‘The One That Got Away:’ Would You Ever Date Your Ex?
YR Media columnist Erianna Jiles met with the cast of Prime Video’s new reality series, “The One That Got Away,” to talk about love, rekindling old flames and the dynamics of a new reality experiment.
It’s not always easy to find love. We’ve all been there. But what if the person you’re meant to spend your future with is from your past?
Well, Prime Video’s new reality series “The One That Got Away” tests the theory. The show is hosted by singer Betty Who and follows six singles — Allyssa, Ashley, Jeff, Nigel, Kasey and Vince — on their quest for love as they revisit connections from their past.
From high school crushes to old college study buddies, each contestant comes face to face with “the portal,” a cloudy, mythical entrance where they each wait nervously to see if a potential soulmate comes through the other side.
“I kind of love the aspect that it’s never been done before,” said Jeff, 28, ”Who wouldn’t want to just go on a whole bunch of dates with people who want to revisit a connection with you?”
The idea is pretty telling.
The first episode starts off on a good note, especially for Jeff. He’s connected with a former confirmation classmate that reminds him of his own coming out story, as well as what it means to be vulnerable and feel butterflies for someone again.
“I found the people who [come] through [the portal] bring you back to who you were back then… and when I saw him come through it kind of gave me [this] wave of omg that’s what I used to feel like,” He said, “It was really interesting trying to navigate each individual person and relationship, and how they came into your life to begin with.”
Jeff set the bar pretty high for the other contestants as he and his connection rejoined the group with gushing smiles and hearted-eyes, as they told them the origin story of how they met.
But not all connections were this easy…
By the time Allyssa, 25, took her turn to face the portal, all the hopeful energy around finding “the one” turned sour. Allyssa was greeted by a nerdy high school crush who she obviously hadn’t thought about romantically for YEARS.
“I’m a huge believer in spirituality…I think that in a lot of ways this was just serendipity. I felt when I was presented with this show it was a strike of fate, and I really had to take that leap and not look back.”
Throughout the remainder of the episode, Allyssa makes it known that there’s no future for her and her former crush. In fact, she spends the rest of the episode distant with disappointment written all over her face. In her confessions, Allysa grapples hard with expectations and the power of attraction. She ends up being the only contestant in this round who lacks natural chemistry and optimism to find true love.
“I’ve learned to give people more grace with love.” Allyssa said, “Not everybody is going to live by your rules… but by the end of the show, I think you’ll be able to see that I leave a completely different person, and I think that’s true for every single one of us.”
This is just the tip of the iceberg for these determined romantics.
Stream all 10 episodes of “The One That Got Away” now on Prime Video.