Netflix has found the easiest way to introduce Matt Waldrip.
Beekeeper.
It is memorable. It gives the Love Is Blind editors plenty of honey jokes. And when Season 11 moves the pods to Boston, a man with five beehives is naturally going to stand out among account executives, engineers and sales professionals.
The description is also incomplete.
Long before Matt Waldrip became one of the singles on Love Is Blind Season 11, he had built a career in environmental work, earned an MBA, managed scientists working on major energy projects, coached youth basketball, served in community organizations and survived cancer.
He is also a father.
And yes, he really does keep bees.
That makes Matt one of the more interesting contestants to research before the Boston season even begins.
Because behind Netflix’s easy “beekeeper looking for his queen bee” introduction is someone whose real life is considerably more complicated.
The Beekeeper Label Comes From a Real Hobby
Let’s start with the bees.
Matt did not suddenly buy a hive because it would make a good reality-TV biography.
Beekeeping was already part of his life.
A 2025 profile of Matt described it as a side hustle and environmental interest inspired by his mother, who had been keeping bees for years.
Matt eventually became interested himself after learning more about how important pollinators are to the environment.
At one point, he had six hives, although several did not survive the winter.
Netflix’s current Season 11 profile says he now has five hives on his property.
He also sells honey and wax to friends.
So when Love Is Blind calls him a beekeeper, it is not technically wrong.
It is simply not his entire job.
What Matt Waldrip Actually Does for Work
Matt’s professional background is in environmental science and energy infrastructure.
He studied environmental science and regional planning at Westfield State University before later earning an MBA from Fitchburg State University.
He went on to work at Eversource Energy.
By 2025, Matt was serving as a manager in licensing and permitting.
His work involves something that sounds far less reality-TV friendly than beekeeping but is arguably more important to understanding him.
Matt manages environmental professionals dealing with the permitting and licensing required for major energy projects.
That includes infrastructure such as utility poles, transmission structures and projects connected with making the electric grid more reliable and resilient.
In other words:
When construction and environmental protection have to exist in the same place, people in Matt’s field help figure out how that can happen.
And Then There Is Turtlepalooza
This may be the best detail in Matt Waldrip’s pre-Love Is Blind life.
He helps coordinate a program called Turtlepalooza.
Despite the name, it is not a turtle festival.
The program trains construction workers to recognize and protect turtles that may be present around work sites.
Crews learn what to look for and how to reduce the risk of harming wildlife while completing necessary infrastructure work.
It sounds oddly specific.
That is exactly why it makes Matt’s story more interesting.
Netflix can summarize him in one word — beekeeper — but his actual career seems to revolve around a much broader interest in the relationship between people, infrastructure and the environment.
The Bees Even Became Part of His Professional Work
Matt’s interest in beekeeping eventually crossed over with his environmental career.
In 2025, an Eversource biodiversity project brought dozens of beehives to a solar-generation site in Western Massachusetts.
The idea was simple.
Solar panels could generate electricity while the surrounding land also provided habitat for pollinators.
Matt proposed and managed the project.
That means the bees viewers are likely to hear about on Love Is Blind are not just a quirky weekend hobby.
They fit into a much larger pattern.
Environmental science.
Pollinator protection.
Community planning.
Energy projects.
Beekeeping.
Different parts of Matt’s life keep circling back to the same subject.
He Was Named to a 40 Under Forty Class Before Reality TV
Matt also had local professional recognition before Netflix introduced him to a global audience.
BusinessWest selected him for its 2025 40 Under Forty class.
The profile highlighted his environmental work and community involvement rather than anything related to television.
That distinction matters.
Reality shows sometimes introduce a contestant and suddenly everything that person did before filming gets rewritten as a prequel to fame.
Matt’s career clearly existed on its own.
Love Is Blind is a new chapter.
It did not create the previous ones.
Cancer Is Part of His Story Too
Netflix also describes Matt as a cancer survivor.
That detail is presented briefly in his Season 11 introduction, but Matt had spoken publicly about it years before joining the show.
In a post about participating in an Eversource charity race, he identified himself as a cancer survivor while supporting the work of Massachusetts General Hospital’s cancer center.
There is no reason to turn that part of his life into emotional reality-TV bait.
The confirmed information is enough.
Matt survived cancer.
He later participated in events supporting cancer-related work.
