‘Love on the Spectrum’ Creators Put Their Own Spin on Reality TV, Highlighting Sincerity Over Sensation

For three seasons, “Love on the Spectrum” has presented dating through a refreshing lens. On a streamer full of “Too Hot to Handles” and “Temptation Islands,” Netflix’s down-to-earth reality series spotlights people on the autism spectrum looking for their happily ever after. It doesn’t rely on sensationalized challenges and manufactured conflict to find narrative arcs, but rather on the sincerity of its contestants, newly minted TikTok stars whose updates amass millions of views. In 2024, it was nominated for the Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program Emmy and won for reality-show casting and directing. The third season, which premiered in April, has received some of the series’ best reviews yet.

In short, “Love on the Spectrum” is the unshowy hidden gem of dating shows.

“What I love about it is everyone has a different favorite cast member,” co-creator and executive producer Cian O’Clery told TheWrap. “We’ve found such an incredibly diverse cast that everybody’s got a different favorite person, and that’s just really wonderful.”

The program is based on the original Australian reality series that O’Clery created with Karina Holden. For its American version, Netflix hired autism consultants to help behind the scenes and reached out to autism dating-skills groups and workshops to find cast members. The premise is simple: Cameras follow the dating lives of eight singles on the spectrum, who are scattered across the county and of different ages, ethnicities and sexual orientations. Some, like fan-favorites Abbey and David from Season 1, fall in love quickly. Others find the dating pool trickier.

David and Abbey in “Love on the Spectrum” (Credit: Netflix)

None of it would work, O’Cleary said, without the mutual trust and respect between the producers and the participants. “They are there for a reason. They want to find love and that’s it,” said the executive producer, who also directs episodes and shoots second camera. “There’s no hidden agendas. They trust us, and we trust them.”

Holden added, “The show has given people a lot of confidence in themselves. So for the new participants, they have watched and been encouraged by the storylines. It’s a big leap of faith, isn’t it? You turn your life over to be seen by the whole world, so it’s a commitment. It’s a commitment to change.”

Season 3 features a cast of new and returning characters. One participant, Pari, is looking for a queer relationship (Many viewers pointed out a lack of LGBTQ+ representation in the first two seasons). Abbey and David, whose romance took them to Africa last season, also inspired newcomer Madison to take part in the show (The couple is now thinking about marriage). For Connor, an Atlanta-based animation lover, joining the cast in Season 2 changed his whole concept of dating. “Love’s not easy. You gotta put in a little work, but ultimately it’s rewarding,” he said. “I like to live safely, but I’m not afraid to take a risk.”

Of course, for any show that lives and dies by steady viewership, “Love on the Spectrum” has to be entertaining. And without drawing from the cutthroat competition and back-stabbing that provide built-in tension on most reality series, the production team has to tread carefully. “The entertainment factor is really important, and we’re really conscious of making sure that, firstly, everyone is respected and their stories are told in a really honest way that the participants would be happy with, and then making sure that people are going to want to keep watching,” O’Clery said. “It’s a challenge.”

A major element in most storylines is how cast members react to pushing past their own comfort zones. In the latest season, Madison must decide how many dolls are appropriate to bring on a first date. Tanner grapples with how to communicate with someone whose social skills do not quite match his. And Connor navigates the stress of introducing his family to his “demigoddess,” Georgie, for the first time. The specifics may be different, but at their core, these are relatable anxieties for any human beings who have put themselves in the vulnerable position of looking for love.

Connor in “Love on the Spectrum” (Credit: Netflix)

“Love on the Spectrum” has also had lasting real-world effects. Since it first aired in 2022, additional autism-spectrum organizations have started dating workshops, speed-dating events and dating-skills courses inspired by the show. And the producers hope that it has put a relatable face on the autism spectrum. “The ensemble is really important because it allows us to explore that whole spectrum, and no one person has to carry this whole burden of ‘What does it mean to be an autistic person?’” Holden said. “Globally, the understanding of autism has expanded because of the series. We’re really proud of that.”

Madison agrees. “Autism presents itself in different ways,” she said. “One of my favorite autism sayings is ‘If you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism.’”

This story first ran in the Limited Series & TV Movies issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine. Read more from the Limited Series & TV Movies issue here.