Gay dating shows are on the rise—here are 5 reality series to add to your watch list

Villas full of sexy singles competing to find love? Sign us up every time! Gay dating shows are putting a queer spin on the reality dating show genre and quickly becoming some of our favorite series to watch during Pride Month and beyond. 

We've seen an uptick in LGBTQ TV shows as of late, especially in the reality genre, what with series like The Ultimatum: Queer Love on Netflix—featuring a cast of women and non-binary daters—and I Kissed a Boy on BBC, following ten single gay men who are matched up and meet for the first time "...with a kiss." (Duh.)

Here are five fun gay dating shows to seek out for your next TV binge.

The best gay dating shows to stream now:

1. The Ultimatum: Queer Love

• Where to watch: Netflix

This spinoff of Netflix's The Ultimatum—which hit the streamer on Wednesday, May 24—follows the same premise as the original series, but this time with an all-LGBTQ+ cast and with JoAnna Garcia Swisher taking over hosting duties from Nick and Vanessa Lachey. During the two-month experiment in San Diego, California (here's exactly where The Ultimatum: Queer Love was filmed, if you're curious), five couples, made up of women and non-binary people, are required to break up with their partners, date new people in "trial marriages," and then get back together with their former significant others. And, yes, things get messy. 

2. I Kissed A Boy

• Where to watch: BBC iPlayer

Declared "the UK's first gay dating show," this BBC3 series takes a page out of Love Island UK's playbook, with ten gay singles moving into a "masseria" (an Italian farmhouse) and looking to kickstart a relationship off the strength of a kiss. (Don't have BBC3 or BBC iPlayer where you live? Don't fret! Our go-to VPN, Express VPN, will allow you to change your IP address so your device thinks it's in another location—say, the UK—so you can don't miss any of the show's many smooches.) 

Host Dannii Minogue told our sister site, What to Watch: "The first time they meet, they will kiss...If you have ever been clubbing, spotted someone you were attracted to like a magnet, kissed, and then got to know them—this is it, but with a little help from me and the I Kissed A Boy love matching team."

3. Love Allways

• Where to watch: Paramount+

"A perfect match knows no gender," reads the tagline of this 10-episode Paramount+ newcomer, which follows pansexual TikTok sensation Lexi Paloma as she tries to find love with the help of two professional relationship experts Spicy Mari and Anthony Recenello. The dating gurus have culled together teams of potential suitors—who are of all genders and all Gen Z—who they will coach with the aim of winning Lexi over. Expect things to get very dramatic when the contestants begin to fall for each other.

4. Are You the One?

• Where to watch: Paramount+

The MTV dating series, which is available to stream on Paramount+, isn't usually an LGBTQ+-focused program, but that all changed with season 8 of the reality show, which featured 16 sexually fluid contestants all looking for a love connection. Those  queer, bi, pan, trans, and nonbinary players mix and mingle in paradise as they try to identify their predetermined perfect matches—quantified via questionnaires, interviews and more with each contestant—with the hope of not only a relationship but also with $1,000,000 on the line. 

5. Perfect Match

• Where to watch: Netflix

Adding some much-needed diversity to the reality dating show genre, Netflix's crossover dating competition Perfect Match—which pulled its stars from fellow series including Love Is Blind, Too Hot to Handle, The Circle, etc—saw its first same-sex coupling when THTH star Francesca Farago, who pursued a connection with Twentysomethings: Austin alum Abbey Humphreys. 

The opportunity to match with another woman was a refreshing one for Farago, a bisexual, who told Variety: "I reached a point where I wasn’t sure if I wanted to remain in the house anymore because I just I didn’t know if there was someone for me there. I knew who was there, men-wise, and I was like, ‘I don’t know if I can waste anyone’s time by continuing to match with these men that I know I’m not going to get along with.’ Then, I found out there was a possibility of me being matched with a female, and I was like, ‘In that case, I will stay for that.’ I wasn’t even sure if it was going to happen because it was a heterosexual show. But I’m glad that it happened, and I’m glad that that relationship happened as well. I kind of just switched up the game."