'Blind Date' Features Its First Trans Woman in Revival Series

Reality show junkies are desperate for some diversity in their dating shows. Are You the One’s queer season was an absolute joy of a hot mess, and calls for The Bachelor franchise to jump away from its “traditional” norms happen every season. But an old staple of reality TV dating that’s been brought back to life has embraced the basic truth that dating isn’t just for cis hetero people.

Blind Date aired for nearly a decade in the early 2000s, and started back up again last year, as part of Bravo’s line-up. Much like the name suggests, it pairs two people who have never met one another to go on a blind date. And a recent episode did something long overdue — it gave us the show’s very first out trans woman to be featured on the show.

Ciara made Blind Date history, and was ultimately matched up with Tucker, a cis man who had never been on a date with a trans woman before.

The episode aired last week (but you can watch a clip here), and the two potential lovebirds seemed to have an enjoyable time. Unfortunately, Ciara wound up moving to a new city, cutting off any potential romance. But still, she says, it was a great experience.

“I was very nervous, of course, but it was a lot of fun, actually,” she told The Wrap. “I actually, at some point, forgot the cameras were there.”

She adds that she was treated very well by everyone on the cast and crew: “Everybody was very nice and accommodating and that made me feel very comfortable, so that part was amazing.”

One of the reasons it was important to her to go on the show was because she wants the world to start realizing that there are trans people out there every day, beyond just the highly visible celebrities such as Janet Mock and Laverne Cox, “who are amazing representation for transgender women,” she noted.

But having Ciara appear as just another contestant on another average reality dating show, she hopes, will allow “that door to be open for cisgender men who are trans-attracted to follow that.”