And Netflix says his family and friends describe him as resilient.
That history helps explain why he talks about relationships in terms of persistence rather than simply chemistry.
His View of Relationships Sounds Less Disposable Than Most Dating Apps
Matt’s Netflix introduction includes one idea that may become important once the season starts.
He believes people give up on relationships too easily.
His view is that relationships require work.
That is interesting in the context of Love Is Blind.
The show deliberately accelerates everything.
Contestants can go from strangers to emotionally attached to engaged in a remarkably short period.
Then the relationship is immediately placed under pressure.
Travel.
Cameras.
Living together.
Families.
Finances.
Physical attraction.
A wedding deadline.
Someone who enters believing relationships should be worked on rather than quickly abandoned could react to that pressure very differently from someone who views early incompatibility as a reason to walk away.
Whether that becomes important for Matt remains to be seen.
The Most Important Person in His Dating Decision Is Not in the Pods
Matt has an 8-year-old son.
And that changes the stakes.
Netflix says Matt considers his son the greatest thing in his life.
Any relationship coming out of the experiment would therefore involve much more than whether two adults have chemistry.
A potential partner would eventually have to fit into a family structure that already exists.
Matt has made that requirement clear before the season begins.
The woman he chooses needs to love his son too.
That makes his situation fundamentally different from a contestant whose only question is:
“Do I want to marry this person?”
Matt also has to ask:
“Does this person belong in the life my child and I already have?”
Netflix Is Giving Him Plenty of Bee Puns
Naturally, Netflix has leaned into Matt’s hobby.
He is looking for his “queen bee.”
Women may “swarm” around him.
He is trying to find someone to call “honey.”
Expect more.
It is exactly the kind of easy character shorthand reality television loves.
But it will be worth watching whether the actual episodes give viewers more than the gimmick.
Because Matt’s background provides plenty of material that has nothing to do with bee jokes.
He Apparently Knows His Way Around a Kitchen Too
Matt’s Instagram handle is @mattsmenu14, which already hints that food is part of his personality.
Netflix says he enjoys cooking romantic dinners and is particularly proud of his chicken parmesan.
He claims his Italian cooking can impress a date.
There is, however, one dining-related danger.
Chewing with your mouth open is apparently one of his biggest turnoffs.
It is the sort of small detail that sounds trivial until two people suddenly have to live together.
Love Is Blind has spent eleven seasons demonstrating that relationships can fall apart over things much smaller than fundamental philosophical differences.
Sometimes the dishwasher really is the villain.
Matt’s Community Life Goes Beyond His Job
Matt’s pre-show profile also shows a pattern of community involvement.
He has served on the Hadley Planning Board.
He has been involved with environmental industry organizations.
He helped with conservation-related conferences.
He has participated in charity events.
And he has coached youth basketball.
Individually, none of those details is extraordinary.
Together, they create a picture of someone whose life appears unusually rooted in his local community.
That may matter once the show moves beyond the pods.
Contestants eventually have to see whether the relationship they created in isolation can survive their actual lives.
Matt already has a demanding professional role, a child, community commitments and hobbies.
Whoever connects with him would not be entering an empty schedule.
Why Matt Waldrip Could Become an Interesting Season 11 Personality
There is no honest way to know before episodes air which contestants will become major characters.
Cast announcements are not screen-time guarantees.
Some people who look fascinating on paper barely appear.
Others unexpectedly become the entire season.
But Matt has several ingredients that could make viewers curious.
He has a memorable job label.
He is a single father.
He is a cancer survivor.
He has a real professional career outside television.
He has strong opinions about commitment.
And there is an obvious visual gimmick producers can use every time they need another bee reference.
That is a lot of material for one cast member.
There Is Also an Important Difference Between “Beekeeper” and “Reality Star”
For now, Matt is not really a reality star.
He is a person who has filmed a reality show.
There is a difference.
Season 11 has not yet shown viewers how much of his story will actually make the edit.
That is why pre-season profiles should be careful not to invent storylines.
We do not yet know who Matt connects with.
We do not know whether he gets engaged.
We do not know whether he reaches the vacation stage.
We do not know whether his relationship survives.
We do not know whether viewers love him, dislike him or barely see him.
Those details should come from the episodes.
Not spoilers presented as facts.
His Real Career May Surprise Viewers the Most
If Matt receives significant screen time, one thing is almost guaranteed.
