Love in the Wild
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (June 2011) |
| Love in the Wild | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Endemol USA |
| Presented by | Darren McMullen (season 1) Jenny McCarthy (season 2) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 16 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Tom Shelly Liz Schulze Mark Allen Eric Gardner |
| Production locations | Costa Rica (season 1) Dominican Republic and Hawaii (season 2) |
| Running time | 43-44 minutes 88 minutes (season 2 premiere) |
| Production companies | Steele Mill Productions Endemol USA |
| Original release | |
| Network | NBC |
| Release | June 29, 2011 – July 25, 2012 |
Love in the Wild is a reality television series that debuted on June 29, 2011, on NBC. The show is created and produced by Endemol USA. The first season was hosted by Darren McMullen; season 2 premiered on June 5, 2012, with new host Jenny McCarthy.[1][2]
Format
[edit]Set in Costa Rica (season 1) or in Dominican Republic and Hawaii (season 2), the series begins with ten men and ten women, paired into couples. The couples must compete in challenges that test their own abilities and their compatibility as a team. Following each episode's adventure, the winning couple spends the night at a luxurious resort called the Oasis, while the other contestants stay in ordinary cabins and socialize with each other. The next day at the choice ceremony, contestants choose their partners for the next episode's challenge. The last remaining unmatched man and woman are eliminated. The series will conclude with one winning couple, who receive a trip around the world.
Choice ceremony and elimination rules
[edit]To illustrate the mechanics of the choice ceremony, the following example is provided using these fictional couples:
- Anna and Adam
- Barbra and Bob
- Connie and Carl
- Daisy and Doug
Couples are ordered by their finish in the previous day's challenge. (The gender that chooses first from each couple alternates with each ceremony; i.e., if women go first in one ceremony, men will go first in the next ceremony.)
Anna may choose first whether she would like to stay with Adam or ask someone else to partner with her. Because she and Adam finished first, if either of them wishes to partner with someone else, the other contestant cannot refuse. Anna chooses to stay with Adam, and Adam chooses to stay with Anna. They move on together.
Barbra and Bob are next. Barbra asks Carl to be her partner, and Carl accepts, so Barbra and Carl move on together. Bob asks Connie to be his partner, and Connie refuses. Bob moves to the Singles Area.
Connie may now choose between asking Doug or Bob to partner with her (despite having already rejected Bob). Connie asks Doug to be her partner, and Doug accepts. Connie and Doug move on.
Daisy and Bob are the final two unmatched contestants, and are eliminated.
If Doug had refused to partner with Connie, Connie would have joined Bob in the Singles Area. Daisy and Doug would then each choose to either stay together or ask Bob or Connie to partner up. If Daisy and Doug then both chose to stay together, Daisy and Doug would move on despite finishing last in the challenge, and Bob and Connie would be eliminated.
If there are more than two contestants in the Singles Area after all couples have chosen, the single contestants (in the order of their arrival in the Singles Area) may attempt again to create a partnership with one of the other singles. If all the single contestants continue to decline any partnerships with each other, they will all be eliminated. This feature resulted in the double elimination of Season 1, Episode 6, when the four remaining Singles Area competitors were unable to form any couples.
The show format gives a strong advantage to loyal couples, as they are guaranteed to move ahead as long as they do not finish last in a challenge. (Even then, they will advance if there is anyone in the singles area.) There are few circumstances in which betrayal can be advantageous. (One case being that a member of a last-place couple may accept a switch request, and certain survival for one round, rather than count on a partner's loyalty.) Attempted switches may leave a contestant vulnerable to subsequent retaliation, as in Season 1, when Steele's switch attempt led to a retaliatory rejection by Erica which eliminated both of them. In Season 1, the last three couples had formed romantic bonds which helped protect them from elimination.
Mike and Samantha won Season 1 and earned a trip around the world together.
