Netflix's hit dating show Love is Blind UK is back for a second season with husband and wife duo Matt and Emma Willis at the helm, who say the massive popularity of the series is partially down to people being jaded by online dating apps and "swipe culture".
The series began in 2020 in the US, where there have been eight seasons, and spawned a host of international spin-offs, including Brazil, Sweden, Mexico and Japan, with the UK edition premiering last year.
The second season of Love is Blind UK sees UK and Ireland-based singletons choose someone to marry "sight unseen" after a whirlwind period of dating in Pods, where an opaque wall separates the contestants.
Speaking to RTÉ Entertainment, Emma Willis, best known for presenting Big Brother, Celebrity Big Brother and The Voice UK, said she was "super excited" to be back for another run.
"I'm pumped and ready to see who walks down the aisle!" she said. "I love it. I feel like we're just peeping through the window of someone's personal life. It's great."
Three Irish contestants among Love Is Blind UK season two cast
Her husband and co-presenter, Busted star Matt Willis, agreed wholeheartedly.
"You know, I think we're both very much into love," he said. "We love watching our friends fall in love. Emma's the matchmaking queen, if she can match anyone up, she will. So this is kind of a perfect job. It's just a really great thing to be part of."
"It's lovely to watch it in the flesh as well. We get to watch it all unfold," Emma continued. "We have the best job on in it really, because we see them at the beginning, we dip in along the way and then we see them again a year later to see how's it's gone and if they're still together."
The first season of the UK version of the series stood out as the contestants, for the most part, seemed to be in for the right reasons, and not, say, to achieve a certain type of overnight fame.
For Matt and Emma, what do they think draws people to apply for the show in their droves?
"The thing we hear again and again is that people are just sick of the dating world," Matt said. "It's a very different terrain out there to when I met Emma, you know, and I can't imagine it.
"And look, for some people, it's really working, some people are finding love on the apps and they definitely are a good thing. But I think a lot of people are just so sick of this 'swipe culture’.
"They want to find something true, want to find something real, want to know the other person wants it to. And this is that show."
"Going on emotion rather than visuals, I think it's something really special," Emma agreed.
The physical barrier of the wall really does seem to lead to intense bonds forming quickly between the contestants. It's something that's difficult to imagine as a viewer.
"There's something about that Pod," Matt said. "When we went in there, it's this glowing purple wall that you stare at and fall in love with. And I get it!"
"It's really calm and the air is warm, it's that kind of perfect temperature to make you feel comfortable and it's really peaceful," Emma interjected.
"There's no external noise. So when you think about yourself being in a pod where you could hear your own breath, it's like that. But the only thing you can hear is one other person. It's mad, really isn't it?
"Once you go in one, you can understand how they let their guard down, because you can't see any cameras either."
Despite becoming acquainted with the contestants, they weren't able to call who might end up together after the Pods.
"I was really surprised," Matt said. "I made a list of people, I started to match them up and had a piece of paper with lots of names written down. I got it way wrong! Nothing was right."
"Yeah but you've done that on visuals haven’t you!", Emma teased.
"I try not to, you can’t guess," she added. "You can't meet a bunch of people for the first time for 10 minutes and then look at their picture and go ‘Oh, they're gonna be together, they're gonna be together.’ Matt loves that game!"
As for what people might expect this season - the hosts didn't hold back.
"There is lots of beautiful romance, and there is drama," Emma said. "It's a gentle start and then it really kicks off. That's all I'm going to say."
"It's a slow builder," Matt observed, before promising plenty of "gossip juice".
"It's pure people watching, isn't it?" Emma commented of the enduring love for the series. "And I think there's nothing nicer than watching people fall in love.
"I know everybody likes drama and controversy, but watching a love story unfold in front of your eyes - that's pretty special. We all love rom-coms, don't we? Whether you admit it or not, this is like a very long rom-com."
And as for advice for anyone considering applying for the third season of the Netflix dating series?
"If you're apprehensive, just do it, give it a go," Emma said. "Please go in there with good intentions and be open, be open to the process. And be open to the person or the people that you're talking to.
"I know that is much easier said than done for some people but if you're gonna go into something like this then go in open and ready to immerse yourself."
"And I'd say don't play it cool," Matt added. "That's a killer piece of advice for most of life. Just show them who you are, don't try to be someone else."
The first four episodes of the second season of Love is Blind UK launched on the streaming platform on 13 August, with the following four launching on 20 August. The final two episodes will be released on 27 August.
