Millennials join YouTube dating show ‘Pop the Balloon’

Love is a game, and these singles are ready to play it.

Tired of passively swiping on apps, millennials are taking extreme measures to find their perfect match — even if it means traveling across the country to Phoenix, Arizona, to participate in a game show involving balloons.

Singles from California, Rhode Island, Louisiana and New York are flying out of state to compete on the hit YouTube dating series “Pop the Balloon or Find Love,” and at least one couple is already engaged.

New Yorker Shawn Smith flew 2,400 miles to the West Coast to find love because he didn’t think his future partner could be in New York. The Hampstead, New York, resident was willing to fly across the country because women on the West Coast are “friendlier” and “a breath of fresh air.”“ compared to Single ladies in New York.

“I’m hoping to improve my dating skills and find the right person by being on the show,” Smith, a 27-year-old content creator, told The Washington Post.

Luckily, the $600 flight was worth it. Smith met his current girlfriend, Taylor, on the show, who traveled from Las Vegas, Nevada, looking for a serious relationship.

“The connection felt so genuine,” Smith shared of his one-month romance. “It felt like love, and I couldn’t believe it was real.”

He is one of 5,000 singles between the ages of 27 and 42 who have chosen to forgo traditional dating and submit applications to be contestants on the popular YouTube series hosted by 28-year-old Arizona resident Arlette Amuli and produced by her 31-year-old husband, Bolia Matundu.

The show, which is filmed in Phoenix, features contestants in each 90-minute episode standing in a line holding a red balloon and going on a speed date with a bachelor or bachelorette. If either party doesn’t like what the other says, they can pop the balloon to signal they’re not interested.

“I have two kids — two boys,” a hopeful 30-year-old single woman said when she introduced herself on a recent show. But before she could go on, an uninterested date dramatically popped her red balloon.

“I gave the kid to two because two was too many,” the 37-year-old explained in a subsequent interview.

Most online dating shows focus on finding love for Gen Z, but Matundu and Amuli wanted to help singles in their 20s, 30s and 40s — many of whom are parents and looking for love. The couple, who got married in 2021, believes their generation deserves romance, especially since research shows that two-thirds of millennials aspire to get married.

While they know their show isn’t a new concept, it prioritizes 9-to-5 working men and children looking for a life partner.

“At first people would ask why these old people were on the show… but now everyone wants to be on the show.“ said Matundu, who is a musician.

Of the 5,000 applicants reviewed by Matundu and Amuli, the majority were women in their 30s and men in their 20s.

“We have more female applicants. The ratio of girls to boys is about 8 to 2,” Matundu said, noting that they receive more than 60 applications a day.

But they noticed that the candidates all wanted the same thing: a committed relationship.

“Most people just want a serious partner. They want someone who knows how to behave in a relationship.” “We want to bring real people to the show and let them know that they can really find love,” Matundu said.

While millions of subscribers watch the show as a guilty pleasure, real love stories have been born, like that of Smith and his girlfriend Taylor, 23, a personnel coordinator at a football stadium.

Smith isn’t a fan of long-distance relationships, but he admits the connection is worth the miles. “So far, so good,” he said.

And he’s not the only East Coaster to fall for West Coast love; another couple’s romance unfolded in front of the cameras and they got engaged after just two months of dating.

Mike Braswell, 37, of Newark, Jersey, met his fiancée, Nicole “Khe” Akak, 31, of California, at an event on June 1.

“It’s 2024. This is an acceptable way to get to know someone,” Braswell said. “Bolia genuinely brings people together, without wasting people’s time. They bring people together so you can get a feel for whether they’re naturally compatible.” [and] If there’s real chemistry between you.”

Even though Braswell and Akak’s relationship was just beginning, the couple knew they were meant to be together.

“I was initially attracted to his temperament. He has a strong temperament, which is exactly what I am looking for in a man,” Akak, who goes by the stage name “Khe,” told The Washington Post. “That’s why I’m glad that we are a good match.”

The couple, who currently live in Los Angeles, California, plan to get married within two years of their engagement, which took place on the set of Pop the Balloon or Find Love.

“Once you find the one,” Braswell said of his future wife, “you’ll know.”