Spoiler alert! This story discusses the first four episodes of Too Hot to Handle Season 6 and contains spoilers for Perfect Match Season 2. You can stream both of these on Netflix and see what else is new and coming soon to Netflix.
One of Netflix’s best guilty-pleasure dating shows has returned for a sixth season with Too Hot to Handle. Lana the cockblocking cone is back (with an evil twin this time), and she’s completely flipped the script in her efforts to teach restraint to the newest batch of oversexed twentysomethings. The Season 6 premiere comes not long after the end of Perfect Match Season 2, and as I binged the first four episodes, I couldn’t help but think that there are three contestants I need to see again when Perfect Match returns.
Too Hot to Handle — which motivates its contestants to remain celibate through a host of temptations by putting money on the line — has proven to be a major feeder show for Perfect Match, another of Netflix’s dating shows that also pulls from Love Is Blind, The Circle, the uncomfortable-sounding Dated and Related and more. In Perfect Match’s second season, nine of its cast members came from Too Hot to Handle, including Harry Jowsey and eventual winners Christine Obanor and Nigel Jones. Here’s who I’m hoping to see in Season 3:
Bri Balram
Bri Balram, a 26-year-old from Atlanta, Georgia, is by far my favorite new cast member on Too Hot to Handle Season 6. She came in hot in Episode 1 “Bad to the Cone,” immediately making it known that she was interested in Demari Davis. However, Chris Alli caught her eye as well, and before long she'd made out with both of them.
I can’t tell you how disappointed I was when those "infractions" got her banished from Lana’s retreat. Thank goodness for the new rules, though, because rather than getting kicked off the show like she would have in past seasons, Bri and fellow offender Charlie Jeer were merely made to stay in Lana's new banishment quarters for 24 hours. My love for Bri only grew from here.
For one thing, she and Charlie bonded during that day in confinement, and I’ve really enjoyed their friendship in the episodes since. She also gave us possibly the season’s greatest quote so far when (for a $5,000 penalty) she got to watch Demari go on a date with Season 4 alum Flavia Laos Urbina. When Charlie informed Bri that her man was dating Flavia, she dismissed it with this hilarity:
I don’t give a fuck about flavors.
Whether it’s her witty remarks, the facial expressions that don’t even attempt to hide her feelings or her no-nonsense way of dealing with Demari’s disrespect (after she found herself banished again while he went on a date with new arrival Valentina), Bri is the best part of Season 6, and Perfect Match should take note of this.
Flavia Laos Urbina
In another of Lana’s Season 6 twists, she started throwing grenades at the contestants much earlier than normal. In fact, it was just Episode 2 before two contestants from previous seasons returned, theoretically to serve as good examples for their castmates. Spoiler alert: that’s not quite how it went down. Flavia was the name in everybody’s mouth (and for some, it wasn’t just her name), and after the cringiest date with Jordan Frank, she seemed to be hitting it off with Joao Coronel.
Flavia returning to Too Hot to Handle is a huge deal, because she’s one of the biggest stars to ever be on the show. She has 5 million Instagram followers and 4.6 million TikTok followers. That’s on par with Perfect Match Season 2 star Harry Jowsey (4.4 million Instagram, 5.1 million TikTok). She’s straight-up Netflix royalty, and if she’s open to appearing on a different show, it sure would be a lot of fun to set her loose on contestants from other series.
Louis Russell
I know, I already picked a former contestant as someone I wanted to see on Perfect Match, but after watching the first four episodes of Too Hot to Handle Season 6, who was most of the drama centered around? Louis Russell. The man is, if nothing else, a scene stealer. We first met Louis on Season 5, where he was unable to fight the temptations of Christine Obanor — that’s right, the same Christine who won Perfect Match Season 2 (available to stream with a Netflix subscription).
Could the fact that Christine was part of the cast have kept Louis off of Season 2? I suppose that’s possible, although to hear Harry Jowsey and the other castmates talk, there was plenty of history between some of the contestants prior to their joining the show.
Either way, Louis is continuing to prove that he’s a fun character to watch, mostly because he’s had exactly zero growth from his previous stint on the show. I just can’t help but wonder what would happen if he were allowed to do his thing without the constraints of the evil cone. I need to see what Louis is like when he’s free to roam about the most eligible members of Netflix’s young and attractive reality universe.
Again, with nine of the 22 contestants from Perfect Match Season 2 coming from Too Hot to Handle — up from five THTH cast memberes in Season 1 — I think it’s safe to assume that we’ll see at least one person from this season and multiple from the series overall on Perfect Match Season 3. The series was officially renewed in late June following the Season 2 finale, so we’ve still got a long time before we see it come to fruition.
At least we’ve still got plenty of Too Hot to Handle Season 6 to go. The next three episodes will be released to Netflix — one of the best streaming services — on Friday, July 26, with the final three episodes coming Friday, August 2. While we wait for those next episodes to drop, be sure to check out what other premieres are coming soon with our 2024 TV schedule.
