Ohioan Emma Betsinger Talks ‘Love Is Blind’ Season 10

Thirty Buckeye State singles stepped into the pods on the new season of the Netflix reality series “Love Is Blind,” and one who gets lots of screen time in the first episode is retail merchandiser Emma Betsinger, 28, who moved to Columbus from Minnesota in 2019.

“The fun fact that I love to tell people is that I actually have never stepped foot in Ohio until my job interview,” she told us during a video call the day of her season’s release on Netflix. “And I was so surprised and any time I try to get my friends to come here from out of state, I say, ‘I promise it's amazing.’”

“Love Is Blind,” which is hosted by Cincinnati native Nick Lachey and his wife Vanessa Lachey, offers a social experiment where daters look for love and get engaged all before seeing each other in person. Rumors of an Ohio season began after the show sent out a casting call via Instagram in 2024 seeking Ohio singles who were looking to find a committed relationship in an unorthodox way.  

Netflix released the first six episodes  of season 10 Feb. 11, with consecutive batches of episodes being released on Wednesdays at 3 a.m. EST.

Betsinger, who gets lots of screen time in episode one of “Love Is Blind” season 10, was born with a large birthmark covering much of her left arm that had a high chance of developing melanoma. She underwent 10 surgeries before the age of 7 and was left with scarring from the operations.

We sat down with her to talk about the Columbus dating scene, emotional on-screen moments and more. (Fair warning: minor spoilers ahead for anyone who has not yet watched the first six episodes of season 10.)

What some of the difficulties you experienced in the Columbus dating scene and did any of those difficulties steer you into applying for “Love Is Blind”?

So, I actually moved to Ohio with a boyfriend at the time, so I was actually very  freshly, not in the dating scene. Once we broke up, I started entering the Ohio dating scene, and I did the dating apps. I tried to meet people organically. And what's really hard about Columbus, it's such a small, big city where you know someone who knows someone who has a word to say. So, I loved being on “Love Is Blind.” I always ran the risk of would I know someone from my job, or would I have a mutual friend? But luckily, I didn't know anyone. But it made me want to do this show and just try something new that wasn't just a typical like go to a bar or go on dating apps and see where it led.

You covered some difficult topics on some of your dates in the pods. How did you go about emotionally regulating yourself in a space like reality television.

I did a lot of thought work and talked a lot about it with my parents. I knew going on to the show that I had history medically, as well as my adoption that weighed heavy on my heart ... It was very hard to find the time to open up to all my matches, so I really thought long and hard. I wanted to make sure [about] the people I told were my meaningful connections. So, I decided to tell my top three: Steven Mike and Connor, and those were my boundaries to start. I knew I was going to save this until I had developed feelings for the men that I was talking to.

And in terms of emotional regulation. I mean, as you saw, I told Connor, Mike and Steven, and there are some great reactions and there were some conversations about my history, and it was very hard to emotionally regulate on the spot. I definitely had to take my pause moments and know that even in the pause when someone wasn't looking at me, I still had my boundaries and my space too and, I needed to create that safe space for myself to be able to answer questions or process. And some of the questions that these men asked, I never really talked about. So, when you see and watch my journey, some of these questions and some of these conversations I’ve talked to my parents about, but to vocalize to someone I truly cared for was a whole different ballpark.

Is there anything about you that might surprise viewers even after watching the show?

Yeah, no. I truly liked watching it. I was really surprised how well my personality was captured. I really do believe that I was very genuine and authentic, and when I was crying like, yeah, I was working through so many emotions. But I'm very happy that the viewers and like, the community can see me working through these hard things that I would normally work out by myself. So, I think the answer to that is I'm actually very excited for my friends, my families and my coworkers to see the side of me that they don't get to see. To kind of flip that answer around. Because I definitely think they captured my goofy side, they captured my sarcastic side. It was really cool to see all the levels and things that they were able to show throughout the series.

At any point, did the show stop feeling like a show and start feeling like real life?

Honestly, the pods. When you are in this enclosed environment with the same people, and you go into these pods and it's just you, and a person you're really excited to talk to. It literally feels like you're on the phone with someone you care about, like your boyfriend or someone you're dating, like someone long distance for 30 minutes to an hour. And it really felt real in this very weird, simulated experience. And then even as we went through the breakups that you saw were breakups. We had strong feelings for each other, we were dating other people.

But then even Cabo too, it felt like real life because person that you've talked to for the week, and for so many hours, you get to finally be with them and go on dates with them. And when the cameras weren't rolling, we were hanging out in our hotel room. It was hard to wrap my mind around, and it really started feeling like real life in the pods. And I was like, this could really be something. It's just an unconventional way to meet someone. But then it really became real and tangible when, like, I met and saw Mike, like, in the tunnel, and I got to be with him in Cabo, and we got to go on dates and actually match the emotional with the physical.

You can watch “Love Is Blind” season 10 on Netflix.

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