Couple to Throuple is a new dating reality TV show that asks, “What would happen if you added a third person into your relationship?” As you can probably guess, the results are messy, sexy, dramatic, and oh so fun!
Now streaming on Peacock, this bold new reality show takes four couples in long-term relationships and brings them to a resort to meet a group of eligible singles whom they date one by one and have to decide to “stay or swap” as charming host Scott Evans and sex/relationship expert Shamyra Howard guide them through the experience. The show is an exploration of polyamory, with the goal that by the end, each couple will either add a permanent third to their relationship, go back to being monogamous, or break up altogether.
Not only is this show incredibly entertaining and bingeable — we can’t wait to see how it ends — but it’s also very queer. There are gay, bisexual, and straight participants, as well as people who are unsure and looking to explore. Which, of course, means that not only do we get to see jealousy rear its ugly head and over-dramatic fights (we’re looking at you, Ashmal and Rehman!), but we also get to see a lot of steamy scenes between the throuples too. And because the show is straight to streaming, it doesn’t have to adhere to all of the rules of network TV, so we get to see far more than we usually would!
PRIDE sat down with Shamyra Howard and Scott Evans to chat about what it was like to host a show with such a wide range of sexual orientations represented, if it was ever difficult to stay out of the drama, and why this might be the next LGBTQ+ reality fave!
The first three episodes of Couple to Throuple are available to stream on Peacock.
PRIDE: Congratulations on Couple to Throuple. The show is so much fun and messy in the best way. First, I am dying to know from both of you: what was it about a dating show having to do with adding a third partner to a couple that made you want to jump on board?
Scott: Well, for me, I’ll be honest, it stuck out to me immediately, and the show’s had several different names, several different iterations, but the concept of the show at its core stood out to me because it was inherently queer and I was dreaming of a scenario where that was baked into the core of the show. It wasn’t just a one-off season. It wasn’t like an episode or a character on the show might identify in a way we don’t typically see on television, but that at the core of the show, it is inherently queer, and I was fascinated, feeling like, finally! Right?
I think also I was moved by the fact that we were going to be challenging people’s idea of what real, meaningful, or viable relationship dynamics look like and that we were going to be presenting them with an opportunity to understand that this has long been available. This has been a scenario or situation that people have been participating in for quite some time and that it’s actually now we’re seeing even on the rise and that it’s a viable option for them. mess included.
Shamyra: I love that. Same for me. Once I got over the apprehension of the idea of this show, I realized this is not going to be just a unicorn hunting show, right? And, like Scott mentioned, the show is inherently queer, something that has not been done, but it’s also going to highlight non-monogamy, specifically polyamory and especially throuples, who are historically, like, not the popular group under the polyamory umbrella.
I especially appreciated how the show is centered around the idea of the education around it, the travel through the emotional aspects of it as well, and just help people to understand the idea of polyamory and that it’s not just about sex. That it is a real relationship structure with real people with real issues that any relationship has.
Peacock
Yeah, absolutely. I think it does a great job of educating people in that way. And, like you were saying, Scott, I really love that there is a wide spectrum of sexualities represented on the show. You’ve got people who are gay, folks who are bisexual, other people who are just starting to explore maybe how they feel about things. It’s really interesting, but do you think that that made your show more complicated in some ways than a typical straight dating show?
Scott: Well, I think anytime you add more bodies, you add more complexity, right? You add more components, you add some more complexity and I’m gonna be honest with you — you’ve seen one through…?
Three.
Scott: You’ve ain’t even seen anything yet. Things are about to get CRAZY, and I mean that in the best way. I do just believe that this show does a very good job — and I’m not saying that certainly every single dynamic and every single experience that has ever existed is represented in this show. I’m certainly not foolish enough to believe that, but I do believe that most everyone will see some element of this show where they’re like, ‘That’s exactly what I would have done, I would have done it exactly like that.’ Or, ‘Ain’t no way in hell that that’s the right decision, that’s going to blow up in their face,’ because they can identify in some sort of way. The outcomes aren’t all we ended up hunky dory, you know what I mean? I think the show does a really good job of allowing people to be exactly where they are and to show up exactly how they would, and Dr. Shamyra moves us through these experiences in these relationships where she prepares people and challenges people to dig deep, and they really, really do.
Peacock
Your show is very funny and very overdramatic, which I also love in a reality show, but like you said, there are real connections being made, real feelings involved, and couples that are even going through some tough times with each other. Was it ever difficult for you guys not to insert yourself more into the drama that was happening?
Shamyra: Sometimes we were being summoned into this, especially Scott, but I’ll save that for you to watch on the show. There were times when I felt like, ask them this, ask them that, just so that we could actually see a real quick reflection of what actually was happening because, again, we gotta understand we have couples who many of them were not experienced in non-monogamy or polyamory. So they are going through this experience with their curiosities and their vulnerabilities, and so they’re emotionally raw, and so they feel very exposed at some points. But they actually really responded really well to Scott’s intervention and whenever Scott asked them questions because Scott is just everybody’s cheerleader. Scott just knows what to say in the heat of the moment or when things get funny, as you mentioned. It was a funny show and Scott actually helped to make it that.
Peacock
Scott: I appreciate that. I mean, the idea was we just wanted to have a real ass time in Panama and see what would happen with these people who were interested in challenging the norm they were experiencing. And they showed up, in a way, they were ready to do that. Some of them showed up before they were actually ready and had to get ready to do it; you know what I mean?
Oh, yeah.
Scott: You say overdramatic; I hate to say it but we good for some drama! We are good for some drama. You know, if there’s one thing we can do, it’s some queer panic. It was a lot of fun to see people who would, I think, maybe would identify as totally straight, show up in a way that was accepting and honoring experiences that were not like their own.
There were minds that were expanded through the experience of other people who lived in a way that was not their own. When we filmed the show, I left the experience feeling like, damn, as bad as it can feel like sometimes, as backward as it can feel like we move in society sometimes, there are great, bright lights out there needing to pull to them more and more light so that it’s a brighter experience for all of us. And while don’t get me wrong, this is a dating show, and it has all of the stuff you want in a dating show, it also has a really, I think, beautiful telling of what happens when we communicate in a way that is authentic and true and real and the benefit that can happen, regardless of what your relationship dynamic is, when you do.
I love that. You’re right because you’re getting the great kind of bingeable reality TV shows you want to see, but it also has a lot of meaning and heart to it. I can’t wait for people to see it; I think it’s amazing.
Scott: You’re going to be so mad you only get three episodes at a time; I’m just going to be honest with you.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
