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    1. Culture
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    What to Know About 'Perfect Match' Season 4 Standout and 'Building the Band' Alum Alison Ogden

    After appearing on a few music competition series, the singer is trying her hand at a Netflix dating show.

    Radhika Menon#039;s avatar
    By Radhika Menon
    Published 14 May 2026 In News

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    alison ogden from making the band and perfect match poses in a cheetah print bikini with her curly blonde hair flowing over her shoulder sitting by a pool
    (Image credit: Netflix)
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    Spoilers for all of Building the Band season 1 and episodes 1-5 of Perfect Match season 4 ahead. Avid Netflix reality show viewers are likely well aware of the streamer’s music competition series Building the Band (not to be confused with Making the Band, which was a seminal hit during MTV's heyday). Hosted by AJ McLean, the series debuted in 2025 and discovered 50 singers, organizing them into six bands—one of which was crowned a winner. Though her band, Sweet Seduction, was eliminated early on, Alison Ogden was one of the show’s breakout stars for her sassy personality, drive for perfection, and her onscreen romance with a fellow contestant.

    Now she’s back on our screens in Perfect Match season 4—and while Alison is no stranger to reality TV, it marks her first time on a dating show. She's looking for “someone who loves every part” of her and is ready to find her life partner, and thankfully, she has her bestie, Kayla Rich, by her side in the process. Ahead, get to know Alison from Perfect Match season 4.

    Natalie, Alison, Ally, and MacKenzie sit together in bikinis on a couch and look shocked in the first episode of perfect match season 4

    Perfect Match marks Alison Ogden's first time on a dating show.

    (Image credit: Netflix)

    Alison is a lifelong musician and performer.

    Growing up in Maryland, Alison, 25, knew at an early age that she wanted to work in music. “The second I learned to speak, I knew that I wanted to pursue a career as a recording artist,” she told Canvas Rebel in 2023. “Most little girls say they want to grow up to either be a princess or a pop star, but with me, it stuck.”

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    She attended dancing, acting, and singing lessons, and often spent more than 30 hours rehearsing. By the time she was applying to school, she had a one-track mind, but felt pressured by the adults in her life to have a backup plan. “I was always sort of dumbfounded by that mindset,” she revealed to the site. “Of course, I can see how that may seem like the responsible choice to them, but isn’t putting all of your eggs in the basket of your backup plan, the same as opting out of working your ass off for your dream?”

    Alison majored in Commercial Vocal Performance and Music Business at Belmont University in Nashville, and moved to L.A. shortly thereafter.

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    Before participating in 'Building the Band,' Alison auditioned for 'American Idol.'

    After moving out west, she appeared before American Idol judges Katy Perry, Lionel Ritchie, and Luke Bryan in a televised audition for the 21st season of the long-running music competition series, scoring the golden ticket to the show’s Hollywood week. “The first thing I ever said I wanted to do when I grew up was to be on American Idol and I DID IT MOM,” she celebrated on Instagram on March 26, 2023.

    Unfortunately, despite an audition that ended with a standing ovation and “yes” votes from all three judges, she didn’t get to compete during the national broadcast.

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    She used to struggle with trichotillomania.

    While Alison had a supportive family around her, she told Voyage LA that her dreams weren’t always taken seriously in the small, rural town where she grew up. The anxiety that caused her manifested in trichotillomania, a version of obsessive-compulsive anxiety disorder where people obsessively pull out their hair. “Some people affected by this pull out the hair on their heads, and my areas of choice were my eyelashes and eyebrows,” she told the site in 2023. “Trichotillomania is a shame-filled, vicious disease that is hard to break out of and led to a horrible amount of bullying in my youth as well as lost opportunities in the performing arts due to the way I looked.”

    She no longer has trichotillomania, telling Voyage LA that “after years of struggling, and countless specialists, I found comfort in like-minded people and accepting myself through music. It sounds cliché, I know, but I truly found so much love and appreciation for myself through the release of great music and great friends; that was the end of my Trichotillomania.”

    the band sweet seduction including haley alison and elise standing on a stage wearing pink and black dresses smiling after a performance

    Alison and her Sweet Seduction bandmates, Elise Kristine and Haley Gosserand, from Building the Band season 1.

    (Image credit: Netflix)

    Her 'Building the Band' group, Sweet Seduction, never had a formal breakup

    Following their exit from the reality competition show, Tudum reported that the group disbanded shortly after, without an official break-up conversation between Alison and her Sweet Seduction bandmates, Elise Kristine and Haley Gosserand. “We never had a closing conversation,” Alison told Tudum. “All of us had an unspoken, mutual understanding.”

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    Her bandmate Haley added that the band never talked about staying together. “We all had different paths, so we moved forward individually,” she said.

    Still, Alison’s “harsh communication” style could’ve been the trigger for the band’s break-up. According to the Netflix site, Haley and Elise confronted Alison about her attitude right before their final live performance together, which surprised Alison as the group had had a heart-to-heart the previous night. All three maintain that there’s no bad blood between them, and that the door is open for a Sweet Seduction reunion, even though Alison is working on solo music, Haley is studying cinematic composition, and Elise has her sights set on music and acting in film and TV.

    Alison Ogden with her hair in a pony tail, wearing an all black outfit and singing at a microphone in a still from netflix#039;s Building The Band

    Ogden has released a series of singles and has plans to make more solo music.

    (Image credit: Netflix)

    She dated her 'Building the Band' co-star Conor Smith.

    The former Sweet Seduction singer and Midnight Til Morning member Conor Smith fell hard for each other on Building the Band. However, it didn’t exactly end with fireworks. Their dalliance in the music competition series nearly threatened Conor’s inclusion in the band—one of his bandmates likened Alison to Yoko Ono—but Conor remains a member of the still-active group.

    Alison told Betches that she “just really liked him really fast,” and the pair even spent a week together in Paris after filming for their show ended. Ultimately, distance became too big a factor (Conor is based in Australia, while Alison lives in L.A.), and the pair decided to remain friends. Fans still wondered if her single “sweet surrender” was about Conor, but she maintains that she “separates her artistry and personal life.”

    Alison and Nick during a compatibility challenge in season 4 of #039;Perfect Match.#039;

    Alison and Nick during a compatibility challenge in Perfect Match season 4.

    (Image credit: Netflix)

    Alison connected quickly with social media influencer Jimmy S. on 'Perfect Match' season 4.

    Coming into the Perfect Match villa, Alison was several men's object of affection—including Million Dollar Secret winner and finance bro Nick Pellecchia and Jimmy Sotos, a former basketball player who's now an influencer. She initially showed interest in Too Hot to Handle and Battle Camp alum Demari Davis, but because Demari matched with former Love Is Blind contestant Marissa George, Alison paired up with Yamen Sanders (Temptation Island, Love Island USA, and Love Island: All Stars) on the first night.

    After the first villa shake-up that brought in a few new faces, Alison connected with Jimmy S., and by the end of the first batch of episodes, they seemed like a pretty solid couple that not even some innocent mingling with the opposite sex could break up.

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    Radhika Menon
    Radhika Menon
    Freelance Writer

    Radhika Menon is a freelance journalist, with a general focus on TV and film. Her cultural criticism, reporting, and commentary can be found on Vulture, ELLE, Teen Vogue, Bustle, and more. You can find her across all socials at @menonrad.

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