Jasmine Goode and Melissa Carelli Tie the Knot: Can They Join Reality TV’s Longest-Lasting Couples?
Last weekend, Jasmine Goode and Melissa Carelli became the latest reality TV couple to tie the knot. The couple, best known for their work together on The Valley, said “I do” at the Crossed Keys Estate in New Jersey in front of a star-studded guest list. Goode, who rose to fame on The Bachelor, met Carelli off-screen before they made their relationship a more public spectacle. That bodes better for the long-term survival of their marriage than if they had met on a dating show, but it still feels like reality TV couples are built to detonate. We’re rooting for Goode and Carelli; in fact, we think they could join these reality TV couples whose marriages have stood the test of time. While marriages often falter under the scrutiny of reality TV stardom, these stars have made it work.
Reality TV doesn’t yield great romance results
Celebrity couples are generally more likely to divorce than couples whose lives don’t play out in front of the public eye. Busy schedules, public scrutiny, and time apart are key factors in the demise of celebrity marriages. Reality TV stars, especially those who set out to find love on camera, are even more likely to split.
According to several sources, couples who met on reality TV dating shows have strikingly high split rates. Forty seasons of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette have yielded just a 22% success rate. Netflix’s Love Is Blind has an even lower success rate, with only around 12.5% of on-screen engagements producing marriages that last beyond a year. Not every reality TV couple is doomed, though.
The rare couples who beat the odds
Reality television is a notorious graveyard for romance, which makes the survivors all the more beloved. Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi and her husband, Jionni LaValle, for example, have been making it work, despite meeting on camera. The two met in 2010 at Club Karma in Seaside Heights while Snooki was filming Jersey Shore’s third season. While it wasn’t love at first sight, and there was plenty of drama, the couple wed in 2014. They now have three children together. They’ve weathered an Ashley Madison scandal, more than a few divorce rumors, and a health scare, but they are still keeping it together, and they seem comfortable in their current life.
Trista and Ryan Sutter are one of the rare Bachelorette success stories. The couple met back in 2003, during the inaugural season of the series. They fell in love fast and got engaged in the finale. Their romance is the type of love that has managed to sustain the entire franchise, despite its lackluster results elsewhere. The couple has been married for more than two decades and shares two children.
Trista and Ryan might be the gold standard of dating show love, but they are not alone in their longevity. Sean Lowe and Catherine Giudici found each other on Season 17 of The Bachelor in 2013. They married in the franchise’s first-ever live televised wedding, which feels like it should have been the kiss of death. It was not. With 12 years of marriage and three kids, they’ve become one of the most durable success stories the show has ever produced.
There are couples from other shows, and even other formats, who seem to be going the distance, but the facts remain. Reality TV couples often fight an uphill battle to stay together. Here’s hoping that Jasmine and Melissa join the short but enviable list of reality TV love success stories.
