With everyone unable to leave the house to meet up with their latest dating app match, the only option is to live vicariously through others or brave a first date over FaceTime.

Here are some of the best dating shows to keep you company while social distancing.

 

Love Is Blind – Netflix

The social dating experiment, Love Is Blind, was a Netflix sensation and has already been renewed for two more series following its success.

The show followed thirty single men and women looking for their soulmate by dating each other over ten days.

However, they are confined to pods where they can hear each other but cannot see each other.

If a connection is made between a couple, they can only see each other once one of them has proposed and only then will they be united face to face.

The lucky couples who get engaged enjoy a pre-wedding honeymoon in Mexico, before moving in together in Atlanta, meeting friends and family and planning their upcoming wedding.

The pressure of fast forwarding through their relationship takes its toll on some couples with cracks beginning to show in the countdown to the wedding.

Once they are at the altar, the couple must decide if they will say I do and go through with the marriage or split up there and then.  

Love Island – ITV2​

Available to watch on Britbox and Netflix

The dating show that is on everyone’s screens come summer is Love Island. Revived in 2015, it sees ordinary but very attractive young singles enter a villa in Mallorca in an attempt to couple up and find love.

To prevent themselves from being dumped from the island, the islanders must be in a couple, but they face multiple re-couplings where they can stay with their current partner or swap for someone else.

The public eventually vote for their favourite couple and they get to take home £50,000.

The seven series have produced two weddings and a baby and has proved so popular a winter series began in 2020.

In the islanders’ quest for love, there are friendships made, hearts broken and plenty of laugh out loud moments.

Although not all the islanders find love, many gain fame and reality star status, with 2019 islander Ovie Soko recently starring in a Diet Coke advert.

Five Guys A Week – Channel 4

Available on All4

Five Guys A Week is the latest dating show from Channel 4 that puts women in charge of finding their perfect man.

The show skips past the awkward first dates and goes straight to the moving in part of a relationship, with one single woman inviting five single guys to live with her for a week.

With all five men fighting for the attention of one woman, tensions run high, jealousies arise and there is plenty of flirting.

The men get to meet the single woman’s friends and family to see how well they can integrate into their life. 

But after breakfast each day one man is asked to leave, until only one lucky suitor is left.

Hot Property – BBC Three

Available on BBC iPlayer

Hot Property is the dating show for those who want to bring out their inner sleuth.

Hosted by comedian and musician Yung Filly, who has more energy than a Duracell bunny, the series sees young singletons team up with Filly to snoop around the bedrooms of three potential dates.

After looking through all the secret nooks and crannies in their bedrooms, the singletons choose the top two bedrooms and meet their friends to gain more information about them.

They then pick one winning room and go on a blind date with that person to see if it’s love at first sight.

With two series down, the show has gone all over the UK to help singletons find their perfect match.

First Dates – Channel 4

Available on All4

The heart-warming series First Dates helps singletons in their search for love, capturing the highs and lows of going on a first date.

Singletons are matched up with someone they have never met or seen before, with behind the scenes interviews giving an insight into the singletons looking for love.

From the first hello to the final goodbye, cameras catch every part of the singletons’ blind date, right down to the decision about whether or not they will see each other for a second date.

The success of the series has led to celebrity episodes and the spin off series First Dates Hotel which has been filmed in France and Italy.

Dating Around – Netflix

Dating Around is Netflix’s first original dating show and gives viewers an insight into the New York dating scene.

Each episode sees one singleton go on five dates, starting with a welcome drink, dinner and potentially an after-hours drink.

The five dates are edited so they seem to occur concurrently, making it easy for viewers to compare the chemistry between the different couples.

A second series is expected to premiere later this year.