The Netflix dating series "The Ultimatum" frequently features the cast holding silver wine goblets. The oversized glasses are the same type of stemware featured heavily in its sister dating show, "Love Is Blind," where the cast there uses gold wine glasses.
"The Ultimatum" and "Love Is Blind" — both hosted by singer Nick Lachey and television personality Vanessa Lachey — were created by Chris Coelen. He explained why he chose to include the glasses in his new series to Today.
"The silver goblets in 'The Ultimatum' are an homage to the gold goblets in 'Love Is Blind.' We think the goblets are a subtle but fun way to tie the elements of each show together," said Coelen.
The opaque glassware could help the show's producers with editing and continuity
The wine goblets on "The Ultimatum" were a nod to "Love Is Blind." The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On: Season 1. Cr. Courtesy Of Netflix © 2022
The glasses are not just used for wine or cocktails — they can also contain water, coffee, and tea. But it still begs the question: Why are they used instead of regular glass stemware?
Most savvy viewers suggest it could have to do with the way the show is edited. By using opaque stemware, producers can conveniently cut around scenes without showing drinks getting lower or replenished.
"I have a theory that they use the chrome glasses in #TheUltimatum because they cut scenes so much and don't want people to tell based on the level or color of their drinks and how much is gone," wrote one viewer.
—Brandon (@Obretron) April 20, 2022
Reality television viewers frequently notice these types of continuity errors — "Love is Blind" viewers picked up on plates of food suddenly being finished in the show's latest season, for example. By using the metallic cups, the show's editors can avoid this type of distraction.
The metallic glassware has become a joke among fans. (And if you're curious, you can buy it.)
Some Twitter users have poked fun at the glasses, which were so ubiquitous on the shows that they were even included in the casts' dining-out scenes.
One fan wrote the cups were the true "stars of the Lachey dating cinematic universe."
—Amanda (@xojonasboysxo) April 7, 2022
Someone else jokingly wondered if the hosts owned the company making the glasses.
—TotalRandomMama (@TotalRandomMama) April 16, 2022
Some were simply enraged by them.
—Jessica R.Jones 🌻🪐 (@GoCosmicNinja) April 18, 2022
While others just found them "unsettling."
—Ira Snave (@IraSnave) April 15, 2022
The streaming service seems very in on the joke.
At the reunion, the cast was supplied with gold versions of the goblet after exclusively using silver versions all season. And after one of the original couples, Madelyn and Colby Kissinger and Madlyn Ballatori, announced they were expecting what Vanessa dubbed their first "'Ultimatum' baby," the show gifted them a sippy cup version of the goblet.
Colby Kissinger and Madlyn Ballatori got a fun baby gift at "The Ultimatum"reunion. The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On: Season 1. (L to R) Colby Kissinger, Madlyn Ballatori, Nick Lachey (host) and Vanessa Lachey (host) in episode 10 of The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On: Season 1. Cr. Adam Rose/Netflix ©
And for anyone left wondering where you can buy the cups, Refinery29 spoke to a "Love Is Blind" producer who said the gold goblets are available on Amazon.
The entire first season of "The Ultimatum" as well as both seasons of "Love Is Blind" are now streaming on Netflix.
If you’ve watched either The Ultimatum or Love Is Blind (which are both some of the most popular dating shows on Netflix), you know that each show really delivers on the kind of drama that captures the attention of reality show fans and keeps them hooked all the way through the end. But, even though The Ultimatum reunion had some big moments and the Love Is Blind Season 2 ending had major surprises, there’s one thing that viewers just can’t stop talking about: those metallic wine glasses. Now, we know exactly why the casts of both shows only drink out of the metal cups.
The habitual use of the metal wine glasses on both shows has, possibly surprisingly, been a topic of conversation among fans since Love Is Blind Season 1 first aired in February 2020. That series continued its use of the gold metallic cups for the second season, which aired earlier this year, and was joined by the use of silver wine glasses when The Ultimatum Season 1 hit Netflix in early April. Chris Coelen, who created both shows, spoke to Today about the silver cups on his latest show and said:
The silver goblets in The Ultimatum are an homage to the gold goblets in Love Is Blind. We think the goblets are a subtle but fun way to tie the elements of each show together.
