Dubai Bling Season 1 Review – Another reality TV clone fresh off the production line

Episode Guide

Habibi, welcome to Dubai
Rumor has it
Closed Circle
Love Season
Ticking Time Bomb
Sail Away
Too late?
Hitched

Reality series are all the rage right now and when it comes to depicting the glamorous lifestyles of the rich and the famous, nowhere else is that more evident than in Dubai. Dubai Bling essentially repurposes all the usual reality TV tropes you’d expect, complete with eccentric personalities, lavish lifestyles and all the usual backstabbing, catfights, aggrievances and annoyances that come from a show like this.

The first episode is a bit slow and essentially works to set the scene, introducing you to Dubai itself, along with snippets of our central group of characters along with fights to come in the future. The usual introduction to the guys and gals we’ll be following across the 8 episodes then follows, and of course all the usual personalities show up here, with drama dialed up to 100, naturally.

Thrown into the lion’s den is social media influencer Farhana Abodi, an Emirati DJ called DJ Bliss, model and former TV present Loujain Adada along with Kris Fade, a radio star. Joining these guys to stir up more drama is his wife Brianna, CEO of Highmark Real Estate Zeina Khoury, DJ Bliss’ wife Diva Dee, entrepreneur Ebraheem, fashion expert Safa Siddiqui and TV show host Lojain Omran.

There’s a fair amount of big personalities in place here and they’ve all been deliberately chosen to stir up as much drama as possible. Those from the UAE will probably be familiar with artists like DJ Kris Fade, but even beyond that the entire show is smeared with a veneer that feels eerily similar to Real Housewives of Dubai, which came out earlier this year. Both shows are all about the drama, with a smattering of showy wealth for good measure. And on that same topic, expect plenty of expository shots showing off flashy cars, fancy hotels and breathless dinner date views.

Selling Sunset has really been the benchmark for a lot of Netflix’s reality shows as of late, especially in this field. I mean, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it right? But then at the same time, there’s an air of pretentiousness hanging over Dubai Bling and I guess with a title like that, it’s to be expected. Sure, it’s nice looking at the pretty things and kicking back and watching the ugly fights but underneath all that this is just another reality show with the same cliched premise.

It’s not bad per-se, and there will be an audience who get a kick out of this, but the ostentatious manner this show has been put together, with the central theme hanging so heavily on the idea of wealth and money – especially in a time when many people are struggling – may well be a step too far for the masses.