The Valentine: Things You Didn’t Know About Kean TV’s Show That Help Students Find Love

By Francheska Kubacki | Published February 28, 2022

If ABC’s The Bachelor had a baby with Netflix’s Love is Blind, Kean TV’s The Valentine would be it.

The Valentine was created by a current member and president of Kean TV, Maria Irvin in the spring of 2021 while classes and organizations met virtually. The idea was sparked during quarantine as options were limited regarding what Kean TV could do to create content.

They cast someone to be The Valentine, set them up on blind dates with other Kean students, and hope for the best–all while keeping the Kean community in the loop of everything, as most of it is filmed.

“Last year it was easier because people were at home, and everyone was kind of willing to do something a little bit different, they had nothing better to do because of COVID-19,”  Irvin said.

Season one kicked off with a female valentine, and Kean TV member Samantha Hilenski. Irvin explained that she loves reality shows and needed content during quarantine and The Valentine was the perfect idea.

 “Sam is such a sweet person and I like to be a matchmaker,” Irvin said.

The current host of the show Diego Mendoza said that last year was very much a question mark. No one knew how it was going to turn out due to everything having to be moved online.

“I felt that the guests and the bachelorette felt it was a question mark as it was all virtual,” Mendoza said. “It had its quirks and being the host was a lot of fun.”

As students return to campus, The Valentine comes back for season two staring sophomore and Kean TV member, Jaidon Morales who will go on both one-on-one and group dates.

 On his first date to kick start season two, he was able to talk to some of the contestants but he did not see them.

            In the first elimination ceremony, he bases his decision only on the conversations he had, and he will only be able to see what the contestants look like after the elimination has taken place. When there are only two final contestants left, there will be a two on one date on campus, and at the end of the date, he will pick his valentine.

Helping people find love is not always easy, and Kean TV has struggled quite a bit with running The Valentine. From getting banned on dating sites to not always finding people who would want to be in front of the camera.

Irvin used dating apps such as Tinder, Hinge, and Bumble to cast people for the show. In efforts of promoting The Valentine on these dating apps, she got banned from Hinge, Bumble, and Tinder last year because she was reported multiple times, even though she wasn’t impersonating anyone.

She had to then go on Google Voice and create a new phone number in order to hop back on Tinder under a new account to continue the search for cast members.

“If I ever wanted to use a dating app–not that I want to, but if I wanted to, I’d have to like email customer service to get my account back,”  Irvin said.

Kean TV sent out google forms to those interested in being cast with a list of questions that would help the staff determine compatibility. Media release forms were also shared as students have to agree and consent to being over 18 and being filmed.

“This time around it’s been a little bit harder to have people just agree to be on it,”  Irvin said. “Not everyone wants to be filmed.”

The Valentine episodes will be available on Kean TV’s Instagram, at Keantv where you can follow along Morales’ journey to finding love on campus this semester. If you know someone you would like to nominate for the next season of The Valentine, you can inquire through their Instagram.

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