OK, that’s great and makes a ton of sense, right? The glasses have become so iconic that The Ultimatum even made a great nod to them in the reunion, when hosts Nick and Vanessa Lachey gifted a silver metallic baby sippy cup to expectant parents, Madlyn and Colby. But, while Coelen and crew used the silver glasses to help tie both of his shows together, the big question is why did they begin using the metallic glasses in the first place? Well, there’s a very simple potential answer for that, as well.
Seeing as how those glasses (which can be found in stemmed and stemless versions on both shows) turn up literally everywhere on both series (cast members’ personal homes, at every restaurant, party, bar, and even their parent’s houses, for example), it’s likely that you’ve noticed that they are opaque. Because we can’t see through them, it affords the editing teams on The Ultimatum and Love Is Blind to cut scenes together without worrying quite as much about continuity errors.
As we all know, there are many eagle-eyed reality show fans out there who pore over every minute detail of their favorite shows. They would easily notice if a scene began with everyone’s cups full, then it showed all of the cups nearly empty, only for the scene to end on basically full cups again. And, that would give away the editing and possibly take a lot of people out of the action as it is on screen.
Basically, the metallic wine glasses on The Ultimatum and Love Is Blind allow the producers to more easily arrange the many narrative threads of each show the way they want to (though it wouldn’t help them allegedly lie about a cast member’s age) without immediately cluing the audience in to how each scene is put together. The only question now is what color wine glasses will be used if Chris Coelen creates another reality show? Bronze? Copper? I guess we’ll have to wait and see!
The Ultimatum Season 2 will debut an all-queer season (opens in new tab) “soon,” and Love Is Blind got a huge renewal on Netflix, so we’ll be able to see more of those metallic goblets at some point in the near future!
Well, we’re here again: The finale of Love is Blind Season 2. Two years after the premiere of the first season on Netflix, we’re waiting to see if a new crop of poorly matched and ill-fated couples will make it out of the self-proclaimed “experiment.” And by “make it out,” I of course mean get married just weeks after meeting their partner for the first time. It’s a bonkers concept for a television show, and while this season has been altogether less captivating than the first, I’m still waiting with bated breath to see what will come of these hopeless (truly, hopeless) romantics.
While of course I’m wondering what will become of the fat-phobic Shake (and his undeservedly lovely fiancée, Deepti), or the insufferable Shayne (and his red-flag-ignoring fiancée, Natalie), there’s something else that’s been on my mind… the golden goblets.
Have you noticed them? These mule mug-adjacent, opaque, metallic wine glasses make an appearance in multiple episodes of Love Is Blind: clutched by Shaina in the pods, in the hands of every cast member at a Chicago beach party, and most egregiously, being used by Jarette for coffee in the morning…
"I am obsessed with Love Is Blind,” says our marketing manager, Danielle, “and the fact that they managed to drink from Game of Thrones goblets throughout the entire show and no one mentioned it once blows my mind."
“Those gold goblets should’ve died with the Roman Empire,” insists Home52 editorial lead, Arati. “They drove me NUTS, especially because they were the most consistent prop on the show.”
So why the opaque, gold glassware? Is it because they’re shatterproof, preventing potential injuries related to over-imbibing? Or is it because they didn’t want us to see just how much red wine Shayne was slinging back? Or is it some kind of subliminal marketing ploy, keeping Big Metallic Drinkware in business?
The other thing is… they’re not super attractive? My bar cart houses several mule mugs, so I’m not opposed to metallic vessels, but stemmed wine glasses don’t seem to need a gold variety. Are the clear glass ones not enough?
As it turns out, it all boils down to something really quite boring: continuity. By using opaque drinkware, editors are able to splice different scenes together without giving away a difference in drink level. It’s all just a bit of TV magic.
And, okay, I will admit I was given a set as a we’re-obsessed-with-Love-Is-Blind birthday gift in 2020, and I now treasure them. They’ll be making an appearance this evening along with some Annie’s mac and cheese and iced Sauvignon Blanc. See? I have absolutely no place judging anyone.
If you’re intent on having them around for a rewatch viewing party, or simply want to channel your inner “content creator,” we've gathered some ideas for where you can purchase similar chalices. While the exact ones (confirmed by a LIB producer) are currently sold out, the glasses below are some really solid backups... just like Kyle is to Shaina.
But if metal's not your thing, consider these beauties:
Were you, too, totally thrown off by the gold goblets? Weigh in below. This post contains products that are independently selected by our editors, and Food52 may earn an affiliate commission. This article was updated in February 2022 with the new season of Love is Blind.