The language barrier wasn’t the only obstacle Airi Kataoka and Tripp Bromley faced while filming Love & Translation.
“I was irritated by other girl’s behavior when I couldn’t understand language,” Airi, 20, exclusively told Us Weekly via translator earlier this month while promoting the TLC series. “And I couldn’t understand what they’re saying.”
Host Sangita Patel added that while all the women had translators to help them communicate with herself and the other contestants, it still led to “frustration” amongst the group. The tension only got worse once “jealousy” started to play a part when the women connected more with the suitors: Tripp, 30, Kahil and Dylan.
“The drama is starting to build in the next few episodes. Things are going to happen,” Sangita, 45, teased to Us. “And I’m learning too, as I’m watching too because I was there, but I didn’t know these little moments were happening.”
Airi, who hails from Japan, agreed that once the women met the suitors “there was a lot of tension.”
Meanwhile, for Tripp, he hinted that things weren’t easy for the men, as well.
“There were some moments, but the beautiful thing about our relationship is we worked through our tensions very quickly because we were the only people who could actually speak and listen to each other,” he told Us. “So it really didn’t make any sense to hold onto any grudges or make enemies with the only people you can speak to. So we got over our issues pretty quickly.”
Love & Translation is a dating show where three American men get to meet 12 women from around the world to try to form a connection. However, none of the women speak the same language and they’re unable to use translators as they get to know each other.
“It’s a great social experiment that we’ve taken the guys and the girls from around the world to come together and see if they can actually fall in love without the use of language,” Sangita explains of the show’s premise. “90 percent of our communication is nonverbal. So can you make that connection? And they go through some really interesting experiments and they all come alive during the experiments and they go through it.”
As one of the suitors, Tripp confessed he had “no idea” that he wasn’t going to be able to communicate with the women.
“I already thought enough that the challenge of going out into a new place and meeting women from different cultures is already a challenge enough, but I had no idea that this language barrier thing was coming in,” he shared. “So that was [a] blindside challenge right there. So two massive challenges at once. It was pretty wild.”
Tripp confessed he had a rocky start at first as he tried to form connections with the others.
“The slate got wiped clean, and along with that, my entire confidence, it was like the rug of confidence just got pulled away,” he said. “My confidence comes from speaking and listening. All that’s out the window, so immediately in uncharted waters, as I like to say.”
Despite being nervous at first, Tripp admitted he bonded with Gisele during one of the group’s first experiences, a gazing exercise.
“Giselle [has] something in her eyes, I felt like I was seeing her life story,” he explained. “I was just looking in there and seeing some pain and some of her experiences that she had, and yet I could feel that she still has a lot of hope.”
Love & Translation airs on TLC on Sundays at 10 p.m. ET
