Key Takeaways

The viral YouTube sensation turned Netflix dating show, “Pop the Balloon or Find Love,” is expanding into the dating industry with a new app, Luv or Pop. With the show’s expansion into the dating app industry, YouTubers, love-seekers, and TV fans all find rare common ground. 

Connecting to pop culture trends has always been a surefire way for the dating industry to make a lasting impact with consumers, but it’s not quite as common for a pop culture sensation to infiltrate the dating world. 

This makes the show’s ambitions all the more unique: Luv or Pop promises to provide both pop culture relevance and accurate matches. Now, the show — in which singles evaluate a potential partner and pop a balloon to indicate their disinterest — reaches a new level of pop culture prominence.  

The dating app is spearheaded by two of the show’s executive producers, Arlette Amuli and Bolia Matundu. Growth is clearly on their minds: “We keep expanding our mission to helping people find love,” Matundu said in the app’s announcement video on Instagram. 

Matundu said Pop the Balloon’s foray into the app world is the result of genuine interest from fans, who, it’s worth mentioning, routinely generate more than 1 million views per YouTube episode.

“We got so many DMs, emails, and comments from people, like, ‘I’m too shy to come on the show. Can you please do something for those of us who don’t want to be out there publicly?’” Amuli told Black Enterprise. “The dating app is the perfect way.”

The App Would Make The User Feel Like a Star 

Amuli knows that fans want an app based on Pop the Balloon to have the qualities that make the dating show so popular — to provide “real connections” with the “same energy, same vibe” as the beloved show, as she puts it. 

The difference is that the app makes the user the star of the show. “This time, you’re the one popping the balloon,” Amuli explained. 

By putting the user in this coveted position, the app is able to do something other dating apps struggle to achieve with the rise of dating app fatigue: It makes the user feel special and completely in-control. 

Amuli and Matundu said users will be able to chat with people they’re interested in, just like on the viral YouTube show. To generate even more interest (and put brand awareness to good use), the app will even feature some of the show’s more popular contestants. 

Although the creators have yet to announce pricing or an official release date, the app entered beta testing in early March 2026.

Pop the Balloon’s IRL Model Faces Rising App Fatigue 

This is not the first time pop culture and the dating world have converged. “Game, Set, Matchmaker,” an online dating show filmed at the U.S. Open, was ideal pop culture fodder for sports fans and “The Bachelor” fans alike. “Game, Set, Matchmaker” played on modern daters’ desire for real-life connections. 

But much like “Game, Set, Matchmaker,” Pop the Balloon will face doubters as it expands into the dating industry. 

“Not being a hater … but the app [may not] provide the drama the show does, which is why many people watch,” one person commented on Amuli’s Instagram post about the upcoming app. “It has to provide a substantial advantage that isn’t present on other dating apps.” 

With dating app fatigue at an all-time high, this commenter just may have a point. Dating professionals know better than anyone that modern daters crave IRL connections more than the swipe-based matches of the 2010s. 

This is why Pop the Balloon, which puts prospective daters in a room together and has them quickly (and honestly) determine compatibility, achieved virality in the first place. To their credit, Amuli and Matundu don’t expect fans of the show to automatically become fans of the app, they told Black Enterprise.

“The hardest part is getting people to trust in what you’re building,” Matundu said. “There’s going to be bugs. There are issues you have to fix. The hardest part is keeping people there. We’re going to make it work.”

Amuli hopes people will be able to “see what’s different about this app”: “You have to come on and experience it for yourself before you decide if it’s for you.”

The App’s Built-In Fan Base Gives It A Vital Leg Up

But it’s also true that Pop the Balloon excels in areas that other apps have treated as an afterthought: It’s an app with an existing fan base thanks to its internet virality, and it’s also tailor-made for Black singles, the show’s primary demographic. 

Importantly, the app’s user base would be composed of people who already share a love of Pop the Balloon, including the show’s energy and humor, giving them a built-in common ground. 

“People that apply on our show [are] very intentional,” Matundu said. “They’re looking for real love.” Luv or Pop users will, ideally, be just as intentional, and as a result, more honest. “You have to verify your identity, so it’s real people on the app and no fake bots … verifying is very important for success.”

As dating app giants like Tinder, Grindr, and Hinge attempt to create viral pop culture moments with clever ads and IRL pop-ups, Pop the Balloon’s main advantage is that it’s already a full-fledged pop culture mainstay. 

Luv or Pop doesn’t need to build a fan base so much as generate interest within its existing (and loyal) audience, giving it an important leg up at a time when any advantage in the dating app world can be the difference between success and failure.