‘Are You The One’ Should Be Your New Guilty Pleasure Dating Show

MTV's 'Are You The One' needs to be on your radar ASAP.

Are You The One
Image via MTV
Are You The One

If your soulmate was standing right in front of you, would you even know it? That’s what MTV leaves a bunch of beautiful twentysomethings to figure out on its embarrassingly addictive dating show Are You The One?, now in its fifth season.

In theory, the premise is simple: producers cast 11 women and 11 men and put them through an extensive matchmaking process and each is assigned a compatible match. Then, all 22 are thrown together in a gorgeous house in the Dominican Republic and are tasked with determining which person is their “perfect match.” If the entire cast can correctly pair up with their predetermined soulmate, they split a million dollars, hopefully leaving with love and a ton of money. Sometimes couples learn they’re not a match but decide to press on with their romance because they really like each other but that comes at the cost of another contestant making a match. Or at times, contestants are stuck with people they don’t like which obviously makes for amazing television. And host Ryan Devlin is there through it all, always prepared to be the voice of reason and call contestants out on their shit.

But what really makes Are You the One the one to watch (LOL) is just how wrapped up you’ll get in the drama of it all, as you try to figure out the perfect matches yourself. It’s heartbreaking when you’re rooting for one couple and find out it’s not meant to be. On the contrary, you feel a sense of relief when a toxic couple learns they’re not a match. And by far the most rewarding feeling is watching an adorable pair of strangers actually fall in love on screen. Unlike The Bachelor, people actually get married after meeting on this show 

Devlin spoke to Complex about what to expect in the upcoming season, his favorite contestants from the show, and MTV dating show nostalgia. 

Essentially, Are You The One is a game of probability, and there’s a blog dedicated to figuring out the math to determine the couples. Sometimes, the blog figures out who’s a perfect match before people on the show do. What keeps the contestants from solving this equation? 
In the house, there are no computers, no phones, no pens and paper. If they’re gonna work out strategy, they’re gonna work it out together. You’ll see them reenacting matchup ceremonies, trying to remember who sat with who and thinking, “Hm, could this person be my match?” It turns the game from a single person trying to crunch numbers to a group event, keeping them focused on love.

I’ve described Are You The One as the anti-Bachelor to friends because everybody has a shot at finding love. 
I do think our show is special in that sense. On The Bachelor, there’s 29 losers and one winner. On our show everyone can win together, or everyone loses together. They’re looking for love primarily, and if you do it right you can win love & money. It’s a true experiment, where the audience is really seeing if the contestants can find the same results that the matchmakers found. It’s not a competition where you’re just trying to be the best version of yourself so you can “win” the guy or girl at the end.

Season 5’s cast of also seems to be more racially diverse than other current dating shows. 
I’m proud of the casts we’ve brought together over the years, and the increased diversity of season 5 is great to see. We’re looking for people who suck at relationships, and whose Perfect Matches we’re able to find via our nationwide search. Once those two things are covered, the sky’s the limit in terms of who we bring to paradise.

Could you ever imagine a season of AYTO with an LGBTQ cast?
I’ve definitely heard from fans who want to see an LGBTQ season—and I’d love to host that. 

How do you think this show compares to past MTV dating shows, like Next and Singled Out?
[Laughs.]Next was actually produced by the same company that makes Are You The One. Obviously, they are way different shows—it’s basically just the evolution of the genre of dating shows and what fans want to see. Sure, you can watch Are You The One for love, for drama, for sex, for fighting, for the game, but people want to see dating shows that are more representative of real life. Are You The One? has raised the bar. 

What’s the craziest thing that’s ever happened to you during your time on AYTO? Something that we didn’t get to see on camera. 
After the season 4 cast got hit with a Blackout [where no members have correctly paired up and the cast loses a quarter of their prize money], everyone was really upset. It got dark out there. Asaf ran away and most of the producers had to try to chase him down, so I was left on stage to keep the other 19 freaking out cast members in line. Things started to escalate and Prosper started to come at me, but fortunately cooler heads prevailed. Otherwise, I might still be hiding up in a palm tree. 

So Prosper probably isn't one, but do you have favorite contestants from past seasons? 
That’s like asking if a parent has a favorite kid—the answer is yes. Parents always have a favorite kid, they just don’t want to say it! Ellie [from season two] is a sweetheart. I loved how unfiltered she was. Tori [from season four] was really authentic and genuine. She was honest with herself, vulnerable, a walking party and a good time. Asaf [from season four] acted with his heart throughout the season and was always all smiles. Amanda [from season three] is a cast member that I love to hate, playfully. She still throws jabs at me on Twitter so that’s a fun back-and-forth rivalry. 

Hosting the show, you seem to get personally invested. You get frustrated when people make dumb choices at the matchup ceremony, like pick a person at random that they have no connection with. 
When I got into it with Amanda on stage and she was clapping at me and I was telling her she was being stupid, people loved that. It’s really been an evolution. Each season I’ve loosened up a little bit more and now I’m not scared to get my hands dirty. If they’re doing dumb shit, I call them out on it. 

Are You The One? airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. EST on MTV. 

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