Love on the Spectrum creator breaks his silence amid controversy surrounding the show
He says producing reality shows used to be 'a lot more difficult'
Love on the Spectrum creator, Cian O’Clery, has recently spoken out amid the controversy surrounding the show. He has passionately told Vanity Fair how they “care about the people on the show” and revealed what led him to start the series in the first place, which has quickly become one of Netflix‘s top 10 most-watched shows ever.
Love on the Spectrum creator reveals he ‘cares’ about the cast
Cian O’Clery has revealed that he genuinely cares about the Love on the Spectrum cast, which he created with Karina Holden and production company Northern Pictures. Having worked on shows like Married at First Sight Australia, Cian has now said, “I’ve worked in the reality space back in the day where it was a lot more difficult. The people we work with are just so lovely and kind.”
He’s now proud of the Love on the Spectrum cast for speaking out against RFK’s recent comments about autism. Cian said, ““Good for them for speaking up. Obviously those comments are hurtful to some people. I think it’s great that people are turning to the cast from the series to be those voices of people who experienced this and who have the life experience to be able to speak to those things.”
When asked about how he produces a show that feels authentic to the lived experiences of the stars, he said, “The simple answer is that we care for the people we’re filming. We like them and we want what’s best for them. That’s always a part of everything we do. When you like the people you’re filming with, you respect them. You want them to be happy with the product at the end of the day.”
‘You don’t want to feel you’ve done a disservice’
While some former cast members like Kaelynn have revealed the producers didn’t think her storyline was interesting enough, the Love on the Spectrum creator says otherwise about the stars. Cian said, “You don’t want them to turn around and feel like you’ve done them a disservice by telling their story in a certain way. It is a line that you dance.”
He added, “Sometimes, there are things that we’ll take out that might be really entertaining or really interesting, but we feel doesn’t necessarily represent the person in the best way or in the best light. Hopefully, we’ve managed to tell everyone’s stories in a way that people are happy with. I mean, the participants themselves are really happy, which is great. They’re the most important critics.”
Cian has been applauded for leaving real-life experiences in season three, such as the moment Brandon Lemieux had to leave his date with Madison. He also spoke about working with the cast in terms of who they are, rather than their diagnosis and said: “In terms of the matches that we find for people, we talk to the people themselves. With each individual, we’re telling their story. We’re not telling a generic autism story.”
“We’re telling James’s story, we’re telling Pari’s story, we’re telling Madison’s story. We work with them and what they think—what kind of person they think would be a good match, what kind of person might be on a similar wavelength to them. Sometimes that’s someone who’s neurotypical. Sometimes that’s someone who’s autistic. Sometimes it’s somebody with Down syndrome. It’s about working with them,” he added.
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