Season 1 (2011)
[edit]
|
|
Men
[edit]| Partners | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 (Mandatory Switch)[4] | 6 | 7 | 8 (Finale) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike | Samantha | Samantha | Samantha | Samantha | Samantha (Theresa) | Samantha | Samantha | Samantha |
| Miles | Erica | Heather | Erica | Heather | Heather (Brandee) | Heather | Heather | Heather |
| Skip | Jessica | Theresa | Theresa | Theresa | Theresa (Jess) | Theresa | Theresa | |
| Ben | Heather | Brandee | Brandee | Brandee | Brandee (Samantha) | Brandee | ||
| Steele | Vanessa | Vanessa | Kym | Erica | Erica (Heather) | Erica | ||
| Derek | Kym | Jessica | Jess | Jess | Jess (Erica) | |||
| Jason | Jess | Erica | Jessica | Jessica | ||||
| Adam | Brandee | Kym | Heather | |||||
| Peter | Theresa | Jess | ||||||
| Jared | Dawn |
Women
[edit]| Partners | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 (Mandatory Switch)[4] | 6 | 7 | 8 (Finale) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Samantha | Mike | Mike | Mike | Mike | Mike (Ben) | Mike | Mike | Mike |
| Heather | Ben | Miles | Adam | Miles | Miles (Steele) | Miles | Miles | Miles |
| Theresa | Peter | Skip | Skip | Skip | Skip (Mike) | Skip | Skip | |
| Brandee | Adam | Ben | Ben | Ben | Ben (Miles) | Ben | ||
| Erica | Miles | Jason | Miles | Steele | Steele (Derek) | Steele | ||
| Jess | Jason | Peter | Derek | Derek | Derek (Skip) | |||
| Jessica | Skip | Derek | Jason | Jason | ||||
| Kym | Derek | Adam | Steele | |||||
| Vanessa | Steele | Steele | ||||||
| Dawn | Jared |
- Finished first and immune from elimination, except in episodes 5 and 7
- Eliminated
- Winner
- Runner-up
Updates
[edit]Mike and Samantha announced their engagement in March 2013 and got married on April 19, 2014, in San Francisco, California, where they have been living together since the show ended.[5] They have two children: daughter Audrey (born on December 29, 2015) and son Zachary (born February 1, 2018).[6][7] Heather and Miles have also been residing in San Francisco.[8] The two announced their engagement in March 2015 and were married on June 18, 2016.[9][10] Their son Macklin was born in August 2018.[11]
Filming
[edit]Principal photography for the first season took place in Cahuita, Limón, La Fortuna, and San Carlos, Costa Rica. The second season's filming was split between the Dominican Republic and Hawaii.[12]
Season 2 (2012)
[edit]
|
|
Men
[edit]| Partners | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 (Finale) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ken | Yanina | Yanina | Yanina & Lindsay | Yanina | Yanina | Yanina | Yanina | Yanina |
| Ben | Jenny | Jenny | Jenny & Michelle | Michelle | Ali | Michelle | Michelle | Michelle |
| Chase | Cina | Ali | Ali & Jenna | Summer | Summer | Summer | Summer | |
| Jesse | Summer | Tara | Tara & Melissa | Ali | Michelle | |||
| Ryan | Shauna | Shauna | Summer & Natalie | Jenna | Jenna | |||
| Jason E. | Cina | Cina | Cina & Vanessa | Vanessa | ||||
| Tim | Tara | Summer | ||||||
| Jason H. | Ali | |||||||
| Leo | Tara | |||||||
| Quaison | Summer | |||||||
| Franky | Jenny | |||||||
| Darwin | Ali | |||||||
| Mike | Yanina | |||||||
| Christian | Shauna |
Women
[edit]| Partners | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 (Finale) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yanina | Ken & Mike | Ken | Ken | Ken | Ken | Ken | Ken | Ken |
| Michelle | N/A | N/A | Ben | Ben | Jesse | Ben | Ben | Ben |
| Summer | Jesse & Quaison | Tim | Ryan | Chase | Chase | Chase | Chase | |
| Jenna | N/A | N/A | Chase | Ryan | Ryan | |||
| Ali | Jason H. & Darwin | Chase | Chase | Jesse | Ben | |||
| Vanessa | N/A | N/A | Jason E. | Jason E. | ||||
| Cina | Chase & Jason E. | Jason E. | Jason E. | |||||
| Jenny | Ben & Franky | Ben | Ben | |||||
| Lindsay | N/A | N/A | Ken | |||||
| Melissa | N/A | N/A | Jesse | |||||
| Natalie | N/A | N/A | Ryan | |||||
| Tara | Tim & Leo | Jesse | Jesse | |||||
| Shauna | Christian & Ryan | Ryan |
- Finished first and immune from elimination, except in episodes 1,3 and 6
- Eliminated
- Winner
- Runner-up
Updates
[edit]Winners Ken and Yanina got married in the Dominican Republic on January 17, 2015.[14] They have two children: daughter Andi (born January 8, 2016) and son Lennox (born August 2018).[15][16] Runner-ups Ben and Michelle were the first couple to get married, doing so on October 26, 2013. [17][18] Summer and Chase announced their engagement September 2014.[19] They were married on March 4, 2016.[20] All couples remain together as of 2024.
