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Love in the Wild

{{More citations needed|date=June 2011}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}

{{Infobox television

| image =

| caption =

| runtime = 43-44 minutes
88 minutes {{small|(season 2 premiere)}}

| company = Steele Mill Productions
Endemol USA

| creator = Endemol USA

| executive_producer = Tom Shelly
Liz Schulze
Mark Allen
Eric Gardner

| location = Costa Rica (season 1)
Dominican Republic and Hawaii (season 2)

| presenter = Darren McMullen (season 1)
Jenny McCarthy (season 2)

| judges =

| creative_director =

| country = United States

| language = English

| num_seasons = 2

| num_episodes = 16

| network = NBC

| first_aired = {{start date|2011|6|29}}

| last_aired = {{end date|2012|7|25}}

}}

Love in the Wild is a reality television series that debuted on June 29, 2011, on NBC. The show is created and produced by Endemol USA. The first season was hosted by Darren McMullen; season 2 premiered on June 5, 2012, with new host Jenny McCarthy.{{cite web|url=http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news/2011/10/20/nbc-announces-adventure-dating-series-love-in-the-wild-will-return-for-second-season-44015/20111020nbc04/|title=NBC Announces Adventure-Dating Series "Love in the Wild" Will Return for Second Season|accessdate=2012-05-05|date=2011-10-20|work=TheFutonCritic.com}}{{cite web|url=http://www.parade.com/celebrity/news/2012/04/19-jenny-mccarthy.html|title=Jenny McCarthy: 'I'm Taking Baby Steps' with New Romance|accessdate=2012-05-05|date=2012-04-19|work=Parade|author=Margaret, Mary}}

Format

Set in Costa Rica (season 1) or in Dominican Republic and Hawaii (season 2), the series begins with ten men and ten women, paired into couples. The couples must compete in challenges that test their own abilities and their compatibility as a team. Following each episode's adventure, the winning couple spends the night at a luxurious resort called the Oasis, while the other contestants stay in ordinary cabins and socialize with each other. The next day at the choice ceremony, contestants choose their partners for the next episode's challenge. The last remaining unmatched man and woman are eliminated. The series will conclude with one winning couple, who receive a trip around the world.

=Choice ceremony and elimination rules=

To illustrate the mechanics of the choice ceremony, the following example is provided using these fictional couples:

  1. Anna and Adam
  2. Barbra and Bob
  3. Connie and Carl
  4. Daisy and Doug

Couples are ordered by their finish in the previous day's challenge. (The gender that chooses first from each couple alternates with each ceremony; i.e., if women go first in one ceremony, men will go first in the next ceremony.)

Anna may choose first whether she would like to stay with Adam or ask someone else to partner with her. Because she and Adam finished first, if either of them wishes to partner with someone else, the other contestant cannot refuse. Anna chooses to stay with Adam, and Adam chooses to stay with Anna. They move on together.

Barbra and Bob are next. Barbra asks Carl to be her partner, and Carl accepts, so Barbra and Carl move on together. Bob asks Connie to be his partner, and Connie refuses. Bob moves to the Singles Area.

Connie may now choose between asking Doug or Bob to partner with her (despite having already rejected Bob). Connie asks Doug to be her partner, and Doug accepts. Connie and Doug move on.

Daisy and Bob are the final two unmatched contestants, and are eliminated.

If Doug had refused to partner with Connie, Connie would have joined Bob in the Singles Area. Daisy and Doug would then each choose to either stay together or ask Bob or Connie to partner up. If Daisy and Doug then both chose to stay together, Daisy and Doug would move on despite finishing last in the challenge, and Bob and Connie would be eliminated.

If there are more than two contestants in the Singles Area after all couples have chosen, the single contestants (in the order of their arrival in the Singles Area) may attempt again to create a partnership with one of the other singles. If all the single contestants continue to decline any partnerships with each other, they will all be eliminated. This feature resulted in the double elimination of Season 1, Episode 6, when the four remaining Singles Area competitors were unable to form any couples.

