Netflix’s New Dating Show “The Ultimatum” Will Have a Majority Queer Women Season

If you’re one of the infinite queer fans of Netflix reality shows, even inexplicably the more often than not very straight Love Is Blind (which we’ve long ago reclaimed as lesbian cultureTM) then I have BIG NEWS for you — at the end of yesterday’s Love Is Blind reunion special, Netflix announced an entire new line up of romance reality shows. One of which will be The Ultimatum, brought to you by the same team as Love Is Blind, and will have a queer-centric season featuring majority queer women.

What? Yes! But here’s where things get complicated (and whew do I love a realty TV show with a twist): Best I can tell, no one knows exactly when this mythical queer season is going to air??

The UK-based Independent promises that the queer season of The Ultimatum will air starting in just a few weeks, on April 6th. But Variety says that the queer season is actually not until Season Two, and the season beginning in just a few weeks will be traditional (which I imagine means: “straight”).

The confusion seems to stem from the way that The Ultimatum was announced. In a boy band music video parody of past contestants from Netflix dating shows (and no, none of those words made sense to me either), a variety of new shows are discussed all at once. After a line about The Ultimatum’s two confirmed upcoming seasons, the following line is sung: “One of which is queer with mostly women”.

But which season, buddy?!? WHICH ONE?!?!?

I’ve been advised by people who love me not to watch the parody video in question, but you sure can see it here:

Now onto The Ultimatum, what’s it about exactly? I already told you that it’s by the same great minds that brought you Love Is Blind, and it will also still be hosted by Nick and Vanessa Lachey. But in this version, we’ll follow six couples on the verge of marriage. While one partner is ready to take the big leap, the other isn’t sure, and that’s how an ultimatum is issued. Get it? At the end of the eight week “social experiment”, the couple must choose to fully commit to the whole marriage thing or move on into blissful singledom because Love is a Lie.

Ok so I can’t promise you which season of The Ultimatum will be the dyke drama season. But I promise you that there WILL BE dykes drama-ing at some point in your near-ish future.

Until then, here’s your trailer for the season the drops in April. Doesn’t look very gay to me, but fingers crossed?

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Carmen Phillips

Carmen is Autostraddle's Editor-in-Chief and a Black Puerto Rican femme/inist writer. She claims many past homes, but left the largest parts of her heart in Detroit, Brooklyn, and Buffalo, NY. There were several years in her early 20s when she earnestly slept with a copy of James Baldwin’s “Fire Next Time” under her pillow. You can find her on twitter, @carmencitaloves.

Carmen has written 700 articles for us.

7 Comments

  1. Please let the universe give us at least ONE successful poly dynamic here.

    Surely if you put that many queer women together and try to make them chose between multiple relationships at least someone has to think “HOLD ON”

  2. does no one think it’s toxic that this show’s premise is to make drama and capitalize on it? Bringing monog couples(and queer ones at that) in to watch each other fall in love with other people? Can’t queers just have a vanilla dating show? Haven’t we all dated each other and had to exist at events with our exes anyway. Why. WHY

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