Story by Brooke Dougherty
Photo by Adrian Tillman
CHAPEL HILL, North Carolina – Three years ago, Nicole Moorefield watched “The Bachelor” for the first time and thought it was funny, light-hearted and amusing.
The then-freshman at UNC-Chapel Hill had an idea: What if a show like “The Bachelor” existed for college students?
The concept for “Head Over Heels” was born.
This semester, on Oct. 15, Moorefield brought her idea to fruition.
The premier episode of the UNC dating show was the first of three, the others coming in the spring. Within the first 24 hours, the show received 525 views on YouTube.
“Head Over Heels” features 10 college-age UNC students looking for love or perhaps at least “like.”
The First-Time Date
Filmed at the Campus Y, the first episode ran about 25 minutes and showed the couples getting acquainted through a speed dating exercise. Each contestant moved around to different tables to speak with everyone before the end of the day.
It started with awkward moments, but it didn’t take long for the students to begin to warm to each other. Soon, personalities began to shine through.
Similar to other dating shows, “Head Over Heels” only revealed the contestants’ first names to protect their identities.
During her speed date with Jack, Abby said that her roommates nominated her to go on the show because she’s “notoriously a lonely person.”
“A lone wolf,” Jack replied nodding his head.
“Yeah, but like in a cool way,” Abby smirked.
While some contestants kept a similar approach with each partner as the day went on, others took a more natural flow.
We’re all looking at you two, Savanna and Jack, aka the winners of the first episode’s love calculator for undeniable, first-date chemistry. They covered a lot of ground. They discussed future plans after graduation and places they want to travel to. Antarctica, Australia and New Zealand were on the list.
Highlights From the First Episode
Moorefield is pleased that the show introduced everyone in a way that gave justice to each contestant as a person.
“As connections build and main characters emerge, it makes more sense for one person to be featured more than another,” Moorefield said. “But in this first episode, I tried to make it as equal as I could.”
Savanna, who is a senior majoring in psychology, said that this was her first real dating experience. She applied for the show in order to meet more people and adjust to post-pandemic life.
“Because of COVID, I felt like I didn’t really get the opportunity to branch out as much as I wanted to in college,” Savanna said.
Savanna said the show has an air of honesty that she hasn’t seen in other dating programs.
“It was just very genuine, and they encouraged all the contestants to really go for what they wanted,” she said. “There wasn’t any drama behind the scenes and all of it felt really authentic.”
Meanwhile, Abby was relatable in her approach to sniff out the competition during her flirty date with contestant Caroline. Abby was curious who had gotten Caroline’s attention so far and straight up asked her how her other dates were going.
Head Over Heels’ New Take on Dating Shows
Grace Sword, a 2022 graduate who watched the program, said that she loved how they weren’t trying to force love in every potential relationship in the first episode.
Sword also appreciated that the program highlighted relationship potential beyond that of cis gendered types.
“I love that they included the LGBTQ community when shows like ‘The Bachelor’ or ‘Bachelorette’ try to push the straight stereotypes so hard on audiences,” said Sword.
Savanna said that the hardest part about the show was normally people date in private and get to figure out their feelings. But when filming a show, the contestants have to be open about who they are interested in.
There wasn’t time to play games.
“It was a really great experience,” Savanna said. “I’d love to see more people participate in it.”
It isn’t clear just yet what couple will come out on top, but Moorefield urges viewers to stay tuned to the Head Over Heels Instagram for more information.
A Sneak Peek for Head Over Heels Fans
More than 100 people applied or were nominated to be contestants. Moorefield and her team chose people that seemed authentic, and tried to include a variety of races, genders, sexualities and even academic majors.
The second episode features a mixer, and the third will showcase the couples going on one-on-one dates with a special concert finale.
If the show does well, Moorefield said that there could be another season in the spring of 2023.
Ultimately, Moorefield’s hope is that “Head Over Heels” will be entertainment for students and to create “some connection for a generation of people that have been kind of starved of it because of the pandemic.”
For any students interested in getting in on a possible season 2, keep a lookout: You could find love, or “like” in the next season of Head over Heels.
