The Lockup franchise is adding a new series — Love During Lockup — and WE tv has set a premiere date and released a teaser. The new reality series follows couples going through the early stages of love when one side is behind bars.

WE tv revealed more about the upcoming series in a press release.

“WE tv announced today that Love During Lockup, the newest and third installment of the Love After Lockup/Life After Lockup franchise, premieres Friday, January 7 at 9 PM ET. New episodes become available on popular AMC streaming service ALLBLK, every Tuesday following their premiere on WE tv.

Love During Lockup follows even more riveting firsts through the early stages of love, with plenty of romance, suspicion, and investigation, all long before a scheduled prison release. Every non-con has a unique strategy for finding love behind bars—whether they only seek drug offenders who are believed to be nonviolent, or a prison bae pushing a wrongful conviction. Other lonely civilians are simply on the hunt for their very own ‘hot felon,’ with the model mugshot to prove it.

Voracious viewers of the franchise are in for more drama, more mystery, scams, catfishing, and more crazy reveals than ever before. Love During Lockup will document the fascinating drama that unfolds when ordinary people first decide to pursue relationships with prison inmates, and an early dating period filled with a very specific set of unique challenges.

The explosive supertease released today introduces four new couples, as well as two singletons who just can’t keep themselves (and their bank accounts!) away from potential paramours in the clink. Further info on each story below.

Haley & Dalton (Highland Village, TX)

Things have moved fast for Haley and Dalton, whose paths crossed prior to Dalton’s prison sentence, but Haley is expecting the big proposal and a ring once Dalton gets out… whenever that might be. In the meantime, Haley has dipped into her car accident settlement money to pay for Dalton’s legal fees– a lot for the single mom who works six days a week cleaning homes. Even worse, Dalton has shown a jealous streak and doesn’t like that Haley and her ex-Jarrett peacefully co-parent their 6-year-old son Hendrix. But is Dalton making a big deal of Haley’s ex to deflect from his own ex-girlfriend issues?

Indie & Harry (Beltsville, MD)

Indie was scrolling through TikTok one day and stumbled upon a video of an extremely attractive inmate, who she later dreamt about and ultimately pursued. However, Indie’s mom is a bounty hunter who has started an investigation on Harry and will use the full power of her profession to prove Harry is nothing more than a criminal. When Indie takes the advice of a trusted psychic, whom she consults everything with, and packs up her daughters’ life to move to Ohio, she might be left alone in a new city regretting everything as she awaits Harry’s supposed release.

Santiba & Talsey (Portland, ME)

Santiba is a recent divorcee who lost a hundred pounds and gained the man of her dreams- inmate Talsey. She met Talsey through Writeaprisoner.com, and they hit it off. He’s spent almost a decade behind bars, and upon his release Santiba plans to move from Maine to Georgia to be together, even though they’ve never met in person.

Gabrielle & Christopher (Orange, NJ)

Gabrielle and Chris met through Gabrielle’s cousin’s incarcerated boyfriend, and after quickly falling for one another, Chris decided to shower Gabrielle with the finer things– including a house, a BMW, and a $5000 engagement ring. Christopher’s family is worried she may be using him for his money. Chris’ family has plans to confront Gabrielle and her intentions. Meanwhile, Gabrielle’s family also have doubts of their own, especially her mother, who calls Gabby a ‘maneater’ because of many failed engagements. Will this be any different?

Max (Washington, DC)

Max is getting his masters in biochemistry at Georgetown University. You’d think with looks and the brains, Max could find a woman in the free world – but he’s been burned one too many times before. Max discovered WriteAPrisoner.com on a study break and loved that he could scan through for only the best-looking women. He’s always dated models and influencers. How will his friends react to his new method of meeting women? Max also has a very popular account where he sells steamy content for a premium price, often alongside his roommate Alessa. Max is worried Alessa wants a relationship with him, and he thinks it might be time to cut her off before she gets the wrong idea.

Tai (Buffalo, NY)

Tai’s passion for forensics led her to a career as a mortician and it also led to dating inmates. Tai keeps a shoebox of papers containing an updated log of her multiple inmates, their cases, and details about their sentences and lives. Her ideal profile is anyone pictured in a white t-shirt and grey sweats with a minimum sentence of five to ten years. Her interest in inmates has led her to four failed relationships, but Tai hopes her current relationship with inmate Rio, aka “Hottie,” will be the reason she keeps her love alive. But will a mystery call break Tai’s heart?

WE tv has experienced significant growth on Friday nights on the strength of the “Love After Lockup/Life After Lockup” franchise. The network is currently #1 in all of cable during primetime on Friday nights among women 18-49, women 25-54 and #5 among adults 18-49 and #6 among adults 25-54. Over its more than 100-eisode history, the Love/Life franchise has averaged 1.1 million total viewers, nearly 700,000 adults 25-54 and more than 500,000 women 25-54 in Nielsen Live +3 ratings.

Love During Lockup is produced by Sharp Entertainment. Executive Producers are Matt Sharp, Dan Adler, Alan Madison and Sophie Mallam. Lauren P. Gellert and Kate Farrell are Executive Producers for WE tv.”

Check out a preview for the upcoming series below.

What do you think? Are you planning to check out Love During Lockup on WE tv?