Netflix star called out ‘weird’ casting on viral dating show and then got hired by them
She originally appeared in season one of the series
The Ultimatum: Queer Love season two kicked off this summer and saw six couples put their relationships to the test. People just got to see the journeys of the 12 cast members play out on screen. And, it turns out a former participant on the show was key to their reality TV stardom. Speaking on Love Is Blind star Amber Desiree ‘AD’ Smith’s What’s The Reality podcast, Mal Wright revealed how she ended up working behind the scenes after experiencing an “interesting” casting process herself.
Mal Wright on The Ultimatum’s ‘weird’ casting
Mal Wright was one of the 12 participants cast on The Ultimatum: Queer Love’s first season in 2023.
The hit dating series, created by Chris Coelen, came as a spin-off after The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On?.
The show’s second season just aired. As people round off bingeing season two, Mal is also lifting the lid on how she actually ended up working behind the scenes.
Speaking to Love Is Blind’s AD, she said: “Being the only Black person cast in my season and wanting to do a different type of show, I spoke to one of the old casting directors that I worked with previously and just asked questions like ‘How do you do this? How do you get into casting?’ and they were like ‘Do you want to get cast or do you want to work in casting?’ And I said ‘Well, let’s talk about both.”
Mal added: “I brought up how interesting and weird it was to be the only Black person on the cast. How does that happen?”
Going from participant to a member of the casting team on the Netflix show, Mal said: “It felt really good to ask some deeper questions, like why people don’t get on these shows.”
She was rooting for one season two couple
Mal shared what it was like working on the casting team after raising what her experience was like with Netflix’s team.
“It was really interesting to see how they make decisions about the cast and how it is important that it mimics the world around you, so it is relatable to the people that are watching,” she explained.
“It was cool to be able to give insight to cast members… It’s different when you have somebody who’s done it.”
She said she was really “honest” with the season two participants and also warned them the process would be “hard.”
Mal said she was rooting for AJ and Brit in season two. The Netflix star added how she “didn’t remember seeing Marita and Ashley.”
Reflecting on the show, she added: “I think all the matches made as much sense as they could make.”
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