Netflix Renews Controversial Reality Show for Season 2

Bachelor Nation's Nick Viall, 44, and his wife Natalie Joy, 26 — who met when she messaged him on social media, as she revealed in the series premiere — host 40 singles between the ages of 22 and 60. They date each other at a destination retreat, but there is one forbidden phrase that they dare not speak: "How old are you?"

Participants only learn each other's ages if they decide to go to the "promise room" (think the Jonas Brothers in the mid-2000s) and declare their love to each other. Then, they proceed to move in together for a trial relationship a la one of Netflix's other strange reality dating shows, The Ultimatum.

'Age of Attraction' Made Audiences Uncomfortable

Age of Attraction premiered just as Season 10 of Netflix's other dating show with a bizarre concept, Love Is Blind, ended, in perfect time to fill the discourse gap. The Washington Post immediately declared it a dud, arguing that while the contestants' ages were supposed to be a closely guarded secrets, their appearances made them pretty obvious. "The older people have crows feet. The younger people have baby fat. The middle people know the lyrics to the Spice Girls," columnist Monica Hesse wrote. Former Bachelor contestant Sharleen Joynt said on her podcast that the show made her "uncomfortable."

The Independent, meanwhile, called it "an Oedipus complex disguised as a dating show." Critic Ellie Muir continued, "On some level, the show does pose real moral questions. Like, what happens when your girlfriend is only eight years older than your 14-year-old daughter? Or how do you react when the person you’re falling for turns out to be the same age as your dad?"