For four seasons now, Vanessa and Nick Lachey have been the happy couple hosting the Netflix phenomenon Love Is Blind. The former 98 Degrees singer and NCIS: Hawaiʻi star help keep the dating experiment moving, especially when it comes to moderating the Love Is Blind cast reunions. But apparently a lot of fans are not satisfied with the Lacheys’ role in the series and are taking action to get them replaced.
A Change.org petition asking Netflix to remove Vanessa and Nick Lachey is collecting signatures, and it’s in the tens of thousands! At the time of this article’s publication, the number is close to 26,000 people who agree that the Love Is Blind hosts need to change. The petition organizer, Libby Cross, started it five months ago, but it’s particularly gaining traction now after the Love Is Blind Season 4 reunion didn’t air on time.
The petition calls the hosts “pretty useless and out of place” and accuses them of being more concerned with “directing as much attention at themselves and their personal lives” rather than focusing on the contestants looking for love in the experiment that has couples get engaged before seeing each other’s faces. From there, they move in together for a few weeks and decide whether or not to marry at a wedding in front of their friends and family.
In the description for the petition, the Lacheys are called a particularly “cringey” part of the series, and a few examples are listed of their past behavior. For example, Nick was called out for shading ex-wife Jessica Simpson in a previous reunion, while Vanessa was called “domineering.” Plus, the fan takes issue with the hosts not guiding its cast through the show’s emotional rollercoaster experiences.
Clearly the petition organizer is not the only fan who feels this way about the Love Is Blind hosts, and the reunion was a motivator for thousands who are not feeling love toward the Lacheys. After a dramatic season that included love triangles, breakups and real marriages, the hosts moderated the delayed reunion where we learned more about what we didn’t see from the pods and received updates on how the cast is a year after starting the experiment.
Outside the show, Nick Lachey was also ordered to attend AA and anger management last month after a scuffle with the paparazzi. Vanessa Lachey apparently has been standing by her husband amidst the incident, though believed he “behaved inappropriately.”
Will the petition actually affect Love Is Blind going forward? Time will tell. You can watch all four seasons of the series with a Netflix subscription. The next Netflix dating series to look forward to is a new version of The Ultimatum, which is focused on queer couples and hosted by JoAnna Garcia Swisher rather than the Lacheys.
