The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On
The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On is a dating reality television series created by Chris Coelen and produced by Kinetic Content that premiered on Netflix on April 6, 2022. The show is hosted by Nick and Vanessa Lachey.
The series has aired for three seasons. An international version The Ultimatum: France premiered in 2022. A spin-off series The Ultimatum: Queer Love premiered in 2023.
Format
The Ultimatum is a self-proclaimed social experiment that wants to see how many couples will get married when presented with ultimatums. The show features couples on the verge of marriage. Each pair has eight weeks to decide whether they want to get married or split forever. Couples will later be split up as they choose new partners from the rest of the group, and then move in with them for three weeks for a trial marriage. Then they move in with their original partners for three weeks for a second trial marriage.Contestants
| Issuing ultimatum | Age | Partner | Age |
| Antonio Mattei | 30 | Roxanne Kaiser | 31 |
| Lisa Horne | 32 | Brian Okoye | 29 |
| Ryann McCracken | 24 | James Morris | 24 |
| Trey Brunson | 29 | Riah Nyree | 25 |
| Kat Shelton | 28 | Alex Chapman | 32 |
| Issuing ultimatum | Age | Partner | Age |
| Mariah | 24 | Caleb | 29 |
| Zaina | 32 | J.R. | 33 |
| Nick | 38 | Sandy | 27 |
| Scotty | 30 | Aria | 25 |
| Vanessa | 30 | Dave | 34 |
| Chanel | 27 | Micah | 28 |
Future appearances
Zay Wilson competed on the first season of Perfect Match. Jake Cunningham competed on the second season. J.R. Warren and Sandy Gallagher competed on the third season.Season summary
Season 1
| Original couple | Result | Status |
| April and Jake | Split | Split |
| Colby and Madlyn | Married | Married |
| Rae and Zay | Split | Split |
| Shanique and Randall | Engaged | Married |
| Alexis and Hunter | Engaged | Married |
| Nate and Lauren | Engaged | Married |
Season 2
| Original couple | Result | Status |
| Antonio and Roxanne | Engaged | Married |
| Lisa and Brian | Relationship | Engaged |
| Ryann and James | Engaged | Married |
| Trey and Riah | Engaged | Engaged |
| Kat and Alex | Engaged | Married |
Season 3
| Original couple | Result | Status |
| Mariah and Caleb | Engaged | Split |
| Zaina and J.R. | Split | Split |
| Sandy and Nick | Split | Split |
| Aria and Scotty | Engaged | Split |
| Vanessa and Dave | Relationship | Engaged |
| Chanel and Micah | Relationship | Together |
Episodes
Season 1 (2022)
Season 2 (2023)
Season 3 (2024)
Production
Filming
Season one of the series was filmed in various locations in Austin, Texas. The first week the contestants spent dating each other was filmed at the Marriott Downtown Hotel in the city, while the rest of the series was filmed at the Aloft Austin Downtown Hotel.Filming started in May 2021 and lasted for eight weeks with the reunion being filmed later.
Season two of the series was filmed in Charlotte, North Carolina from September 2022 to November 2022.
Season three was filmed in Downtown Phoenix, Arizona.
Release
A trailer was in the reunion episode of season two of Love Is Blind on March 4, 2022. It was advertised as "the next great social experiment" with the same creator as Love Is Blind.The first season consisting of eight episodes released to Netflix on April 6, 2022, and later released the final episode along with a reunion special on April 13, a week later.
The second season consisting of eight episodes released to Netflix on August 23, 2023, and later released the final episode along with a reunion special on August 30, a week later.
Reception
Viewership
The first season of the series reached number one on Netflix in television shows in the United States on April 10, 2022.The Ultimatum season 1 spent four weeks in the Netflix Global Top Ten, with 43,710,000 hours watched during its first week of release, 58,470,000 during week two, 29,010,000 during week three, and 13,140,000 during week four.
With a total of 144,330,000 hours watched within its first four weeks of release, The Ultimatum season 1 ranked second, after Love is Blind, as the most watched ongoing nonscripted series on Netflix in 2022, based on a tally of all hours viewed across all programs while in the Netflix Global Top Ten.
Critical response
Daniel D'Addario of Variety writes "Love is Blind and The Ultimatum are the new standard-bearers for romantic reality TV." D'Addario states The Ultimatum "inverts Love is BlindJenny Singer from Glamour writes "The Ultimatum on Netflix is even better than Love Is Blind. Yes, really." Singer continues "The Ultimatum feels like an actual attempt at partnership—love, sex, intimacy, friendship, caring for each other's dogs. The ending is insane, and so is the beginning, and the middle. That just makes it, oddly, realistic."
Alexandra Whittington at Collider says "The Ultimatum: Marry Or Move On is Netflix's wildest reality series yet...If you like reality dating shows then you are going to love The Ultimatum: Marry Or Move On."
Grant Rindner of GQ stated "critical reception has been mixed." Sarah Manavis of New Statesman was highly critical of the show, writing, "The awfulness of marriage shows is on full display here... The premise is shoddy and unclear, especially in comparison to other dating programmes." Sophia June of Nylon wrote no one from the series should get married based on the premise and "the manipulation techniques". Morgan Smith of Highsnobiety called it the "messiest reality dating show we hate to love" and stated he loved it.