The show format gives a strong advantage to loyal couples, as they are guaranteed to move ahead as long as they do not finish last in a challenge. (Even then, they will advance if there is anyone in the singles area.) There are few circumstances in which betrayal can be advantageous. (One case being that a member of a last-place couple may accept a switch request, and certain survival for one round, rather than count on a partner's loyalty.) Attempted switches may leave a contestant vulnerable to subsequent retaliation, as in Season 1, when Steele's switch attempt led to a retaliatory rejection by Erica which eliminated both of them. In Season 1, the last three couples had formed romantic bonds which helped protect them from elimination.

Mike and Samantha won Season 1 and earned a trip around the world together.

Season 1 (2011)

= Contestants =

Source:{{cite magazine|url=http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/05/03/love-in-the-wild-contestant-reveal-exclusive/|title='Love in the Wild' contestants revealed|date=May 3, 2011|author=Bierly, Mandi|magazine=Entertainment Weekly}}

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%;"

|+ Females

! Contestant !! style="width:2px;;"|Age !! Hometown

Samantha Woods23Huntington Beach, California
Heather Pond23Sonoma, California
Theresa Trujillo24San Jose, California
Brandee Dillehay25Nashville, Tennessee
Erica Scherle24Nashville, Tennessee
Jessica "Jess" DeBolt24San Francisco, California
Jessica Soares23Bridgewater, Massachusetts
Kym Nguyen24Quincy, Massachusetts
Vanessa Guerrero26Phoenix, Arizona
Dawn Christjaener27Scottsdale, Arizona

|

class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%;"

|+ Males

! Contestant !! style="width:2px;;"|Age !! Hometown

Michael "Mike" Spiro29San Francisco, California
Miles Haefner28St. Louis Park, Minnesota
Skip Sullivan30Milton, Massachusetts
Benjamin "Ben" Hooker27Charleston, South Carolina
Steele Dewald24Scottsdale, Arizona
Derek Leach28Venice, California
Jason Jackson28San Francisco, California
Adam Rose25Taunton, Massachusetts
Peter Paris31Venice, California
Jared Ines28Los Angeles, California

|}

= Men =

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" align="center"

! scope="col" width="75" | Partners

! scope="col" width="75" | 1

! scope="col" width="75" | 2

! scope="col" width="75" | 3

! scope="col" width="75" | 4

! scope="col" width="140" | 5 (Mandatory Switch)For episode 5, the first name listed is the partner chosen at the end of episode 4. The second name is the partner subsequently chosen when all contestants were forced to switch partners before the episode 5 challenge. Derek was forced out by an injury, and Jess refused all choices.

! scope="col" width="75" | 6

! scope="col" width="75" | 7

! scope="col" width="75" | 8 (Finale)

bgcolor=skyblue|Mike

|bgcolor=limegreen| Samantha

|Samantha

|Samantha

|Samantha

|Samantha (Theresa)

|bgcolor=limegreen|Samantha

|bgcolor=limegreen|Samantha

|bgcolor=gold|Samantha

bgcolor=skyblue|Miles

|Erica

|Heather

|Erica

|Heather

|Heather (Brandee)

|Heather

|Heather

|bgcolor=silver|Heather

bgcolor=skyblue|Skip

|Jessica

|Theresa

|Theresa

|Theresa

|bgcolor=red|Theresa (Jess)

|Theresa

|bgcolor=red|Theresa

bgcolor=skyblue|Ben

|Heather

|Brandee

|Brandee

|Brandee

|bgcolor=limegreen|Brandee (Samantha)

|bgcolor=red|Brandee

bgcolor=skyblue|Steele

|Vanessa

|bgcolor=red|Vanessa

|bgcolor=red|Kym

|Erica

|Erica (Heather)

|bgcolor=red|Erica

bgcolor=skyblue|Derek

|Kym

|Jessica

|bgcolor=limegreen|Jess

|bgcolor=limegreen|Jess

|Jess (Erica)

bgcolor=skyblue|Jason

|Jess

|Erica

|Jessica

|bgcolor=red|Jessica

bgcolor=skyblue|Adam

|Brandee

|bgcolor=limegreen|Kym

|Heather

bgcolor=skyblue|Peter

|Theresa

|Jess

bgcolor=skyblue|Jared

|bgcolor=red|Dawn

= Women =

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" align="center"

