A MATCHMAKER is hoping lockdown love will blossom thanks to a social media show.

Brighton Is Blind, a parody of hit Netflix series Love Is Blind, will pit passionate punters in a series of recorded online dates with one another.

Each person will rank their dates and film post-date confessions.

But the contestants’ identities will be kept secret with alter egos until the winning couple is decided.

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Organiser Ella Parker, who lives in the city, has already had a few lovebirds apply for the show.

She hopes the project will help people find love and “give people a reason to stay at home”.

“The idea is humans are naturally social creatures, this allows people to connect and potentially find love authentically while encouraging everyone to stay home,” Ella said.

“I’ve seen similar ideas in America in Washington DC and Boston.

“Right now lot of people aren’t working and we have no idea how long this is going to last.

“So hopefully this will create authentic connections between people in Brighton.

“We all need to stay at home so I want to give people a reason to stay at home. It’s a nice community project.

“Hopefully something beautiful will come out of it.”

Ella hopes to donate money raised by the show to bars in Brighton currently under lockdown.

“It would be great if we could get bar owners to nominate single employees for the show,” she said.

“I’m hoping to get businesses and some of the bars and coffee shops to support it and have the money raised go towards those that lost profits due to this outbreak.

“I’m reaching out to bar owners to see if they’d like to get involved in some way.

“I would love to make this more of a community project with everyone getting involved.

“Hopefully we can introduce some interaction too so everyone can vote for their favourite couple.

“There are a lot of influencers in Brighton so maybe they could take part too.

“It’s just a good way to get people to connect with each other while obeying the lockdown laws.”

But Ella also plans to use some of the money to send the winning couple on a post-pandemic date.

“Hopefully when this is all over the couples can meet and we can film their first physical date,” she said.

You can follow Brighton Is Blind on Instagram @brightonisblind.

Anyone interested in taking part should email brightonisblind@gmail.com. Entry is £5.

Bars, coffee shops, or venues interested getting involved should also email brightonisblind@gmail.com.

  • The coronavirus Sussex Crisis Fund has been set up to help those affected by the pandemic. The Argus’s charity and American Express have each donated £50,000 to kick-start the appeal. Grants will usually be for up to £5,000. More information is available at www.sussexgiving. org.uk/apply. To donate visit www.totalgiving.co.uk/appeal/sussexcrisisfund