At first glance, Love After Lockup and Love During Lockup sound like twin shows just swapped timeframes. But reality TV fans know better. While both are part of WE tv’s popular prison romance franchise, they’re actually quite different in tone, pacing, and what they reveal about relationships under extreme circumstances.
The key difference? Timing. Love During Lockup dives into the early stages of prison relationships, often before couples even meet in person.
Love After Lockup, on the other hand, picks up when the inmate is released, throwing the pair into real-world chaos.
Let’s break it down into drama, love, and all.
Meeting Your Soulmate Through the Bars: Love During Lockup
Love During Lockup is where the emotional groundwork gets laid. This is the prequel in many ways. Viewers follow people who are dating, sometimes even engaged to incarcerated partners they’ve often never met face-to-face.
This show is a crash course in emotional risk. There’s the excitement of new love, but also catfish vibes, shady motives, and family members sounding alarm bells.
A lot of the drama comes from anticipation: Will they meet in person? Will this person be who they claim to be? Is it love or a long con?
And then there’s the mystery. Because the inmate is still locked up, their personality is filtered through letters, calls, and heavily monitored prison visits. It’s intimate, but also full of doubt.
When Reality Hits: Love After Lockup Changes Everything
When the prison doors open, the stakes change completely. Love After Lockup picks up post-release, when the fairy tale comes face-to-face with bills, jobs, parole officers, and real-life expectations.
In this show, we see couples struggle to transition from fantasy to reality. It’s no longer about sweet calls and promises, it’s about whether they can cohabitate, trust each other, and survive life on the outside. Spoiler alert: many can’t.
From love triangles to secret pasts and sometimes secret crimes, Love After Lockup thrives on the clash between dreams and reality.
Fans love watching how the couples evolve or explode when they step out of prison and into the real world.
Same Franchise, Different Energy
Though the two shows share DNA some couples from Love During Lockup even go on to appear in Love After Lockup they offer very different viewing experiences.
Love During Lockup has more suspense. It feels like a psychological drama at times, with viewers constantly questioning everyone’s intentions. It’s the beginning of the rollercoaster, where everything still feels full of hope and danger.
Love After Lockup is messier. It’s faster-paced, emotionally volatile, and full of unpredictable twists. You’re watching people with major baggage try to play house after months or years of separation or zero real-world experience together.
In a way, one is the setup and the other is the payoff.
The Fan Connection: Why Viewers Keep Coming Back
Part of the appeal is watching people gamble everything on love. Prison romance isn’t a typical relationship, and that uniqueness keeps things interesting.
Whether you’re rooting for a couple or waiting for the next trainwreck, both shows tap into universal themes: loneliness, hope, trust, and betrayal.
Fans also get invested in specific cast members. When someone from Love During Lockup pops up later on Love After Lockup, it feels like catching up with an old friend who just can’t stop making bad decisions.
Plus, the editing is sharp, the confessionals are raw, and the drama? Chef’s kiss.
Which Show Should You Watch First?
Technically, you can start with either one. Each show can stand on its own. But if you want the full emotional arc, watching Love During Lockup first makes sense.
You’ll see the foundation of every text, every call, every red flag and then experience the fallout in Love After Lockup.
That said, Love After Lockup is often more explosive. If you’re new to the franchise and just want maximum chaos, it might be the better intro.
Are the Relationships Real?
That’s the big question, isn’t it? While the emotions often feel genuine, some fans remain skeptical.
There have been cases of cast members exaggerating for the camera or outright lying. Others seem to genuinely believe in their love story, even if it’s doomed from the start.
Whether it’s true love or twisted fantasy, the shows highlight the complexity of modern relationships. Especially the ones forged through bars, courtrooms, and commissary accounts.
The Verdict: Not the Same Show, But the Same Wild Ride
So is Love After Lockup the same as Love During Lockup? Definitely not. One shows how love starts behind bars; the other shows how it survives or collapses once freedom comes into play.
Together, they create a full-circle view of what happens when love and incarceration collide. It’s reality TV at its most raw, awkward, and sometimes surprisingly heartwarming.
If you’re in it for the long haul, start with Love During Lockup to see how the relationships begin. But if you’re here for drama, tears, and couples unraveling in real-time, Love After Lockup has you covered.
Either way, you’re in for a binge-worthy ride. Just maybe don’t take relationship advice from it.