! scope="col" width="75" | Partners

! scope="col" width="75" | 1

! scope="col" width="75" | 2

! scope="col" width="75" | 3

! scope="col" width="75" | 4

! scope="col" width="140" | 5 (Mandatory Switch)

! scope="col" width="75" | 6

! scope="col" width="75" | 7

! scope="col" width="75" | 8 (Finale)

bgcolor="hotpink"|Samantha

|bgcolor=limegreen|Mike

|Mike

|Mike

|Mike

|bgcolor=limegreen|Mike (Ben)

|bgcolor=limegreen|Mike

|bgcolor=limegreen|Mike

|bgcolor=gold|Mike

bgcolor="hotpink"|Heather

|Ben

|Miles

|bgcolor=red|Adam

|Miles

|Miles (Steele)

|Miles

|Miles

|bgcolor=silver|Miles

bgcolor="hotpink"|Theresa

|Peter

|Skip

|Skip

|Skip

|Skip (Mike)

|Skip

|bgcolor=red|Skip

bgcolor="hotpink"|Brandee

|Adam

|Ben

|Ben

|Ben

|Ben (Miles)

|bgcolor=red|Ben

bgcolor="hotpink"|Erica

|Miles

|Jason

|Miles

|Steele

|bgcolor=red|Steele (Derek)

|bgcolor=red|Steele

bgcolor="hotpink"|Jess

|Jason

|bgcolor=red|Peter

|bgcolor=limegreen|Derek

|bgcolor=limegreen|Derek

|Derek (Skip)

bgcolor="hotpink"|Jessica

|Skip

|Derek

|Jason

|bgcolor=red|Jason

bgcolor="hotpink"|Kym

|Derek

|bgcolor=limegreen|Adam

|Steele

bgcolor="hotpink"|Vanessa

|Steele

|Steele

bgcolor="hotpink"|Dawn

|bgcolor=red|Jared

:{{Color box|limegreen|border=darkgray}} Finished first and immune from elimination, except in episodes 5 and 7

:{{Color box|red|border=darkgray}} Eliminated

:{{Color box|gold|border=darkgray}} Winner

:{{Color box|silver|border=darkgray}} Runner-up

=Updates=

Mike and Samantha announced their engagement in March 2013 and got married on April 19, 2014, in San Francisco, California, where they have been living together since the show ended.{{cite tweet|user=SamanthaWoods10|author=Samantha Woods|number=169250231928623105|date=14 February 2012|title=@katie492 - I am living in SF with Mike, still doing wedding planning :)}} They have two children: daughter Audrey (born on December 29, 2015) and son Zachary (born February 1, 2018).{{cite web | url=https://www.instagram.com/p/_-1p78Ipfy/ | title=Samantha Spiro on Instagram: "Welcome to the world Audrey Kay Spiro. You are our greatest adventure yet. 🎀 12.29.15" }}{{cite web | url=https://www.instagram.com/p/Be1m7FonImL/ | title=Samantha Spiro on Instagram: "We have a son!! We are thrilled to introduce you to our newest family member, Zachary Robert Spiro. 2.1.18 #spiropartyoffour #myheartisbursting #woahihavetwokids" }} Heather and Miles have also been residing in San Francisco.Stavarski, Melissa. "[http://realitytvmagazine.sheknows.com/2012/06/06/love-in-the-wild-recap-season-2-premiere-features-jenny-mccarthy-double-the-hotties-with-bodies/ Love In The Wild Recap: Season 2 Premiere Features Jenny McCarthy, Double the Hotties with Bodies]" Reality TV Magazine The two announced their engagement in March 2015 and were married on June 18, 2016.{{cite tweet|user=heatherpondSF|author=Heather Pond|number=574744483452973059|date=9 March 2015|title=Amazing weekend at the beach in Carmel and exploring Big Sur with my FIANCÉ @mileshaefner #engaged @…}}{{cite web | url=https://www.instagram.com/p/BLmfrISgmqF/ | title=Instagram }} Their son Macklin was born in August 2018.{{cite web | url=https://www.instagram.com/p/Bm1xg9gF82u/ | title=Instagram }}

