Kriti Mehrotra
Amazon Prime Video’s ‘The One That Got Away’ features six diverse singles as they embark on a quest for love by exploring second chances and a lifetime of missed connections from their past. In other words, it allows the cast to rediscover both themselves as well as the people they’ve previously known in a different light, whether it be childhood friends, school crushes, or even one-time flirts. So now, since this Betty Who-hosted production does incorporate quite a lot of never-been-seen aspects, let’s figure out precisely how much of it is authentic (if at all), shall we?
Is The One That Got Away Scripted?
From the moment ‘The One That Got Away’ was first announced, with Elan Gale (‘The Bachelor’ franchise) as executive producer and showrunner, it has been billed as a purely unscripted series. This means not a single personal conversation, emotion, action, or situation is pre-penned or directed by skilled professionals, just to later be carefully executed in front of rolling cameras. Yes, the producers likely steer the confessionals for dramatic effect and undeniably plan/set up each date beforehand to ensure they have the right filming angles, but honestly, that seems to be it.
After all, the cast of this reality dating series backs its genuinity every chance they get, touching upon not only the way they helped one another through its process but also the lack of outside touch. “The nice thing is,” Vince Xu said in an interview with fresh pair of iis, “we were on this show, and we didn’t have any distractions; no cell phones, nothing. So we were really invested in just trying to find love and figure out what we wanted first.” Jeff Perla then added the best part for him was getting to embrace this entire experience with a handful of new, ever-supportive people who were there for the same reasons he was.
“We all just got to watch each other go through these genuine connections who were coming through for us,” Jeff stated. “I mean, we’d wake up every day. We’d work out. We’d shower. We’d pick each other’s outfits out to go on dates, and then we’d come back and just like lay in Vince’s bed and [ask], ‘How was it? How did your date go?’ And then do it all again the next day.” Since Nigel Sydnor even admitted they often essentially discussed the pros and cons of the people they were dating, the fact the show often alluded to these private conversations is actually it keeping it real.
More importantly, though, because the girls conceivably followed a similar pattern, Kasey Ma going to Allyssa Anderson’s room and finding her potential partner Dylan Palladino there was thus ostensibly not scripted either. Of course, the way the confessionals of these individuals were set up between the scenes, thanks to post-production editing magic, was deliberate to emphasize the dramatic point, but that doesn’t make it fake. Even the producers asking them curt, specific questions during these one-on-one interviews doesn’t make it scripted — it’s manipulation, not manufacturing. In simpler words, every essential facet of ‘The One That Got Away’ is as real as it comes.
Read More: The One That Got Away: Where Are They Now?
