- On Freeform's "Love Trip: Paris," Francophiles search for love.
- The cast shared what French people and Americans can learn from each other about dating.
Freeform's new dating series "Love Trip: Paris" takes viewers on a journey to Paris, where four Americans are searching for their life partners. Josielyn Aguilera, Lacy Hartselle, Caroline Renner, and Rose Zilla-Ba gave Insider all the tea on what it's like to date in France, including what French and American suitors can learn from each other and what Netflix's hit show "Emily In Paris" gets right and wrong about the city of love.
On "Love Trip: Paris," the four daters move into an apartment complex full of potential French love interests. The daters use an exclusive app to communicate with each other, and in each episode, the Americans decide which suitors have the key to their hearts—those who don't have to leave the residence.
As fast as potential love interests leave the complex, new ones come in, giving the show vibes distinctly similar to "Love Island" and "The Circle."
Since Josielyn, Rose, Caroline, and Lacy are Americans who've previously lived and dated in Paris, they also had thoughts on what Netflix's hit show "Emily In Pairs" gets right and wrong about French culture.
"There's a reason why maybe there are cliches, but they kind of go too overboard with it," Caroline said. "This is too much. You're beating a dead horse," they said, adding, "It gives me a headache just thinking about it."
"I think the French are very particular about things, which is made very clear in 'Emily in Paris,'" they continued, noting that if you do something wrong, "they'll call you out on it." But Caroline said that in real life, French people are less "obnoxious" than the Netflix show depicts and will help you adapt to their way of doing things rather than icing you out.
Dating in Paris
Of course, many people watching "Love Trip: Paris" probably have a lot of questions about what it's like to date in France, and will quickly learn that it's not all champagne and eclairs. In fact, the cast had a lot of strong feelings about what French people could learn from American daters.
"You don't give your soul over just because you've kissed someone," Lacy said, adding that French people can be jealous while dating.
"Possessiveness is not hot. I get that intention is really important, connection. But you don't own another person," added Caroline.
The cast struggled with how intensely the French daters expressed their emotions, but it was clear that American daters had a lot to learn from the French, too.
American society, the cast agreed, is very rushed. But though they are intense, French people are very intentional with their time on dates.
"They will sit down with you, no cell phones, no distractions, and just be like, 'Let's talk. Let's get to know each other and let's create a memory," said Caroline.
"They will take you somewhere extravagant and memorable, everything is over the top just because that's the lifestyle that they want to live," Lacy said, recalling memories from the first time she lived in Paris. "They want to have a good moment and share it with someone they've never met. I'm like, 'Americans only do this if you've been together for a year, maybe."
The American and French daters on "Love Trip: Paris" have different gender identities and sexual orientations and the cast said that the most important message of the show is that no matter how you identify, everyone wants to fall in love.
"It's so amazing to see two amazing, beautiful women fall in love with each other and two amazing people get to meet each other for the first time and to get to experience that. I think that the more we see that on TV, film, the media, it's the more of a beautiful thing it'll be. Who knows, maybe that'll give a little kid out there the courage to be themselves," said Josielyn.
Episodes of "Love Trip: Paris" air Tuesdays from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Freeform.