Filming

Principal photography for the first season took place in Cahuita, Limón, La Fortuna, and San Carlos, Costa Rica. The second season's filming was split between the Dominican Republic and Hawaii.{{Cite news |last=Fogarty |first=Paul |title=Where was Love in the Wild filmed? Netflix show Locations |url=https://castalkie.com/love-in-the-wild-netflix-filming-locations-and-cast/ }}

Season 2 (2012)

= Contestants =

Source:{{cite web|url=http://www.tvguide.com/news/exclusive-meet-contestants-love-in-the-wild-1046959/|title=Exclusive: Meet the Contestants on Season 2 of NBC's Love In The Wild|work=TV Guide|author=Schneider, Michael|date=May 4, 2012|accessdate=September 12, 2015}}

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%;"

|+ Females

! Contestant !! style="width:2px;;"|Age !! Hometown

Yanina Beccaria33Chicago, Illinois
Michelle Sacco28Atlanta, Georgia
Summer Mack32Indian Harbour Beach, Florida
Ali Leitza33Little Rock, Arkansas
Jenna Gillund23Dallas, Texas
Vanessa Ramirez30Phoenix, Arizona
Cina Luks22San Lorenzo, California
Jenny Blatt27Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Lindsay Furman29Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Melissa Alatorre23Los Angeles, California
Natalie Korzon24Ann Arbor, Michigan
Tara Locke26Miami Beach, Florida
Shauna Dillard28Kingsburg, California

|

class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%;"

|+ Males

! Contestant !! style="width:2px;;"|Age !! Hometown

Kenneth "Ken" Barrington33Miami Beach, Florida
Benjamin "Ben" Clark27Bolsover, United Kingdom
Aaron "Chase" Chase28Newport Beach, California
Jesse Wilson33Manhattan Beach, California
Ryan Smith27San Francisco, California
Jason Ewell25Dublin, California
Tim Parrish32Chicago, Illinois
Christian Seklecki34Atlanta, Georgia
Darwin Zook32Boston, Massachusetts
Franky Arriola31Miami, Florida
Jason Holmes29North Hollywood, California
Leonard "Leo" Borriello27Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Mike Sweet30Los Angeles, California
Quaison "Q" Dodd31Los Angeles, California

|}

= Men =

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" align="center"

! scope="col" width="75" | Partners

! scope="col" width="75" | 1

! scope="col" width="75" | 2

! scope="col" width="75" | 3

! scope="col" width="75" | 4

! scope="col" width="75" | 5

! scope="col" width="75" | 6

! scope="col" width="75" | 7

! scope="col" width="75" | 8 (Finale)

