EXCLUSIVE: Five years ago, Chloe Veitch was a model from Clacton-on-Sea in the UK with aspirations to make it on a reality show.
After appearing on and winning spicy dating show Too Hot To Handle, she quickly became a major figure in the Netflix Reality Universe, becoming runner up on The Circle and a finalist on Perfect Match.
Veitch, who recently moved to Los Angeles, is now hosting Netflix’s next big dating social experiment– Sneaky Links: Dating After Dark
“Honestly, if I spoke to a 13-year-old me back in the day and said that this is going to be my life, she would cry, she would not believe me. I literally came from nothing. The fluke, the luckiness of me modeling to being cast in Netflix reality shows back-to-back-to-back for five years and then to be the host of a dating show, I can’t believe it, it’s insane. It’s what I’m meant to do,” Veitch told Deadline.
For those unaware of the phenomenon, a sneaky link is essentially a regular late-night casual hook up. The ten-part show will ask contestants ‘Is your sneaky link ‘the one’ or are they getting in the way of you finding the one?’
Spicy Mari, founder of the relationship consulting firm The Spicy Life, who has appeared on MTV’s The Love Experiment and Paramount+’s Love Allways, also stars in the show as a dating and relationship expert.
It comes from Love Island producer ITV America and Nobody’s Hero, the company behind Netflix’s Howie Mandel-fronted Bullsh*t: The Game Show and Snack vs. Chef. Founders Christopher Potts and Jonty Nash, who have a deal with ITV America, exec produce alongside ITV America’s Bernie Schaeffer as well as Too Hot To Handle showrunner Viki Kolar and Fboy Island exec producer Audrey E. Smith.
The show, which is set to premiere in summer 2025, joins Netflix’s swathe of dating shows, which also include Love is Blind, The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On, The Ultimatum: Queer Love and Love on the Spectrum.
Although the show was ordered before the arrival of new reality boss Jeff Gaspin, it is in line with his strategy of searching for broadcast-style shows that have a “fresh take on the familiar”.
What does Veitch consider a sneaky link? “This is Chloe’s guide to sneaky linking. I’ve had multiple sneaky links. I thought ‘Is it friends with benefits? Is it a situationship?’ No. They’re very different. They’ve all got the baseline of no one really knows but it’s someone you could fall in love with but you’re scared to tell. It could be someone that you’ve been hooking up with for years, but never got to the point in your relationship to get rid of any toxicity in your relationship. There’s some sneaky links that just love to hook up, they just want to have sex, they just want to fumble around and one person might be in love but the other person might not be or someone might be scared of commitment, and they might need a push over that line. Sneaky link to me is much deeper than just a hook up or friends with benefits, because there wouldn’t be any substance. The twists and turns in Sneaky Links: Dating After Dark definitely bring substance,” she said.
Veitch said that the show needed to be relatable and reflect modern dating. “It’s really important for me to watch a dating show and think ‘I know how they feel’. Because I’ve been on that other end of it, I know, in my mind, what the audience need and what they want. My crossover from being talent to now host is not only to give ideas but to understand the logistics of modern dating now. Excuse my French, but it’s just fucked. It’s a consistent catalogue of the next big thing where no one wants to commit,” she added.
She hopes that this is the just the start of her hosting career. “I feel like this is the first of many. I’m already having conversations about the next one and not necessarily Sneaky Links, but just in the dating realm, I’d love to do more,” she added.
The post Netflix Swipes Right On ‘Sneaky Links’ Dating Show As Chloe Veitch Goes From Reality Star To Host appeared first on Deadline.
