The Life and Love Coach Behind OWN's ' Marry Me Now:' Rebecca Lynn Pope on Her Journey Getting Couples in Love to the Altar
2022 may be the year of instant marriages. Starting with the Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson film Marry Me back in February, we now have the OWN reality series Marry Me Now, hosted by Atlanta life and love coach Rebecca Lynn Pope. Today, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Pope and asking her about her new gig and how Marry Me Now is ultimately empowering for the men and women at the center of the show.
Marry Me Now is a reality show that gives women the chance to take charge of their own fate by helping women who have been in long-standing relationships propose to their partners. The women get three days to plan the wedding, and if the man says "yes" to the proposal, they will get married on the spot.
When asked about what viewers can look forward to, Pope mentioned that there will be a lot more coaching in subsequent episodes on real issues. Drawing upon her experience as a life and love coach, Pope councils the women on not just their relationships, but also more general issues governing their lives.
In the interview, Pope emphasized how Marry Me Now focuses on "real relationships." Unlike other reality shows about love, the couples who are on Marry Me Now have all been in committed relationships for some time and know each other well. The shortest relationship was just under a year, while the longest relationship had been going on for over seven years. By centering on established couples, Marry Me Now offers a look into different ways a committed relationship can look and the issues that could arise.
Additionally, Pope clarified that the aim of Marry Me Now is not to make women proposing the norm. She finds that would be "way too much of a stretch" since we come from a society with traditional gender roles.
However, she hopes that the show will get women to ask themselves the hard questions, such as why she's waiting for the man to propose or even will he ever propose. By showing women and men what can be possible, Pope hopes that the audience will see a lot of "relationship empowerment," where people can relate and say "I need to really look at my own relationship and determine where this is at and if this is really going in the direction I really want to go in."
Finally, when reflecting on major themes she saw while hosting "Marry Me Now," Pope mentioned how she saw a lot of gratitude, where the potential brides express how grateful they were to meet the men they wanted to get married to, and that the women never knew that such a great man existed or that such a great love could happen to them.
On the other hand, Pope also observed how in "boss chick relationships," it can often seem like the man is more in love with the woman than the other way around.
However, she reminds us that it's not necessarily that one side loves the other side more - it's more that the two love differently. And thus, when the woman take on the huge demonstration of love by proposing, the men were "overwhelmed" and crying, touched by the gesture.
Pope hopes that in these situations, Marry Me Now can help dispel some of the negative stereotypes that come with women proposing.
Pope said of these "boss chick" relationships:
"It was just a really heartwarming. Everyone crying. It was just too much. It was just amazing!"
As the interview wrapped up, Pope had one more piece of advice to impart. She cautioned:
"Relationships are not cookie cutter. We can't say it's toxic or unhealthy or out of order for women to propose. Because I think there are some circumstances when a woman proposing is this huge gesture of love and commitment to men who really love them, and they don't care.
"Like, I heard one of the grooms say, 'She could've asked me to marry her anywhere, anytime. I don't care. I would've been there. Like I don't care who asked who. She's my wife now and that's all I care about.'
I think people are going to be surprised by some of those types of couples and moments that we get on the show that are very beautiful and definitely going against the grain of what people want to stereotype this as just wrong."
Well, after seeing the first episode, which is available in full on YouTube, I'm looking forward to seeing more of Pope and the women and men of Marry Me Now, which airs on OWN every Saturday at 9:00pm ET/PT.
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