bgcolor=skyblue|Ken

|Yanina

|Yanina

|Yanina & Lindsay

|Yanina

|Yanina

|bgcolor=limegreen|Yanina

|bgcolor=limegreen|Yanina

|bgcolor=gold|Yanina

bgcolor=skyblue|Ben

|Jenny

|Jenny

|bgcolor=limegreen|Jenny & Michelle

|Michelle

|bgcolor=red|Ali

|Michelle

|Michelle

|bgcolor=silver|Michelle

bgcolor=skyblue|Chase

|Cina

|bgcolor=limegreen|Ali

|Ali & Jenna

|Summer

|bgcolor=limegreen|Summer

|Summer

|bgcolor=red|Summer

bgcolor=skyblue|Jesse

|bgcolor=limegreen|Summer

|Tara

|Tara & Melissa

|bgcolor=limegreen|Ali

|Michelle

bgcolor=skyblue|Ryan

|Shauna

|bgcolor=red|Shauna

|Summer & Natalie

|Jenna

|bgcolor=red|Jenna

bgcolor=skyblue|Jason E.

|Cina

|Cina

|Cina & Vanessa

|bgcolor=red|Vanessa

bgcolor=skyblue|Tim

|Tara

|Summer

bgcolor=skyblue|Jason H.

|Ali

bgcolor=skyblue|Leo

|Tara

bgcolor=skyblue|Quaison

|bgcolor=limegreen|Summer

bgcolor=skyblue|Franky

|Jenny

bgcolor=skyblue|Darwin

|Ali

bgcolor=skyblue|Mike

|Yanina

bgcolor=skyblue|Christian

|Shauna

h3rggry4gyr

= Women =

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" align="center"

! scope="col" width="75" | Partners

! scope="col" width="75" | 1

! scope="col" width="75" | 2

! scope="col" width="75" | 3

! scope="col" width="75" | 4

! scope="col" width="75" | 5

! scope="col" width="75" | 6

! scope="col" width="75" | 7

! scope="col" width="75" | 8 (Finale)

bgcolor="hotpink"|Yanina

|Ken & Mike

|Ken

|Ken

|Ken

|Ken

|bgcolor=limegreen|Ken

|bgcolor=limegreen|Ken

|bgcolor=gold|Ken

bgcolor="hotpink"|Michelle

|N/A

|N/A

|bgcolor=limegreen|Ben

|Ben

|bgcolor=red|Jesse

|Ben

|Ben

|bgcolor=silver|Ben

bgcolor="hotpink"|Summer

|bgcolor=limegreen|Jesse & Quaison

|bgcolor=red|Tim

|Ryan

|Chase

|bgcolor=limegreen|Chase

|Chase

|bgcolor=red|Chase

bgcolor="hotpink"|Jenna

|N/A

|N/A

|Chase

|Ryan

|bgcolor=red|Ryan

bgcolor="hotpink"|Ali

|Jason H. & Darwin

|bgcolor=limegreen|Chase

|Chase

|bgcolor=limegreen|Jesse

|Ben

bgcolor="hotpink"|Vanessa

|N/A

|N/A

|Jason E.

|bgcolor=red|Jason E.

bgcolor="hotpink"|Cina

|Chase & Jason E.

|Jason E.

|Jason E.

bgcolor="hotpink"|Jenny

|Ben & Franky

|Ben

|bgcolor=limegreen|Ben

bgcolor="hotpink"|Lindsay

|N/A

|N/A

|Ken

bgcolor="hotpink"|Melissa

|N/A

|N/A

|Jesse

bgcolor="hotpink"|Natalie

|N/A

|N/A

|Ryan

bgcolor="hotpink"|Tara

|Tim & Leo

|Jesse

|Jesse

bgcolor="hotpink"|Shauna

|Christian & Ryan

|Ryan

:{{Color box|limegreen|border=darkgray}} Finished first and immune from elimination, except in episodes 1,3 and 6

