The Big Picture

A majority of American women are unfamiliar with famous European soccer players.

Love Undercover
had participants struggle with fame and anonymity while dating.
Renee and Brittany faced online hate but have no regrets about their reality TV experience.

Peacock’s new reality series, Love Undercover, took a group of famed soccer players and brought them to the United States in the hopes of finding love. According to Statista, only 5% of American women are avid soccer fans, while 20% are casual fans. This is in comparison to the 18% of men who are avid fans and 31% who are casual fans. So, needless to say, with the exception of uber-famous names like David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo, most American women are unaware of some of Europe’s most beloved soccer stars.

This is precisely why the concept of Love Undercover so worked well. The women brought on the show to date the players had no idea who they were, and some of the men struggled with this more than others. Lloyd Jones, Sebastián Fassi, Ryan Babel, Marco Fabián, and Jamie O’Haraare the stars of the series, and they quickly discovered how difficult it was to shed their fame for anonymity.

One person who particularly struggled with it was Jamie O’Hara, who shared in an interview with Collider that he hated that part of the experience. Despite how much he hated the experience, he still ended the experience in a relationship with Reneé Ash. Brittany Gibson was dating Sebastián and was very happy before he ended things while visiting his home in Spain. After the season ended, some illuminating discoveries came to light and led to unfortunate heartache.Collider spoke with Renee and Brittany to hear more about their experience, as well as if they’d take another chance on reality TV after their Love Undercover experience.

Love Undercover (2024) A unique reality dating series where participants must balance forming romantic connections with maintaining undercover identities. Each contestant has a concealed background, and their partners are unaware of their true selves. Throughout the show, contestants undertake various challenges designed to test their ability to keep their secrets while fostering authentic relationships. The series builds up to the moment when true identities are unveiled, revealing whether the bonds formed can survive the revelations.Release Date May 9, 2024 Cast Jared Freid , Jamie O’Hara , Ryan Babel , Lloyd Jones , Marco Fabián , Sebastián Fassi Seasons 1

Renee Ash Shares What Happened With Jamie O’Hara After ‘Love Undercover’
Image via Peacock

Renee and Jamie connected immediately when they met. Jamie, who has been retired for several years, had a rough time finding women who wanted to connect with him, and when Renee chose him, it seemed like a match made in heaven. “I think I met my match on the show,” Renee said when asked whether or not she wished she had gotten to know another one of the players. The romance that developed between Jamie and Renee was sweet to watch, especially with the amount of trouble he had finding connections. Jamie even considered quitting the show entirely, as his ego got hit after hit, but, luckily, his romance with Renee blossomed.

Unfortunately, once the cameras stopped rolling, Renee says things took a turn. She shared in a separate interview with DailyMail that Jamie broke up with her right after filming ended and that he had allegedly been lying to her the whole time. “We filmed the full entirety of the show from June to a couple of weeks into July, and I didn’t even last a week living with him,” she said in that interview, adding, “There was so much to his life that I don’t know about it…like a whole girlfriend.” Jamie has since insisted that he was single during the time of Love Undercover and that his relationship with her was genuine, while Renee believes that he wanted to gain fame with American audiences. In spite of this, Renee has no regrets about the experience. “I look back, and I’ve questioned the same thing, but I was meant to meet Jamie in my life.”

Brittany Gibson Shares Where Things Stand With Sebastián Fassi Since Leaving Spain
Image via Peacock

Viewers had a lot of strong opinions about Brittany during the season. Her journey was also interesting, and she began developing a relationship with Sebastián, who had been pretty flaky in his connections throughout the process. After visiting his home in Spain, Brittany began to get excited about the future, while Sebastián began having second thoughts, the same second thoughts he had with just about every woman he dated during the season. Sebastián and Lloyd, who were quite popular with the women, subsequently struggled with handling dating all of them at once. Sebastián went back and forth a few times before choosing Brittany and in Spain, cemented what he was feeling.

He did make the right decision to say something when he felt it, and Brittany, while hurt, took the situation as well as anyone could. When asked if she’s spoken with Sebastián since filming ended, Brittany said, “I’ve actually spent a couple of different occasions with Sebastian. We’ve partied together. I’ve met his friends and stuff outside of the show and everything.” Of the outcomes from the show, Brittany had one of the better experiences. She may not have found love, but she did make a great friend. “To be honest, I’m really the kind of person that’s like, ‘You know what? Done. I don’t care.’ Like we’re cool. Move on.”

Brittany and Renee Reflect on Their Reality TV Experience on ‘Love Undercover’
Image via Peacock

Both Renee and Brittany have no regrets about doing the show, even with viewers’ responses to them on social media. Both Renee and Brittany received a lot of online hate from fans of the show. It’s not that surprising; online bullying has increased dramatically as social media continues to create access between public figures and regular people. People feel emboldened to say whatever they want to whomever they want, as they have the minor anonymity provided by screens. Renee is no stranger to this; as a popular influencer, she found herself embroiled in a scandal that made her a target for online vitriol. “I’m used to hate. The hate, it doesn’t get to me,” she shared, adding, “I honestly just feel sorry for the people that are on their computers, or on their phones, with nothing else to do but to talk sh*t.”

Renee’s sentiments aren’t off the mark by any means. According to VeryWellMind, the people who engage in online harassment mostly likely have mental health issues tied to their behavior, or they simply get pleasure from making other people feel bad. Whatever their reason, both Brittany and Renee are paying their haters no mind. “You know, out of everyone, I’m getting the most negative responses,” Brittany shared. “It is what it is. Like, for me, I’m a really ‘don’t give a sh*t’ type person. I just don’t read it.” Ignoring them is the best option to a point, as they often are hoping to get a rise out of the person they’re harassing. “[In] this day and age somebody there’s always going to be somebody who’s hating on somebody. I think your haters are also fans, and at this point, it is what it is.”

The full season of Love Undercover is available for streaming exclusively on Peacock and will begin airing on Bravo on June 20, 2024.

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