MTV dating show to feature two suburban contestants

Two suburban natives will be featured on the new season of MTV's dating show, "Are You The One?", which premieres Monday night, June 13.

Sam Handler, of Lake Barrington, and Alyssa Ortiz, of Elgin, are among a group of 20 young people who are admittedly "horrible at relationships" and will try to move past their issues and find their perfect matches.

The contestants start with in-depth interviews and compatibility tests by professional matchmakers and psychologists, as well as the contestants' families, friends and exes.

Then the experts select who they think would be an ideal match among the contestants - but don't tell them. If all 10 couples find their perfect matches during the season, they'll share a $1 million prize.

Ortiz, 21, lives in Elgin but grew up in Carpentersville and went to Hampshire High School. She's in her senior year at Illinois State University studying broadcast journalism.

Funny and outspoken, she dissed the men in her college town of Bloomington in her audition tape, calling it "a tiny town of losers."

She applied for the show on a whim after breaking up with her boyfriend last November. When she was chosen, she dropped out of her spring semester of school so she could spend 10 weeks filming in Maui.

"I don't regret it for a second. It was mentally, physically and emotionally exhausting, but it was worth it," she said. "Things like this don't happen to your average college girl in the Midwest."

Ortiz admits she's a little nervous about how it will be edited, and before she hung up from the interview, laughed and said, "Don't judge me!"

Sam Handler, 22, a long-haired blond model and actor who grew up in Lake Barrington, says he's old school when it comes to love. He calls himself "a true Midwestern gentleman and genuine person," which he says makes it difficult for him to date in today's hookup culture.

Handler, who played football at Barrington High School and UCLA, figures they wanted him on the show because he has 121,000 Instagram followers (samhandler32).

"I was single, and I was, like, 'Why not? Let's go!'" he said. "For me, it was about finding true love."

Filming the show was "a roller coaster of emotions, to say the least," but Handler said he's glad he did it.

"I can honestly say, I have 19 new friends," he said. "It was awesome."

“Are You The One?” airs on MTV at 9 p.m. Mondays, starting June 13.