The Blue Therapy show got viewers hooked with couples Paul and Chioma, and Jamal and Deborah sitting down with a therapist and airing out their relationship issues.
Attracting millions of views per episode, the show has had many people gripped by the different issues brought to light, which are reminiscent of ‘real life’ provoking situations.
More so, is the archaic treatment of Chioma by her boyfriend of 3 years, Paul, leaving viewers questioning if the show is really real.
Also due to the heavy backlash Paul has been receiving since the show first aired, he released an Instagram post ‘thanking all the actors’, who took part in the show, for their support.
There are many hints that the show maybe fake, for instance, the show is introduced as a social experiment which is “a kind of psychological or a sociological research for testing people’s reactions to certain situations or events” according to Wikipedia.
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Others hints include, Melissa the therapist who is actually an actress, Paul Bridges and Chioma’s social media profiles which confirm they are actors and the show’s creator, Andy Amadi, telling Metro news, the couples’ personalities may have ‘been enhanced a bit for the cameras’.
However, even though there are no public images of the individuals as couples, Andy revealed to Metro that the couples are ‘dating IRL’ meaning ‘in real life’, backing it up with ‘I don’t have my partner’s pictures on my Instagram, that’s neither here nor there.’
A stronger evidence that these couples are actually in real relationships is in the aftermath segment of the show.
The main six-part series centred around many issues that couples face. It is the same format as that of the popular Nigerian version called Therapy, starring Toke Makinwa and Falz the Bahd Guy.
The first couple, Chioma revealed she got in a three-year relationship with Paul after he entered her dms, but since then he has not taken too well to other men liking her posts which he believes are provocative.
Paul claims to be a fitness guru and businessman who works with high net work individuals, celebrities and social media influences, and as part of his work he needs to “go out clubbing, sip champagne and have girls dance on him”.
He thinks it is ok to have this kind of situations given his area of work, but Chioma should not.
Other issues included Chioma cooking excessively high-fat Nigerian food, Paul’s sister not taking a liking to Chioma and making her a babysitter, Chioma having an abortion and the fact that she likes Wizkid but he prefers Burna Boy.
The second couple, 27 year old Jamel and 23 year old Debrah argue over why Jamel has not invited her to meet his Ghanaian parents, which she has done to him. He thinks she, who is a Nigerian, is too loud and brash to be presented.
On top of that, Jamel who encouraged Debrah to be part of this experimental show thinks she is too controlling, while Debrah thinks he has something to hide as he does not reveal his passwords, and blocked her from an invite only app, Clubhouse, that he is frequently on.
In the 3-part aftermath, it becomes apparent that the show was likely very real albeit with elements of exaggeration.
It shows viewers where Jamel and Deborah are at in their relationship after the show aired. The couple expressed their wish to continue giving their relationship a try, they end up arguing after discovering Deborah slept with someone else while she was single for two weeks in between their relationship.
Meanwhile Chioma confirmed she is no longer with Paul, however, it is Paul sister’s continuing insistence of proving how ‘disrespectful’ Chioma is as a person that will leave viewers still wondering if the show is really real or an extremely good scripted reality tv show.
The aftermath is available to watch at a fee on Vimeo.
