‘The Ultimatum’ Has Been Hiding Something All Along: Air Mattresses

JUMP OUT OF BED

After two seasons of bed-sharing chaos, one brave cast member finally spotted a new way through the matrix.

Senior Entertainment Reporter

(Warning: Spoilers for The Ultimatum Season 2 below.)

When I first saw it, I couldn’t believe it. But there it was, slowly inflating while Antonio—perhaps the bravest, most innovative man to ever join Netflix’s The Ultimatum—stood beside it. Somehow, after two seasons of emotional turmoil and slumbertime drama, Antonio has uncovered a loophole that could bring peace to many of the show’s future trial marriages: You can apparently use an air mattress.

“That was an aftermarket kind of deal,” Antonio told The Daily Beast’s Obsessed. “They had no intention of setting that up for us.”

Antonio (left) entered The Ultimatum with his girlfriend Roxanne—and when they broke up, he decided against sharing a bed with his new partner.

The five couples in The Ultimatum all share one thing in common: In each pair, one person has demanded that the other either agrees to get engaged or moves on. In Season 2, we have: Antonio (ultimatum giver) and Roxanne (recipient); Kat (giver) and Alex (recipient); Trey (giver) and Riah (recipient); Lisa (giver) and Brian (recipient); and Ryann (giver) and James (recipient).

Each season, the couples break up and enter into three-week “trial marriages” with one of the other daters in the pool. In the end, each couple must decide whether to leave with their current partner, someone new, or by themselves.

This season of The Ultimatum is the most sexless yet; no one is hooking up. Sure, a couple people “catch feelings,” but no one seems to cross the line when it comes to physical intimacy. Between the air mattresses and the frequent on-camera phone use, you could almost forget that you’re watching a meticulously produced psychological experiment.

In past seasons, The Ultimatum has gotten pretty raunchy, as various participants explore the possibility of life with someone else. In its third iteration, however (including its queer-themed spinoff), the couples appear to have entered with a different mindset: In many cases, they’re using the trial marriages as communication and self-exploration exercises to help them better connect with their original partners.

Antonio could be the mascot for this movement, and not just because he’s the first person in Ultimatum history to secure a second bed. He’s also a pretty skillful communicator—a compliment he accepted during our interview with a chuckle and the words, “I’ve done a lot of therapy.”

In this case, the reasons not to share a bed are obvious. As Antonio told producers during the show, “It’s completely bizarre to be living with anybody other than my ex, Roxanne… I know how it would feel if she was sleeping in the same bed with somebody, and I don’t want to do that.”

And before you assume that the lack of hook-ups means we’re in for a boring season, think again. There’s no shortage of turmoil to be found in Season 2. In this case, it just comes in the form of emotional intimacy—which, in some ways, can feel like a much bigger threat. That said, kudos to Antonio for revolutionizing The Ultimatum’s game—even if the producers probably hated it.

Senior Entertainment Reporter

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