Of all the places one might expect to find a television show wrestling with Jewish identity, TLC likely isn’t one of them.
Yet the cable network recently debuted a new reality series that does just that.
TLC’s new series, “Forbidden Love,” follows four couples where religion is the greatest hurdle in their relationship. The relationships include an Amish man who has left his community and is having a child with his secular wife. Another follows a Muslim man with a conservative Catholic woman. There’s the son of a Pentecostal preacher dating a Muslim woman. And another follows an Orthodox man, Eli, and his partner, Laurie, who was raised a devout Catholic, abandoned her faith after her father’s untimely death and has decided to convert to Judaism after meeting Eli at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting and falling in love.
“Sometimes in life, a Jewish boy falls in love with an Italian-Catholic girl,” Eli says in the series’ premiere episode. But as the couple’s rabbi tells Laurie during an early scene, “It’s not easy to become Jewish.” Indeed, along with giving up her clothes, changing her hair, learning the laws of kashrut, taking classes and studying for tests, Laurie faces other unexpected challenges along her journey of joining the Jewish faith.
In the season’s third episode, for instance, Laurie is celebrating her first Hanukkah with Eli’s parents. She’s mouthing the words as everyone recites the prayers. Then, joining Eli and his parents around the menorah, Laurie’s mother calls and expresses her disappointment that she won’t be home for Christmas.
In another episode, Laurie expresses her discomfort wearing a Jewish star necklace in public, though she eventually puts it on.
In a lighter moment that’s sure to be relatable for all short Jewish men, the couple discuss Eli’s height, or lack thereof, and how Laurie was one of the few women he’s met who are shorter than him. “He’s like five-feet tall,” Laurie, 36, says. “I’m five-four,” the 32-year-old Eli counters. “Without shoes!”
The series premiered on July 27 and continues until Sept. 8. Not wanting to reveal any spoilers, the network declined to say if Eli and Laurie are currently married or if Laurie had finished her conversion. Nevertheless, a network spokesperson confirmed, “They’re still together and very happy,”
A few days after the airing of the season’s second episode, The Journal caught up with Eli and Laurie — based in North Hollywood, their full names are Eli Hayempour and Laurie Palermo — and discussed their experience being on the show, what message they have for other couples where one partner is converting and what it’s like being suddenly thrust into the reality-TV spotlight.
The following phone interview with the “Forbidden Love” couple has been edited for clarity and space.
Jewish Journal (JJ): How did you end up on the show?
Laurie: My sister sent me a little casting [notice], and she said, ‘I know that you guys started the conversion process. Would you be interested in maybe doing this?’ And I looked at it, and I was like, ‘That’s unique. I’ve never seen anything like that. Maybe we’ll just try it out. That would be cool to, like, document, because we’ll only convert once.’ I thought it would be awesome to see our journey.
Eli: Yeah, it was her idea. She told me about the show. I was like, ‘Yeah, I don’t think that’s the greatest idea.’ But, yeah, it’s been a cool experience.
JJ: What’s it been like for you guys to see the show now that it has started airing?
Laurie: We’re really enjoying it. I think it’s funny. It’s really cool to kind of just see where we started, and where we’ll end up, you know? I see that I don’t know anything at all in the beginning, and then you’ll slowly see that I learned and I’m gaining some knowledge. So, I think that’s important.
JJ: Laurie, prior to meeting Eli, how much did you know about Judaism, Shabbat and, you know, Jewish values?
Laurie: Growing up, I had one Jewish friend, and she literally — the only thing I knew about Judaism was pierogies.
Eli: That’s not even Jewish! That’s a Russian thing, I think.
JJ: Can you share a little bit about what the conversion process has been like for you?
Laurie: You know, it has been a long process, and I feel like, even though I’ve learned a lot, I’m still learning every day, and I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, there’s so much more I still need to learn!’
Eli: It’s kind of like we’re both converting, because I’m coming back to my roots, and it’s actually been a very nice process.
Laurie: Hopefully we can become some Jewish influencers!
Eli: I’m just trying to get a free Pesach program, man!
JJ: What’s been the reaction among family and friends? How concerned were you that you’d face hate online for being so publicly Jewish on the show?
Eli: Especially now in today’s time, it’s very important to embrace your Judaism and be proud of being Jewish, because there’s a lot of hate out there. The last thing we need is Jews to be scared to be Jewish. When we started filming, Oct. 7 hadn’t happened yet. I don’t think a war had broken out through the whole time we were filming. When it did break out, we still had some things to film, and I was just like, ‘Well, now is our time to just show our Judaism even more, be proud of it.’ Throughout the show, I would always tell the producers, ‘Hey, you know, people don’t like Jews as it is.’ … Is it [antisemitism] on steroids now? I think so. But the pride of being Jewish should also be on steroids, you know?
JJ: Laurie, what are some of the positive things you’ve found in Judaism during your conversion journey?
Laurie: I’ve gained a family, a community, a place for my spirituality, because, before, I didn’t have one. And just a love for something that I never thought that I could have. I really didn’t believe that there was a God before, and now I feel like He’s helped me through a lot, and I feel like that has been the game-changer.
”I’ve gained a family, a community, a place for my spirituality, because, before, I didn’t have one. And just a love for something that I never thought that I could have.”- Laurie
JJ: For couples that are going through something similar, where one partner is of one faith and the other has a different faith, and they’re having conversations about the conversion process, what advice would you offer them?
Laurie: You can’t be halfway about it. Do the work. If you want to do it, you’ve got to be all about it. And I do think that you should do it not just for your partner. You should do it because you want to, because otherwise you’ll end up resenting them. So, you should want to do it, not [do it] just for love.
“Forbidden Love” airs Sundays on TLC. For details, visit tlc.com/shows/forbidden-love.
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