Love Is Blind UK casting producer reveals efforts to bring everyone’s love stories to the screen – and why diversity matters in all areas of TV

Casting a television series is no easy feat, especially one millions of people will tune into and, often, see themselves in.

Love Is Blind is something of a cultural phenomenon, with its premise rather unorthodox from the many romantic reality series audiences know and love.

For those unfamiliar with the social experiment, single men and women search for love and get engaged – all without ever having seen each other in person.

The idea behind the show is that singletons put aside ideas of their "type" and get to know someone emotionally first, before testing if their physical connection matches up.

From both UK seasons that have aired thus far, the cast is complete with people from all walks of life, who are dotted all around the UK and Ireland, and who are hoping to find their perfect match.

Vivian Eguridu, who is part of this year's BAFTA Breakthrough cohort, worked as a senior casting producer on Love Is Blind UK season 1, which introduced audiences to the love stories of Nicole and Benaiah and Bobby and Jasmine.

When it came to casting the first iteration of Love Is Blind UK, Eguridu explained she and the team "look for everyone," and when the final cast is locked in, they "look at things like people's attachment styles, what they're kind of after, [and] we try to make sure everyone has a fighting chance".

She exclusively told RadioTimes.com: "But I really wanted to highlight people from diverse backgrounds as well, especially Black women. [To show] that you can fall in love too.

"Sometimes love feels like it's only available to a certain type of woman on screen, and you see that on the telly. And I just was like, 'That's just not fair,' Because it's like, where's our love story? We deserve our happy ever after too.

"And I think I just wanted to really platform that by the types of people we cast. So it was just also showing that love comes in different forms, different shells, and everyone can have their happily ever after as well."

Thankfully, it wasn't difficult to ensure these were stories that could be told, with Eguridu praising the leadership at CPL Productions, the company behind Love Is Blind UK.

She told RadioTimes.com: "One thing about me is that sometimes I am actually the only diverse person in the room that I'm in, especially these senior rooms.

"But what I found with Love Is Blind, which was really good, is that we have an amazing executive producer who's also diverse.

"It really taught me [that] when you have a leadership at the top that's diverse, it trickles down through the thought process of when it comes in every department.

"So it was one of the first shows I felt like I didn't actually have to always fight and be the voice of every single person of colour, because I had someone at the helm who really understood about diversity, and saw people as humans, not just the colour of their skin or the box that they need to tick."

Alongside Love Is Blind UK, Eguridu has also led the casting and welfare teams for the likes of Squid Game: The Challenge, Love Island and First Dates.

Across all of those programmes, audiences have watched on as different people are introduced and anecdotes are being shared about their lives – and it's through a diverse group of cast members that audiences can become privy to all kinds of conversations, which is also at the forefront of Eguridu's casting process.

The casting producer told RadioTimes.com: "Have you ever just watched a TV show or just watched a certain scene, and you're like, the same story is being told by the same person. And I just thought to myself, why cut yourself off from the richness? It's almost like eating one flavour of chocolate or something.

"You can have an assortment of stories, and they're also enriched, and they also cross over as well. And I think with casting, you also need to see every single person is a human, and they all have a story to tell, but they've also walked a very unique path. No two people have walked the same path so whenever I speak to people [whether it's] commissioners or even the execs, it's like, let's enrich the story. Let's try something new. Let's tell a different perspective because you'll be so surprised what people can gain from that.

"Sometimes people feel like they can only relate to people that look like them. And actually, you'll be amazed that if you actually just take that away, you can connect with someone on multiple different levels. It's not only by what they look like. You can relate by backgrounds, or, let's say, social economic class or even areas growing up, you find common ground and that is what helps us as humanity heal."

Eguridu shared further that if a story with one perspective is shared continuously on television, not everyone can connect with it, which goes against the desired outcome when casting a show.

She added: "That's the whole point of casting – telling different stories, different versions, and creating common ground so we can actually kind of just be more united.

"That's the way I view casting, because I come from a diverse background, so it doesn't mean I can't relate to a white lady on screen or a white guy on the screen, you just need to find the common ground.

"But you need to have a variety of those stories for people to connect with and I think that's what I'm trying to do with casting, essentially."

The BAFTA Breakthrough UK programme is an initiative supported by Netflix, which showcases and helps accelerate the careers of the next generation of film, fames and TV talent.

The full list of this year's BAFTA Breakthrough UK cohort is as follows:

• Akinola Davies Jr - director/co-writer (My Father's Shadow)
• Alderney Middleton - series producer (Maddie + Triggs)
• Cara Ellison – writer/ narrative designer (Ghost Town)
• Ellis Howard - performer (What It Feels Like for a Girl)
• Jodie-Simone Howe - costume designer (Mr Loverman)
• Kyle Banks -director (Farewell North)
• Laura Carreira - director/writer (On Falling)
• Marie-Elena Dyche - producer (Harvest)
• Mark Choi – composer (Empire of the Ants)
• Matthew Gurney - performer (Reunion)
• Megumi Inman - co-director/producer (Atomic People)
• Nathalie Pitters - director of photography (Brian and Maggie)
• Nathaniel Price - writer/associate producer (Mr Loverman)
• Olaide Sadiq - director (Grenfell: Uncovered)
• Owen Tooth - director (EastEnders)
• Pinny Grylls - director/writer/editor (Grand Theft Hamlet)
• Sally Beaumont - lead voice actor/script consultant (Old Skies)
• Stanley Baxton - solo developer (Latex, Leather, Lipstick, Love, Lust)
• Stephanie Taylor - composer (The Search For Nicola Bulley)
• Vivian Eguridu - series casting producer (Love Is Blind UK series 1)

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