Netflix
Warning: spoilers ahead for the first four episodes of "Love Is Blind: UK."
"Love Is Blind: UK" contestant Sam is at the center of the show's first controversy, and fans are already criticizing his behavior on social media.
Netflix released the first season of "Love Is Blind: UK," the latest spin-off of the hugely popular "Love Is Blind," in early August.
During the first few episodes, where contestants date each other in isolated pods where they can't see who they are talking two, Sam initially bonds with two women: Jasmine and Nicole.
When Jasmine rejects him in episode two, he turns his attention to Nicole. Meanwhile, Nicole also has a growing connection with Benaiah, but she is worried he isn't ready to commit.
Though she has doubts about how genuine Sam is, Nicole chooses him over Benaiah, and Sam proposes to her. In episode four, Sam and Nicole finally meet in person for the proposal, but Nicole accidentally puts the ring on the wrong finger.
Nicole doesn't make a big deal out of it at the time, but backs out of the engagement later in the episode.
"When I took the ring, I placed it on the wrong finger," Nicole said. "He didn't notice. I think now I look back in hindsight, that was a sign that it just wasn't right."
Sam said: "My connection with Nicole in the pods was unbelievably strong. It was deep-rooted, like nothing I've ever experienced in the outside world but the door's closed, and it was bizarre.
"I started to realize something was off, something wasn't right."
Sam blamed Nicole's connection with Benaiah for the breakup.
Nicole added later that she made a mistake and the series teased that she was going to have a conversation with Benaiah to fix their relationship in the next episode. But the end scene also teased that Sam will be back to wreak havoc on Benaiah and Nicole's relationship later in the season.
Fans have already turned against Sam, calling him fake and cringy because of his intense flirting during the pod stage.
Emily Baker, a TV critic for the British outlet The i, called Sam a "walking ick" in her review of the season.
Here's what to know about Sam.
Courtesy of Netflix
According to his Linkedin, Sam studied television broadcast technology at Leeds Beckett University, UK. He graduated in 2010, and has worked as designer and design manager in multiple different companies since then.
His LinkedIn states that Sam is currently working as a product design manager for a tech company based in London.
Per his Netflix bio, Sam 31.
In his Netflix bio, Sam said he enjoys traveling.
Sam has shared multiple photos from trips around the world over the years on Instagram.
In terms of his love life, Sam told Netflix that he has no time for love because of his career.
Sam also said in his bio that he has "had his heart broken twice" and "often feels the pressure from his mum to find The One."
Sam appears to still be single, but we won't know for sure until the rest of "Love Is Blind: UK" airs on Netflix.
Correction: August 22, 2024 — An earlier version of this story misidentified Benaiah's surname. It is Grunewald-Brydie, not Warrilow. The surname has been removed from the story.
