about each other's casting throughout the season. They also insisted they did not conspire together, though Aaliyah was skeptical about that during the reunion. Lydia later admitted during the reunion that she knew Uche had applied for Season 5 after they had a brief chat about it in November 2021.
