Talk about finding love in hopeless place! The stars of the highly anticipated show Love After Lockup know exactly what RiRi is talking about! The new show was talking about, well, basically exactly what is sounds like; the reality series follows six couples who are united for the first time after their relationship began while one partner was behind bars. And they quickly learn that — even with all the complications — recorded phone calls, supervised visits, and handwritten letters can never compare to the real thing.

In Touch Weekly has exclusively nabbed an exclusive sneak peek of Alla and James, one of the couples featured on the series. In the clip, James prepares for Alla to be released in less than a day — and needless to say, emotion and anticipation are both high! Check out the clip below!

As James explains in the clip, Alla and James met through a prison pen pal service after his first marriage fell apart. He began communicating with Alla — a one-time successful model who ended up behind bars for dealing heroin for a five-year sentence after getting “caught up in the wrong crowd — by letter, and eventually, their mail-only correspondence blossomed into a real relationship.

“I was married for eight years and it didn’t work out, so I was in a very emotional place. And I wanted to talk to someone about it,” he says in the clip. “I discovered Alla on a website about 10 months ago, and I wrote her a letter and that’s how we connected. And she’s been life-changing.”

Curious what happens when the two connect for the first time — beyond the confines of prison? Be sure to tune in to the premiere of Love After Lockup on Jan. 12 at 10 p.m. EST on WE tv!