When roommates Thi Q. Lam and Rance Nix woke up last Wednesday, they had no intention of creating a viral dating show. They were just bored.

The two Brooklyn-based millennials are self-described extroverts and creatives Lam, 27, runs the production house Garnish Studios, and Nix, 28, is an actor. The coronavirus pandemic had put their work lives on pause, and they had recently watched Love Is Blind , Netflixs breakout reality TV dating show about couples who can hear but not see each other as they date in pods.

Many singles were suddenly finding themselves trapped in apartments with no IRL dating prospects and the ever-present human desire to find love and connection. This got Lam and Nix thinking: What if they could create an online version of Love Is Blind?

Thats how Love Is Quarantine was born.

A week later, the show has nearly 15,000 followers on Instagram, a website and official merchandise, and has spawned independent spin-offs in Canada , the U.K. and on Columbia Universitys (virtual) campus . Nearly 50 people have participated.

As online dating increasingly moves on-camera and reality dating TV goes temporarily dark, theres ample space for creators like Lam and Nix to jump in and make sure the search for love continues on our personal screens and Instagram feeds. These digital shows are collapsing the space between dating apps and reality TV, creating something that could perhaps be even more authentic.

I swear that this show is more real than the actual Netflix show, Lam told HuffPost during a video chat. People are actually getting along and connecting.

* * *

Prior to the pandemic, reality dating shows were thriving and in constant rotation. The first U.S. season of the successful British dating competition series Love Island aired every weeknight from July to August 2019, proving that older audience-skewing network CBS could find a loyal younger viewership . Temptation Island Season 2 ran on USA Network in the fall TV season, and ABCs juggernaut The Bachelor debuted its 24th season in January.

But Netflix shook up the entire genre in February with Love Is Blind, a highly addictive yet extremely troubling marriage experiment in which couples dont actually meet face to face until theyre engaged. The shows final episode , a cast reunion, was released on March 5, a few days before Peter Webers drama-filled Bachelor journey wrapped and fears surrounding COVID-19 hit a peak.

Now, the entertainment industry is at a standstill while the world self-quarantines. Many companies have shut down production, including Warner Bros. Television Group, which has suspended filming of its 70-plus TV shows and pilots, including Clare Crawleys upcoming season of The Bachelorette.

Like it is for everybody around the globe, the ripple effect of this is massive, Bachelor franchise host Chris Harrison said of the coronavirus shutdown in a video posted to Instagram . He added that despite it being the right thing to do, the suspension of the show will be tough for everyone involved. Production teams will be hit hard financially as isolation becomes mandatory and freelance gigs nonexistent. Logistically, there will be a lack of fresh content in the months ahead.

But dating reality television culture hasnt just produced a captive audience to tune in to shows like Love Is Blind. There is a whole ecosystem of professional and armchair critics and commentators. And these shows have provided a way for people to engage with the norms of love, sex and dating in our culture. Both Love Is Blind and Netflixs other big hit, The Circle, featured people connecting in isolation.

The framework set up by those shows has crossed over into our current reality. Singles are still turning in droves to online dating platforms while in self-quarantine. Bloomberg reported that Bumble users were up 8% in mid-March , and Purell and pandemic jokes abound on peoples Hinge and Tinder profiles.

But in the absence of being able to plan a coffee date or grab drinks at a bar, quarantined singles are looking for digital avenues to meet up. This is something the apps simply arent built to provide, though some are trying. A Hinge spokesperson told HuffPost that 70% of Hinge users have expressed interest in dating from home. The dating app is now adding a note encouraging swipers to set up a FaceTime or Zoom date.

But Lam and Nix wanted to come up with a new avenue to date that really spoke to our current moment. They said Love Is Quarantine moved from idea to action in about 10 minutes. They made a publicly editable Google spreadsheet and an Instagram account and sent the Google Sheet out to a bunch of their friends. At first, they were a little nervous, but soon the sheet started flooding with names and numbers, Lam said. Then they got to casting, matching people up and setting up phone dates.

Ill just go down the list, call them or text them, Hey, this is Rance from Love Is Quarantine! And people go, Oh wow! What? Are you kidding me?! Nix said, with Lam joking, They thought they won the lottery when they got that phone call.