Jesse Wilson was a contestant on SyFy's reality game show Opposite Worlds.[21]
Reception
[edit]Love in the Wild received mixed reviews from critics, with Metacritic scoring a 47 out of 100.[22]
Emily Yahr of The Washington Post said that the best part of the show was all about the "sweeping views of Costa Rica", however, it did not go "far enough in any direction to make the premise intriguing to watch."[23]
Love in the Wild premiered to a 2.2/6 rating in adults 18/49 and was watched by 6.48 million viewers. The premiere was the third most watched program of the night, and it was first in its timeslot. The premiere was the seventh most watched show that week.
References
[edit]- ^ "NBC Announces Adventure-Dating Series "Love in the Wild" Will Return for Second Season". TheFutonCritic.com. 2011-10-20. Retrieved 2012-05-05.
- ^ Margaret, Mary (2012-04-19). "Jenny McCarthy: 'I'm Taking Baby Steps' with New Romance". Parade. Retrieved 2012-05-05.
- ^ Bierly, Mandi (May 3, 2011). "'Love in the Wild' contestants revealed". Entertainment Weekly.
- ^ a b For episode 5, the first name listed is the partner chosen at the end of episode 4. The second name is the partner subsequently chosen when all contestants were forced to switch partners before the episode 5 challenge. Derek was forced out by an injury, and Jess refused all choices.
- ^ Samantha Woods [@SamanthaWoods10] (14 February 2012). "@katie492 - I am living in SF with Mike, still doing wedding planning :)" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "Samantha Spiro on Instagram: "Welcome to the world Audrey Kay Spiro. You are our greatest adventure yet. 🎀 12.29.15"".
- ^ "Samantha Spiro on Instagram: "We have a son!! We are thrilled to introduce you to our newest family member, Zachary Robert Spiro. 2.1.18 #spiropartyoffour #myheartisbursting #woahihavetwokids"".
- ^ Stavarski, Melissa. "Love In The Wild Recap: Season 2 Premiere Features Jenny McCarthy, Double the Hotties with Bodies" Reality TV Magazine
- ^ Heather Pond [@heatherpondSF] (9 March 2015). "Amazing weekend at the beach in Carmel and exploring Big Sur with my FIANCÉ @mileshaefner #engaged @…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "Instagram".
- ^ "Instagram".
- ^ Fogarty, Paul. "Where was Love in the Wild filmed? Netflix show Locations".
- ^ Schneider, Michael (May 4, 2012). "Exclusive: Meet the Contestants on Season 2 of NBC's Love In The Wild". TV Guide. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
- ^ Yanina Beccaria [@yaninabeccaria] (8 December 2012). "@Rboy_12 last 3 couples r together. Traveling is a pain in the behind. Specially when u think how many shoes u could buy instead of air tix!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "Yanina Beccaria on Facebook". Facebook. Archived from the original on 2022-04-30.[user-generated source]
- ^ "Yanina Beccaria on Instagram: "As our Fire Chief dino enthusiast enters the Terrible 2s"".
- ^ pic.twitter.com/xGBMfTLy
- ^ https://www.facebook.com/benclarkLOVEINTHEWILD/posts/522343157785559 [user-generated source]
- ^ "Chase on Twitter: "Happiest day of my life, so far! Happy to be engag…". Archived from the original on 24 January 2015.
- ^ "Aaron Chase on Facebook". Facebook. Archived from the original on 2022-04-30.[user-generated source]
- ^ "Opposite Worlds on SyFy". TV Guide (CBS Interactive Inc). Retrieved 2014-02-09.
- ^ Love in the Wild Metacritic.
- ^ TV review: NBC’s ‘Love in the Wild’ is a cross between lots of reality shows Washington Post. Retrieved on June 30, 2011.
External links
[edit]- Official Site at NBC
- Fans Magazine for Love In The Wild
- Love in the Wild Archived 2015-09-30 at the Wayback Machine on TV.com
- Love in the Wild at IMDb
- 2010s American reality television series
- 2011 American television series debuts
- 2012 American television series endings
- American English-language television shows
- NBC reality television shows
- Television series by Endemol
- Television shows set in Hawaii
- Television shows filmed in Costa Rica
- Television shows filmed in the Dominican Republic
- Television shows filmed in Hawaii
- American dating and relationship reality television series