The 12 Most Controversial On-Screen Dating Show Moments

In Season 3 of Love Is Blind, Andrew Liu asked Natalie Rodriguez to marry him. After she rejected his proposal, he was interviewed about his feelings. He asked if they were filming, and then proceeded to use eye drops, which made it look like he'd been crying. He used them more than once, and talked about how the situation with Natalie brought him to tears. 

If he expected this to be edited out, he was mistaken - it made it onto the show, complete with sad music. Fans mostly reacted with laughter and derision, but Season 2 contestant Shayne Jansen thought it was a good way to get some attention and he had to respect it. 

Cole Barnett and Zanab Jeffrey had a rocky relationship that ended with Zanab ditching Cole at the altar. The problem started with clementines. Zanab was about to eat two of them, and Cole suggested she save her appetite for when they went out for dinner later. Zanab took this as a dig about her weight and eating habits. The experience contributed to Zanab's problems with disordered eating. 

Cole said that he didn't remember saying anything like that, and asked for the footage of the interaction to be aired. The production team obliged, and the scene was made public. 

Some viewers felt that Zanab's interpretation was totally justified and that Cole was being insensitive, while others thought that Zanab was overreacting.

During the season finale of Season 8 of Love is Blind, Sara Carlton decided not to go through with marrying Ben Mezzenga. She left because of their differing political views. Sara is passionate about political issues like LGBTQ+ rights and the Black Lives Matter movement, while Ben is so disinterested in politics that he doesn't even vote. For Sara, the problem was less his actual views and more his unwillingness to discuss them.

Viewers responses were split by politics. Conservatives claimed the Ben “dodged a bullet,” while liberals admired Sara's conviction.

Season 25 of The Bachelor featured the show's first Black bachelor, Matt James. Unfortunately, that milestone came with a ton of controversy. One of the biggest problems arose when contestant Rachael Kirkconnell was revealed to have gone to an antebellum-themed party in the past. This didn't happen on screen, but there were also some televised moments that raised eyebrows.

One of the biggest controversies involved Matt's father. The Bachelor lead had a difficult, heart-to-heart conversation with the man who had largely not been a part of his life. For some, this was simply illuminating an aspect of Matt's life. But for others, it perpetuated stereotypes about Black men not being there for their children. 

When a Punjabi woman named Gurki went on a date with a non-Punjabi man named Justin in Netflix's Dating Around, she revealed that she was once married to another Punjabi man, but the two of them got divorced. She wasn't sure about the marriage but was pressured into it by her family. 

Justin reacted to this by saying that she was a liar and could not be trusted because she'd married someone she had misgivings about. When she tried to explain that this was normal in her culture and that her parents had actually had an arranged marriage, he didn't care. Instead, he continued to berate her until she was nearly in tears. 

The scene went viral as one of the worst dates in history. 

The UK series There's Something About Miriam was a dating show with a controversial twist. Six men competed for the affection of 21-year-old Mexican model Miriam Rivera. At the end of the show, Miriam chose a winner. After that, she revealed that she was a transgender woman who had not had gender affirming surgery. 

The six contestants staged a lawsuit to stop the final episode from airing. They alleged that the program resulted in sexual assault, defamation, breach of contract, and personal injury. While they managed to delay it, the finale did eventually air. 

The series received a ton of backlash from transgender advocacy groups. According to these groups, the series portrayed Miriam's identity as something shocking and horrifying, reinforcing negative stereotypes about trans people.