People will search “Matt Love Is Blind job.”
And many will expect the answer to be simply:
Beekeeper.
The more accurate answer is more interesting.
Beekeeping is a genuine part of his life.
But his professional career is in environmental licensing and permitting for energy infrastructure.
He manages scientists.
He has degrees connected with environmental planning.
He has been involved in conservation efforts.
He has worked on biodiversity projects.
The bees are part of that world rather than a random novelty.
Netflix simply chose the most television-friendly part.
Understandably.
“Manager of Licensing & Permitting” does not inspire nearly as many romantic puns.
What Is Matt Looking for in a Partner?
Netflix says Matt wants someone who is:
- trustworthy
- affectionate
- playful
- accepting of his son
- willing to put real effort into a relationship
That list is surprisingly uncomplicated.
There is no long description of a physical type.
Which, on a show built around dating without seeing the other person, is probably useful.
His son remains the biggest practical consideration.
That may ultimately matter more than any pod chemistry.
Love Is Blind Is Dropping Him Into a Life Completely Different From His Own
Matt’s normal world appears structured.
Environmental permitting.
Meetings.
Community organizations.
Parenting.
Basketball coaching.
Beekeeping.
Reality television is not structured in quite the same way.
The pods deliberately remove normal life.
Contestants spend hours talking inside an artificial environment where relationships become the central focus.
No school run.
No normal workday.
No hives needing attention.
No planning-board meeting.
Then the show suddenly gives all of that life back.
That transition has broken plenty of couples in previous seasons.
Matt’s story could be particularly interesting because he already has so much waiting for him outside the experiment.
Maybe “Resilient” Is the Better Label
Netflix chose “beekeeper.”
It makes sense.
But if Matt’s pre-show history has a recurring theme, another word may fit better.
Resilient.
Cancer survivor.
Father.
Environmental professional.
Community volunteer.
A person willing to manage projects where infrastructure and conservation have to coexist.
Someone who says relationships require effort.
Whether those qualities translate into a successful Love Is Blind relationship is impossible to know yet.
The pods tend to test people’s self-descriptions rather quickly.
But one thing is already clear.
Matt Waldrip arrived on Love Is Blind with a real life that existed long before the cameras.
The bees are just the easiest part to put in the trailer.
Matt Waldrip — What We Know Before Love Is Blind Season 11
Full name: Matt Waldrip
Age: 37
Love Is Blind season: Season 11 — Boston
Netflix occupation: Beekeeper
Professional background: Environmental licensing and permitting
Education: Environmental science and regional planning; MBA
Family: Father of an 8-year-old son
Known hobby: Beekeeping
Number of hives: Netflix says five
Health: Cancer survivor
Instagram: @mattsmenu14
What he wants in a relationship: Trust, affection, playfulness and a partner who accepts his son
Questions Viewers Are Likely to Ask
Who is Matt Waldrip on Love Is Blind Season 11?
Matt Waldrip is a 37-year-old Boston-area contestant on Love Is Blind Season 11. Netflix introduces him as a beekeeper, but his professional background is in environmental licensing and permitting.
Is Matt Waldrip really a beekeeper?
Yes. Beekeeping predates his appearance on Love Is Blind. Matt has kept multiple hives and has sold honey and wax to friends. He became interested in beekeeping partly through his mother.
What does Matt Waldrip actually do for work?
Matt works in environmental licensing and permitting in the energy sector. He has managed a team of scientists involved in permitting infrastructure projects.
Is Matt Waldrip a cancer survivor?
Yes. Matt has publicly identified himself as a cancer survivor, and Netflix also mentions this in his official Season 11 cast profile.
Does Matt Waldrip have children?
Yes. Matt has an 8-year-old son, whom he describes as the greatest thing in his life.
How old is Matt from Love Is Blind?
Netflix lists Matt as 37 years old for Season 11.
What is Matt Waldrip’s Instagram?
His public Instagram handle listed in Season 11 cast coverage is @mattsmenu14.
Does Matt Waldrip get engaged on Love Is Blind?
Before the episodes reveal his story, engagement rumors should not be treated as confirmed. This section should be updated after Netflix officially shows what happens.
When does Love Is Blind Season 11 premiere?
Love Is Blind Season 11 premieres on Netflix on October 14, 2026, with the first five episodes.
