Netflix viewers were left disappointed on Sunday night when the live reunion for the popular dating show “Love Is Blind” failed to launch as planned. Users attempting to tune into the live stream of the reunion were greeted with major delays and an error message, which read: “Pardon the interruption. We’re having trouble playing Netflix. Please check your internet and try again.” The event was scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. PT.
Despite over an hour of issues, which affected even the in-person audience at a watch party in Hollywood, Chloe Veitch from “Too Hot to Handle” and “Perfect Match” announced that they would proceed with taping the “Love Is Blind” reunion. Although some viewers were able to watch it live, others were not due to the technical difficulties. A Netflix spokesperson informed Variety that the special would be available for viewers to watch later on Sunday night, to accommodate those who missed the live broadcast. For a full recap of the event, please see below.
Almost 90 minutes after the broadcast was to start, Netflix’s Twitter account apologized for the blunder.
To everyone who stayed up late, woke up early, gave up their Sunday afternoon… we are incredibly sorry that the Love is Blind Live Reunion did not turn out as we had planned. We're filming it now and we'll have it on Netflix as soon as humanly possible. Again, thank you and…
— Netflix (@netflix) April 17, 2023
The “Love Is Blind” reunion was highly anticipated as it was set to be Netflix’s second-ever live event, following the successful streaming of “Chris Rock: Selective Outrage” on March 4. The comedy special was well-received and garnered significant viewership numbers in the following days, with no reported technical issues.
However, the “Love Is Blind” reunion on April 16 did not go as smoothly, with frustrated viewers taking to social media to report delays. After a while, Netflix acknowledged the situation with a post stating, “Love is… late… #LoveIsBlindLIVE will be on in 15 minutes!”
Netflix was still promoting the live “Love Is Blind” reunion with a 5 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. ET kickoff time before informing viewers of a 15-minute delay. During the delay, Netflix attempted to keep viewers interested by sharing a tweet featuring a photo of controversial cast member Irina Solomonova and the caption “promise it’s worth the wait.”
The delay generated negative attention on social media, with other networks and streaming services mocking Netflix’s technical difficulties. For example, Bravo’s official Twitter account posted, “We would never keep you waiting for a reunion.”
Netflix has been expanding its live programming with highly promoted events such as the “Love Is Blind” reunion and the Chris Rock special. The streaming giant is looking to continue this trend, as it plans to broadcast the Screen Actors Guild Awards ceremony live next year, which will be the first major awards show to air on a streaming service.
Before the reunion finally started, “Love Is Blind” host Vanessa Lachey expressed gratitude to fans for their patience on social media. She shared a video of herself and co-host Nick Lachey, indicating that the entire cast was present and ready to go live. This suggested that the delay was likely caused by technical difficulties rather than tardiness on the part of the participants.
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