Alex Cooper is watching two parts of her Unwell world hit unexpected turbulence at almost the same time.
The first blow came with the brand’s beverage arm, which is reportedly being wound down after its Halloween offerings. Then came another surprise when Disney gave “Love Overboard”, the Hulu dating series produced under Cooper’s Unwell banner, the boot after one season.
Alex Cooper’s back-to-back changes arrive as Unwell continues to grow far beyond the podcast that started it all, making the timing of these setbacks especially interesting for an empire expanding in every direction.
The Unwell Productions dating series has been canceled after just one season, bringing “Love Overboard” to an unexpectedly early end. The nine-episode show premiered on Hulu in March and followed 22 singles competing for romance aboard a yacht.
Alex Cooper served as an executive producer on the reality series, which was hosted by former “Bachelorette and Traitors” winner Gabby Windey. Despite the built-in appeal of a dating show set at sea, the series reportedly struggled to connect with a large enough audience.
The cancellation gives the Unwell brand another project that won’t move forward, coming shortly after the reported shutdown of its beverage line.
The Disney Setback May Not Be As Bad As It Looks
The cancellation may sound like a major blow, but the relationship between Disney and Alex Cooper apparently remains intact. Sources told Page Six that the company has a good relationship with her and is already developing several other projects with the podcaster.
That includes the upcoming Hulu drama “You Deserve To Know”, starring “The Vampire Diaries” alums Nina Dobrev and Paul Wesley. The scripted project could give Cooper another opportunity to expand Unwell’s presence on television without relying on the reality format that “Love Overboard” occupied.
Meanwhile, Unwell recently received an investment from Patrick Whitesell’s firm WTSL that reportedly valued the company at $500 million, suggesting the canceled series and beverage line may be bumps rather than a broader retreat for the growing brand.
Alex Cooper’s Unwell Beverages Also Got The Axe
The beverage venture was never meant to be just another celebrity product with a familiar name slapped on a bottle. Cooper had previously explained that she was extremely deliberate about the projects she attached herself to, insisting that anything carrying her brand had to feel authentic to her.
That thinking helped shape Unwell Hydration, which came to her during her 2024 Unwell Tour. She had noticed that the hydration and energy aisle often seemed geared toward men and wanted to create products that better reflected the needs of women with similarly busy lifestyles.
The Blast reported that Cooper also said her own experience as an athlete influenced the concept, particularly her belief that hydration should be something people actually enjoy consuming rather than treat like a chore. She focused on taste, lower sugar, and products that could fit into everyday life, deciding to shut down the line felt like the end of a much more personal experiment.
How A ‘Call Her Daddy’ Fallout Helped Shape What Came Next
3The road to building Unwell wasn’t exactly straight. Long before Cooper was expanding into beverages and television, she was at the center of one of podcasting’s most explosive breakups after “Call Her Daddy” became entangled in a bitter dispute with Barstool Sports.
In his memoir, Dave Portnoy revisited the fallout, claiming the situation escalated after Cooper and Sofia Franklyn began pushing for major changes to their deal.
He said the demands eventually included money, ownership of the podcast, control over advertising, and a larger share of merchandise revenue, turning what had once been a successful partnership into a full-blown contract standoff.
Portnoy also claimed Cooper later met with him privately and admitted she wanted to accept his revised offer, but believed Franklyn would never agree.
The dispute ultimately ended the original partnership and cleared the way for Cooper to build a much larger business of her own. As reported by The Blast, Portnoy’s memoir offers his version of the dramatic fallout that changed the course of Cooper’s career.
Alex Cooper’s Unwell Has Plenty More In The Pipeline
3The reality-show cancellation is only one part of a much bigger move. Unwell is continuing to push into television and film, with projects that include the reality competition Unwell Winter Games and the Netflix adaptation Icebreaker, showing that the company’s ambitions extend well beyond Cooper’s original podcasting success.
The expansion also includes a more hands-on role in entertainment, with Cooper serving as an executive producer on Netflix’s Let’s Marry Harry. According to The Blast, the series puts her behind the scenes of a dating experiment involving Harry Jowsey and 20 women, giving Cooper another opportunity to build her production credentials.
With multiple projects still moving forward despite the beverage shutdown and Love Overboard cancellation, Cooper has plenty of room to keep growing Unwell in new directions.