From Love Island to Too Hot To Handle to Married at First Sight, dating shows have surged in popularity in recent years.
One thing is guaranteed for their contestants if not love, and that’s fame.
Based on Instagram followers, average likes per post, potential earnings per post and the average monthly online searches for all contestants of the latest complete series of a show, Wild PR have ranked the dating shows most likely to create the most famous contestants.
Take a look at the list below:
1. Love Island UK
Love Island UK first aired in 2015.
The hit ITV show has churned out many celebrities over its past eight seasons.
Most recently, Love Island UK 2022 has propelled contestants such as Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu, Gemma Owen, Paige Thorne and Tasha Ghouri towards fame and fortune.
2. Too Hot To Handle
In a twist on Love Island, Too Hot To Handle sees contestants visit “paradise” to find romance, but remain celibate.
Some cast members averaged at approximately 10,000 more likes per post than some Love Island UK contestants.
The Netflix series ranked surprisingly low in average monthly search volumes for contestants’ names (3,913).
3. Love is Blind
Love Is Blind sees men and women from all walks of life partake in blind dates in an attempt to find love and get engaged, before meeting in person.
The Netflix series which began in 2020 has had two seasons so far.
However, the social experiment may not be going according to plan, as two season two couples have recently announced their split – Iyanna McNeely and Jarrette Jones and Danielle Ruhl and Nick Thompson.
4. Married at First Sight Australia
Similarly to Love Island UK, Married at First Sight Australia began in 2015.
The show features a group of strangers who are paired together by experts.
The contestants engage in an unofficial commitment ceremony as Australian legal restrictions mean that couples cannot partake in legally-binding marriages.
The Australian cast gain an average of 15 times more likes per Instagram post than contestants on Married at First Sight UK.
5. The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On
The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On is one of the newest additions to the realm of dating TV series.
The show sees Nick and Vanessa Lachey encourage other couples to put their love to the test, while mingling with other potential matches.
Contestants give their partner an ultimatum to get married or move on with their alternate match.
6. 90 Day Fiancé
90 Day Fiancé sees non-American women get a visa to meet their fiancés for a short period of time.
They must then decide whether to get married or return home.
Season three’s Alexei and Loren Brovarnick are the show’s most-followed contestants with 849,000 and 1.4 million followers respectively.
7. The Bachelorette
The Bachelorette is a cult-favourite dating show, which began in 2003.
A single woman gets a chance to date various men over a period of several weeks, before deciding whom she will marry.
Wild PR found that The Bachelorette was the second-highest monthly search volume for contestant names (7,993).
8. The Bachelor
The Bachelor began before The Bachelorette, back in 2002.
Similar to its sister show, a bachelor dates a group of women over several weeks, who compete in a series of challenges that are meant to prove their compatibility with him.
Clayton Echard, a notable contestant on The Bachelorette in 2021, went on to become the leading man of The Bachelor in 2022.
9. Married at First Sight UK
Like its Australian counterpart, Married at First Sight UK began in 2015.
A team of experts with backgrounds in psychology, psychotherapy, anthropology and theology combine their knowledge to match strangers for a successful relationship.
The newly-matched couple meet for the first time at the altar, and each pair is filmed for a six-week period after their marriage while they choose whether to stay together, or go their separate ways.
10. Love Island Australia
Love Island Australia began three years later than its UK version, and only has three seasons under its belt to date.
Season one was filmed in Mallorca, while the show moved to Fiji for season two, and Byron Bay, Australia for season three.
Like Love Island UK, the Australian version sees sexy singletons enter a villa to mingle in the hopes of finding love.