:{{Color box|red|border=darkgray}} Eliminated

:{{Color box|gold|border=darkgray}} Winner

:{{Color box|silver|border=darkgray}} Runner-up

=Updates=

Winners Ken and Yanina got married in the Dominican Republic on January 17, 2015.{{cite tweet|user=yaninabeccaria|author=Yanina Beccaria|number=277427828281204737|date=8 December 2012|title=@Rboy_12 last 3 couples r together. Traveling is a pain in the behind. Specially when u think how many shoes u could buy instead of air tix!}} They have two children: daughter Andi (born January 8, 2016) and son Lennox (born August 2018).{{cite web | url-access=limited |archive-url = https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/facebook/251146234987121/750754715026268 |archive-date = 2022-04-30| url = https://www.facebook.com/KenandYanina/posts/750754715026268 |title = Yanina Beccaria on Facebook |website=Facebook}}{{cbignore}}{{User-generated source|certain=yes|date=March 2022}}{{cite web | url=https://www.instagram.com/p/B1N2GnUl9uX/ | title=Yanina Beccaria on Instagram: "As our Fire Chief dino enthusiast enters the Terrible 2s" }}

Runner-ups Ben and Michelle were the first couple to get married, doing so on October 26, 2013.pic.twitter.com/xGBMfTLyhttps://www.facebook.com/benclarkLOVEINTHEWILD/posts/522343157785559 {{User-generated source|certain=yes|date=March 2022}} Summer and Chase announced their engagement September 2014.{{cite web |url=https://twitter.com/AaronMChase/status/516679579306426368 |title=Chase on Twitter: "Happiest day of my life, so far! Happy to be engag… |archive-url=https://archive.today/20150124153604/https://twitter.com/AaronMChase/status/516679579306426368 |archive-date=24 January 2015 |url-status=dead}} They were married on March 4, 2016.{{cite web | url-access=limited |archive-url = https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/facebook/1570512827/10208213378083395 |archive-date = 2022-04-30| url = https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10208213378083395&set=a.4322781518985.159416.1570512827&type=3&theater |title = Aaron Chase on Facebook |website=Facebook}}{{cbignore}}{{User-generated source|certain=yes|date=March 2022}} All couples remain together as of 2024.

Jesse Wilson was a contestant on SyFy's reality game show Opposite Worlds.{{cite web | url = http://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/opposite-worlds/cast/603971 | title = Opposite Worlds on SyFy | accessdate= 2014-02-09 | publisher = TV Guide (CBS Interactive Inc)}}

Reception

Love in the Wild received mixed reviews from critics, with Metacritic scoring a 47 out of 100.[http://www.metacritic.com/tv/love-in-the-wild Love in the Wild] Metacritic.

Emily Yahr of The Washington Post said that the best part of the show was all about the "sweeping views of Costa Rica", however, it did not go "far enough in any direction to make the premise intriguing to watch."[https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/television/tv-review-nbcs-love-in-the-wild-is-a-cross-between-lots-of-reality-shows/2011/06/21/AGImKYjH_story.html TV review: NBC’s ‘Love in the Wild’ is a cross between lots of reality shows] Washington Post. Retrieved on June 30, 2011.

Love in the Wild premiered to a 2.2/6 rating in adults 18/49 and was watched by 6.48 million viewers. The premiere was the third most watched program of the night, and it was first in its timeslot. The premiere was the seventh most watched show that week.

References

{{reflist}}

External links

  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20110805145550/http://www.nbc.com/love-in-the-wild/ Official Site at NBC]
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20110527014153/http://www.loveinthewildfansmag.com/ Fans Magazine for Love In The Wild]
  • [http://www.tv.com/shows/love-in-the-wild/ Love in the Wild] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150930062725/http://www.tv.com/shows/love-in-the-wild/ |date=2015-09-30 }} on TV.com
  • {{IMDb title|1945796}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Love In The Wild}}

Category:2010s American reality television series

Category:2011 American television series debuts

Category:2012 American television series endings

Category:American English-language television shows

Category:NBC reality television shows

Category:Television series by Endemol

Category:Television shows set in Hawaii

Category:Television shows filmed in Costa Rica

Category:Television shows filmed in the Dominican Republic

Category:Television shows filmed in Hawaii

Category:American dating and relationship reality television series