Age didn’t matter for the fans, just the connection.
Indeed, so much so that Netflix announced that its unscripted dating series Age of Attraction will return for a second season.
“We love concepts that are impossible to look away from, and Age of Attraction nailed that from day one,” executive producers Jennifer O’Connell and Rebecca Quinn said in a statement on March 31. “It’s messy, it’s real, and that’s what makes it fun to watch. Huge thanks to Netflix for embracing this dating experiment with us. The response has been incredible, and we’re excited to push it even further in Season 2.”
For hosts Nick Viall and Natalie Joy—whose own age gap is 18 years—the show is an opportunity to “celebrate” people looking for romance outside an age range.
“If people made a connection where there was an age difference, we just wanted to give them permission to explore what was great about that relationship,” the Bachelor Nation alum, 45, told Fox News Digital in March. “And not worry about outside voices because those outside voices aren't in the relationship."
As for Natalie, 27, who is pregnant with the couple’s twins as well as mom to their daughter River Rose, 2, she sees Age of Attraction as a “safe space” for their singles.
The debut season saw the contestants putting their hearts on the line with their unconventional relationships. However, plenty of couples didn’t let doubt seal their fate, like Andrew Wheeler, 38, who connected with Libby Vodicka. Despite being nervous he would keep her from living out her 20s, the pair decided that giving their love a try was worth it and ended the season at the Commitment Ceremony.
And while some walked away from the show ready to continue their budding romance, Logan Goodrid, 29, ultimately decided he was ready to take his and Vanessa Drozda’s relationship a step further. In fact, after he requested the 49-year-old give back a her promise ring, he offered her an engagement ring.
"It's been a crazy roller coaster of a ride, but I'm not getting off anytime soon. I love the s--t out of you," he said. "You're someone who deserves everything, and someone who deserves the Kobe ring."
For Vanessa, that was an ending to her journey she didn’t see coming, as after accepting his proposal, she admitted, "I ran every scenario of what could happen when I was coming here, but the one scenario I didn't think of was finding the love of my life,"
It wasn’t all roses for some couples like Jorge Sanchez, 60, and 27-year-old Vanelle Fenmou, whose lifestyles just proved too different, as she emphasized on the show, “I don’t necessarily think it has anything to do with his age.”
Fans can see what the cast has been up to since filming when the season one reunion debuts on The Viall Files on April 1 at 7pm ET. Until Age of Attraction makes its return, keep reading for to find out the status of all of season one’s couples…
Despite their 20-year age gap, Pfeifer ultimately decided to "sacrifice" and move from Seattle to Dallas to try to make it work with the dad-of-two.
"I'm the luckiest girl in the whole world to have found you here. Many people spend their whole lives looking for what we found here," she told him at the Commitment Ceremony. "If I were to leave here without you, I may regret it for the rest of my life."
After reading a letter of approval from her three adult kids, Theresa felt it was worth it to battle any judgement that would come from her being double his age (54 to his 27) at the Commitment Ceremony, and they decided to give their love a shot.
"It makes me feel a lot more confident and happy to know that they wrote that to you. I had no idea what it said. And so, I don't want to walk away," she told him, adding in a confessional, "It's the connection that counts—not the candles on the cake."
Though Vanessa was all-in, saying she wanted to bring him "into my world," Logan was hesitant about dating someone 20 years older, expressing, "maybe I'm not the man for you."
Explaining that he was questioning whether their romance was "toxic" or "healthy," he told her on Commitment Day, "I need the promise ring back."
But after they shed the rings, Logan ultimately was ready to commit to her and shockingly got down on one knee.
"It's been a crazy roller coaster of a ride, but I'm not getting off anytime soon. I love the s--t out of you," he said. "You're someone who deserves everything, and someone who deserves the Kobe ring."
He presented her with an engagement ring and asked, "Do you want to continue this journey and do life together?" to which she said yes, marking her fifth time being engaged.
Chris—who is 15 years younger than Leah—decided to walk away after feeling suffocated by her always wanting to spend time with him.
"We've talked about our differences, and we laid out what we want out of a partner from day one. I think we both want to have a family. I think we both want to settle down. I think maybe we want it at different paces," he explained. "I do think that the age difference did cause an unnecessary pressure on both of us and put us in a situation where I, for the first time in my life, I felt like it was hard for me to be myself."
As he put it, "That's why ultimately, I feel that this partnership is not right."
"I've always want to be chosen, but I wasn't going to beg someone to choose me. I also can't turn a boy into a man either," she said in a confessional. "I was hoping to find my love here at the retreat, but I didn't. Overall, I think I've just learned who I am, and I'm a very strong, intelligent, beautiful woman and my future partner will be happy to be with me."
Though he expressed concerns that he was stopping Libby from living it up in her 20s, she told Andrew, who is 16 years her senior, "I really feel like you'd only be an addition to my life."
"I feel like it's finally my turn, like this might actually be my rom com happy ending," the dad-of-two told her. "I know, I'm so cheesy. I've been thinking a lot about what happens after this. And I don't know what your generation calls it these days—hard launch, soft launch, probably something way cooler than what I'm about to say—but I would really love to leave here with you as my girlfriend."
Libby agreed, with the pair making plans for her to go to Baltimore to meet his daughters.
The couple—who had the biggest age gap of the cast, with him being 33 years older—didn't make it to Commitment Day, splitting up while living together over disagreements about Vanelle's celibacy and Jorge's confrontation with a stranger on the street.
However, she noted, “I don’t necessarily think it has anything to do with his age.”