Life after Love is Blind Habibi: Cast of Netflix show share their experiences

“I play into the perception of me, but it's not really me,” the world's most famous reality TV star, Kim Kardashian, once said. The freshly-minted stars of Netflix's hugely successful Love is Blind Habibi will have to wrestle with that as they move on with their lives off camera. Will they play to the gallery for more fame and hopefully some financial gain? Or will they go back to their regular lives and careers as if nothing happened? For many of the cast members, the second option is no longer a possibility. “My mum and I were having lunch the other day at this restaurant in Dubai and this lady comes up to me, tells me how much she loved the show and started a full-blown conversation,” Mohamed “Mido” Gahed tells The National . “It was a bit awkward because we were in the middle of lunch and I started sensing that my mum was getting uncomfortable. But I know all this will fade.” The Dubai resident and real estate consultant from Egypt adds: “Soon there will be a second season and we'll all be forgotten.” A regional version of the hit reality show and social experiment , Love is Blind Habibi featured 20 single people from across the Arab world – 10 men and 10 women – who were looking to find love but had to choose their partners without seeing each other first. Six participants , including Mido, found their partners and got engaged, but only one couple – Safa and Mohammed – eventually walked down the aisle. The show ranked No 6 globally on Netflix's non-English shows chart and has been viewed more than 1.6 million times since its launch in October. “I can no longer go out looking dishevelled. I always have to be on point,” laughs fashion entrepreneur Hajar Asli. While she appreciates the recognition as a blessing, she adds that it also comes with challenges. “In this world, you will always encounter both those who love you and those who do not, and this should encourage you to focus on the positive aspects of life,” she says. “But it warms my heart to see how people look up to me for advice and want to know more about my life and experiences.” On the show, sparks flew between Hajar, who is from Morocco, and her compatriot and business owner Mohamed "Simo" Nasrollah. But the pair did not see eye-to-eye on many things, leading to a few fiery exchanges and Simo's sudden exit. Fellow participant Khatab Hindi, an Iraqi-Canadian architect and DJ, had a similar fate on the show. His partner, Asma Sami, decided not to go ahead with their relationship after their first face-to-face meeting. Asma, an Egyptian entrepreneur and marketing director, did however return to the show, only to leave Khatab again at the alter on their wedding day as she was unable to get the blessings of her parents because of the speed of their relationship. Khatab says the show has changed his life in “numerous positive ways”. He explains: “I’ve been able to reach a broader audience with my music, sharing my sound with individuals I might never have encountered otherwise. This has opened doors I never imagined.” The fame, however, comes with a significant sense of responsibility, he says. “Knowing that people are closely observing my actions can be stressful,” Khatab says. “Each decision feels more impactful than ever. “The loss of privacy has been an adjustment. Before the show, life felt simpler and more personal, but now much of my world is shared with the public. But, despite these shifts, I am grateful for all that it has brought into my life.” Another participant whose storyline struck a chord with audiences was Karma Ben Messaoud. The Tunisian business owner was one of the first participants to get engaged on the show. However, as she and Syrian dentist Ammar Zam got to know each other more at the resort, their beliefs and independent views clashed. A passionate dancer, Karma was uncomfortable with Ammar's stance that he would never allow his wife to dance, leading her to call off the relationship. “I've received numerous messages and personal stories from both women and men, expressing how my journey prompted them to reflect on various aspects of their own lives,” she says. “I now feel part of a larger community with whom I can share my thoughts and connect on a deeper, soulful level. This aligns perfectly with my vision of human connection. Meeting people on the street who tell me how my words have inspired them regarding self-love, self-expression, and feminine energy has been a true delight.” As the only couple who made it down the aisle, Iraqi finance manager Safa Al Juboori and Jordanian marketing manager Mohammed AlKiswani are among the show's most popular participants. Safa says she's cultivated all the attention into a force for good: “Our journey has reminded me that true connection arises when you’re willing to be open, take risks and embrace vulnerability.” she says. “This experience has also provided me with a platform to empower others, particularly women, to pursue their dreams without sacrificing love.” Mohammed, meanwhile, likens it to a rebirth. “This experience didn’t just transform me, it shaped me into a person I never imagined I could be,” he says. “It opened up a whole new world and revealed aspects of myself I hadn’t recognised before. Beyond discovering ‘the one,’ I found myself.” Mido, whose contentious match and dramatic break-up with Lebanese model Nour El Haj has divided fans, says he has no regrets taking part in the show. “I knew what I was getting into from the start,” he says. “I knew that being on such a global platform we were going to get fans and critics from all over the world, from Brazil to Cuba and Colombia. People have taken different interpretations depending on their culture or upbringing.” “But I take it as an important learning experience. It has helped me value myself more. Because, at the end of the day, you're never going to satisfy everybody. You cannot make everyone happy.” Mido and Nour came together after their respective primary connections got engaged to other people. But during the second phase of the relationship, when the six couples are flown to a luxury resort , the couple quickly found out that they had very little in common. A dramatic break-up soon followed, with Mido convinced Noor still has feelings for fellow participant Chafic. “We're very different. Better to go different ways than disrespecting each other,” Mido tells Nour. To which she replies: “Yeah, good.” At the reunion, which was filmed a year later, Mido doubled down on his accusations against Nour, this time with the support of Chafic and his fiancee-turned-girlfriend Dounia. Mido also accused Nour of agreeing to their engagement just so that she could stay on the show. The move further split their fan bases, with many accusing Mido and his friends of ganging up against Nour. “There are things that I said that people have taken the wrong way,” he explains. “But there is a difference between having a standard and a preference. If you're looking for a guy who is not a smoker or not a drinker, that's a preference. But having a standard is saying you want to find someone who is well-off financially, who can provide a secure life for you and your kids. “Saying you have standards because you want a man who will take you on dates and a table full of food, these are preferences for dating life. We are in an experiment for marriage, to find our life partners. So no, I don't think anyone ganged up on anyone.” Filming the reunion was very tense, he adds. “People don't know that we had to shoot for 12 hours. And for nine hours, we only had breakfast. And when you're hungry and thirsty and put in a hostile situation in front of cameras, it makes everything intense and emotional. Also, remember that you're only seeing a few minutes of many, many hours of filming.” While he's no longer in touch with Nour, despite remaining friends with other participants, Mido says he wishes her all the best. “The show has been a chapter that has been closed already. I moved on with my life,” he says. “I apologised to her at the reunion, I also apologised on TikTok publicly where I said, 'You have all my respect, no matter what. We have different standards. That doesn't make you a bad person. That doesn't make me a bad person. We are just different.'” If he were to go on the show again, he'd do it a little differently, he adds. “I'd be more target oriented to my goals in life, maybe tone down the sense of humour a little, and make little more attempt to understand my partner and what they're looking for in a man. I think it's also very important to know what future plans they have, because I cannot deal with someone who has no ambitions.” While he's still working as a real estate consultant, Mido has also gone into content creation to take advantage of his newfound fame. “We're working a few projects that would suit me and what I do,” he says. “We have a few collaborations coming up and I have a big fashion announcement coming soo, so expect something big soon.”

Life after Love is Blind Habibi: Cast of Netflix show share their experiences

Social experiment was the Arab version of the hit international series