Parents' Guide to

Are You the One?

By Melissa Camacho, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 16+

Reality series with irresponsible dating, drinking messages.

TV MTV Reality TV 2014
Are You the One? Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this TV show.

Community Reviews

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age 17+

Based on 2 parent reviews

Onelove1
Onelove1 Adult
September 16, 2020
age 18+

Okay

I love love and like to see shows that helps other find love. I feel with this show it could help their contestant more as they don’t really develop the skills they need to have the relationship they came on the show to have. Also grammatically, when the host says, “the number of matches is”, isn’t correct. It is, “the number of matches are”. I think he could also show more empathy. It is great that the contestants so far have won the money as it helped to ease their suffering around their lack of relationship growth. Contestants on this show are trusting this process and it is awesome to see development in them. It is upsetting to be witnessing domestic violence. I wish the best to the contestants and hope the process has helped them.

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much sex
Too much consumerism
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
Jervisio123
Jervisio123 Adult
October 24, 2018
age 16+

Brainless mind gunk

Don't let your children ever watch this unless you want them turning out a mindless unintelligent individual, driven by sexual endeavours and the lust for irrelevant gossip. I'd instead recommend a good book or factual documentary.

This title has:

Too much sex
Too much swearing
Too much consumerism
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
See all 2 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Hosted by Ryan Devlin, ARE YOU THE ONE? is a reality show featuring a cast of relationship-challenged twentysomethings hoping to find their perfect match and win a cash prize. After going through a rigorous matchmaking process, 20 perfectly matched men and women move into a luxury home in Kauai, Hawaii. The catch? No one knows who's been matched to whom. Each cast member must figure out who to pair up with and determine whether they're the right match. Throughout the experience, they play for perks such as getaway dates as well as chances to learn whether couples are correctly matched. If all 20 people find their perfect match within 10 tries, the entire cast gets to split $1 million.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (2):
Kids say (3):

From following their hearts to shrewdly following their guts, Are You the One? contestants get to know one another physically and emotionally in a limited amount of time and within a manufactured context. But these connections can end quickly, since each person must be willing to switch partners and quickly attempt to find romance with someone else to find their designated match and win the money.

Teens who like this sort of voyeuristic entertainment most will likely be drawn to it, but like many MTV reality shows, it features lots of over-the-top behavior. But what's more troubling are the confusing messages it sends about dating and finding the perfect person to building a relationship with.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the reasons TV shows feature risky behavior, such as casual sex, excessive drinking, and other activities. What kind of impact does showing this behavior to kids have? Is it possible for TV shows and movies to be entertaining without showing these things?

  • Is being on a reality TV show a good way to find a perfect match or start a relationship? Is the romance featured on these shows real, or is it played up for the cameras?

TV Details

  • Premiere date: January 21, 2014
  • Cast: Ryan Devlin
  • Network: MTV
  • Genre: Reality TV
  • TV rating: TV-14
  • Last updated: May 25, 2023

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