Dating shows are still as successful as ever, with Love Island’s 2024 series premiere recording its highest viewing figures in the last two years, with 2.2 million people tuning in. Their popularity can largely be attributed to the soap-opera-esque levels of drama and viewers often getting attached to the contestants or couples on the show.
Despite dating shows becoming drama-fuelled popularity contests turning contestants into celebrities, the core element of these shows, finding love, is still there. However, whether you find love or not may depend heavily on the show you choose.
The experts at online casino Slingo have examined which popular dating show offers the best chance of finding love. We will compare the number of couples each show created against those still together today and those who are married, as well as the average number of years each couple has been together.
The most successful dating shows
1. 90 Day Fiancé
Successful dating show score: 9.45/10
In first place, we have 90 Day Fiancé, which scored 9.45 out of 10 for its success as a dating show based on newly created couples and those still together.
Looking at seasons one to nine of the main show, excluding the spin-off series, this dating show has created 54 couples, of which over half (54%) are still together today. The premise of the series follows couples who have applied for K-1 visas. As such, they each have 90 days to marry, so each couple still together is also married. 90 Day Fiancé also has the highest average length of time that successful couples have been together, an average of six years. Additionally, couples on the show have had 33 children between these couples.
2. Love Island UK
Successful dating show score: 7.78/10
This next one may come as a surprise, given how often it seems Love Island couples split up, but in second place, we have Love Island UK, scoring 7.78 out of 10.
Love Island has a slightly different format than many dating shows, as there is an element of competition and public voting to decide the winning couple. Throughout 10 seasons, the British version of this series has created 58 couples, of which under a third (28%) are still together. The average time these successful couples have been together after the show is around four years, and the number of children from the successful couples is nine at the time of writing.
3. 90 Day Fiancé: UK
Successful dating show score: 5.83/10
The UK version of 90 Day Fiancé, which scored 5.83 out of 10, rounds out the top three most successful dating shows.
The series has two complete seasons, with season three ongoing. During those first two seasons, 15 couples were created, with six in 10 (60%) still together. The average time successful couples from the show have been together is around one year, and couples on the show have only had two babies, though the show is only two years old.
The least successful dating shows
1. Love Island USA
Successful dating show score: 1.11/10
Love Island USA ranks first as the least successful dating show for finding love, scoring 1.11 out of 10.
The US version of the hit dating show has been running for five seasons, during which 34 couples have been created. However, just one in eight (12%) of those couples are still together today, and none are married. The average time couples in this show tend to be together is around two years; only 90 Day Fiancé UK is lower, but that is a much newer show.
2. Too Hot to Handle
Successful dating show score: 2.78/10
In second place for the least successful dating shows, we have the 2020 Netflix series Too Hot to Handle, with a score of 2.78.
Too Hot to Handle, however, has had five seasons and created 21 couples, of which almost one in six (14%) have stayed together. None of those couples have tied the knot, and the average length of enduring relationships is around three years.
3. Ex on the Beach and Temptation Island
Successful dating show score: 3.06/10
Ex on the Beach and Temptation Island share second place for least successful dating shows, scoring just 3.06 out of 10.
Ex on the Beach created a whopping 42 couples across its six seasons; however, of those couples, only one remains together. Cory Wharton and Taylor Selfridge from season one are the show's only successful couple. Though it is rumoured they had a secret wedding, it remains unconfirmed. The couple has been together for six years.
On the other hand, Temptation Island created 20 couples, of which just 15% are still together, and none have gotten married. The show’s couples have also not had any babies, and the average time successful couples have been together is four years.
The dating show that creates the most couples
1. Married at First Sight Australia
Number of couples created: 106
The dating show that creates the highest number of couples is Married at First Sight Australia, which has seen 106 couples appear on its show across its 11 seasons. It also has one of the longest-running relationships with Erin Bateman and Bryce Mohr from season two, who have been together for eight years.
The dating show with the most couples still together
1. 90 Day Fiancé: UK
Percentage of couples still together: 60%
In first place as the dating show with the highest percentage of couples still together, we have 90 Day Fiancé: UK. At the time of writing, three-fifths (60%) of the 15 couples created on the show remained together.
The dating show with the most marriages
1. 90 Day Fiancé: UK
Percentage of marriages: 60%
Taking the top spot once again is 90 Day Fiancé: UK. Of the 15 couples it created, 60% stayed together, and all are married. However, this may not come as a surprise, as the show's premise is that it follows couples who have 90 days to get married before their partner must legally return to their respective homes.
The dating show with the couples that have the most longevity
1. 90 Day Fiancé & Ex on the Beach
Average number of years together: 6
Tied for first place among dating shows with the longest average relationships, we have 90 Day Fiancé and Ex on the Beach. Couples who have stayed together after these shows have been together for around six years on average.
The dating shows that have produced the most babies
1. 90 Day Fiancé
Number of babies produced: 33
Having ranked second for both the number of couples created (54) and the number of couples still together (54%), it may come as little surprise that 90 Day Fiancé takes first place here. Across the 29 couples still together, the show has produced a total of 33 babies, the most of any dating show by a huge margin.
Methodology
To find out which dating shows were the most popular in the UK, we took the top 60 shows from Ranker. We used Google Keyword Planner to source the number of Google searches for each show made from the UK between April 2023 and May 2024. We looked at the following factors for the top 10 most searched shows.
We sourced the number of couples from each dating show season using Yahoo, Today, Dexerto, US Magazine and Radio Times. We only included couples who left the show together, and in one instance, a couple formed between contestants who had appeared in two different seasons of Love Island UK. Additionally, for Temptation Island, we only looked at the season that occurred since its reboot in 2019. We also used the above articles and others to determine which couples have had babies together to show which dating shows produce the most babies.
We then used each contestant’s Instagram account to verify which couples were still together and married as of June 2024. We recorded how many years each couple had been together, from the air date of the season they appeared to June 2024, rounded to the nearest whole year.
We then created an index giving each dating show a normalised score out of 10 across each factor (percentage of couples still together, percentage of couples married, and the average number of years couples have been together and the most babies produced), before calculating the average score out of 10 for each show.
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