Love to See It with Emma and Claire

For the first time ever, we’re covering “Married at First Sight”! The franchise’s 20th season, set in Seattle, kicked off last week with three episodes. The first batch of episodes introduced us to seven couples – including one semi-professional reality star (hey there, Nick from “The Circle”), a man who only travels via jet ski, and a woman who claims not to remember January 6th – as well as a handful of problematic dads. It’s an overabundance of couples, and most of them seem doomed from jump. Leigh and Claire discuss the threads of conservatism in this cast, how many of the men are bursting with ego or can’t stop pushing their new wives’ sexual boundaries, and how hopeful we are that each couple will find a love story together. (Spoiler: Not very!)

After an epic season of “Love Island,” we have a lot of catching up to do! This episode, we get into some Bachelor Nation news, as well as the post-villa drama and gossip that has already begun to percolate from our new “Love Island” alums. Then, it’s time for book club! We read the new memoir from former “Bachelor” producer Julie LaPlaca, “The Love Producer” – and took in some of the discourse about it. So we dig into her revelations about the inappropriate relationship she claims to have developed with Peter Weber while producing his season, her romanticization of the entanglement, and her preoccupation with becoming the Bachelorette herself.

It’s “Love Island” graduation week! Emma pops back in from maternity leave this episode to offer her hot takes on this final batch of episodes. The families come through to offer their blessings or curses on the couples (for Melanie and Sincere, it’s a quadruple hex that still isn’t strong enough to destroy their connection). The couples partake in one final grotesque challenge, romantically transferring mushroom soup and mayonnaise from mouth to mouth and then making out on a slip’n’slide. They are sent on EPIC final dates to remember, like making pizza together on a floating bungalow, reading a love story written about them in a fairytale bower, or eating hard sandwiches tied in twine next to a swamp. Zach shows his devotion to Kayda by promising to follow her wherever she goes, presumably so he has a place to stay, and Bryce and Trinity level up their relationship even further. It all builds to a finale that warmed our romantic hearts.

There’s a lot of dopey financial advice out there. Jill Schlesinger is here to call it out, answer your questions, break down the financial news that actually matters, and help you manage your money without losing your mind. No jargon. No judgment. Just clear, actionable financial guidance about saving, investing, buying a home, managing your career, and deciding how to spend your hard-earned dollars. When it’s time to panic, Jill will tell you. When everyone else is panicking and you shouldn’t be, Jill will tell you that too. Your money. Your move. Let’s go.

Movie Night, the cataclysmic climax of “Love Island,” has come to an end, and the islanders have spent the week sweeping up and sorting through the emotional wreckage. Apologies are made and accepted, old grievances aired out. Dylan finally lets go of his resentment that Kenzie didn’t commit to the boys she met before him, and Melanie, under pressure from her castmates, lets go of her no-kisses-for-Sincere boundary. The couples find out how America ranks them – which leaves Zach and Kayda unmoored, but KC and Titi bolstered. There’s a flurry of commitment conversations, and even a remarkably poorly executed scavenger hunt. We all have a rousing debate about the difference between a “situationship” and “dating exclusively,” and end up even more confused. The finale looms! Who will emerge victorious?