Single Boomers Tell How They Found Romance on 'The Later Daters'

Suzanne, you lost your husband of 27 years five years ago. What did you learn on Later Daters?

Suzanne: It has been 32 years since I've dated, I forgot how. This was a trap I kind of found myself in — we feel like we're running out of time. And things are different at my age, very different. So to have an expert to help you narrow down your choices, to have you think about, what you want in the last chapter — or the nextchapter — in your life, I think is very, very important. The show's uplifting, it's wholesome.

Ury: A lot of our work together was about what is the modern dating scene like? What does the eggplant emoji mean? Suzanne was quite a natural, she's really flirtatious, fun, engaging, a great conversationalist. People are very drawn to her. But she was operating from an outdated rule book in terms of, you know, who can call the other person first.

Suzanne: I'm very analytical and guarded. I'm kind of old school as well. Back in my time, the guys approached the girls. It was pretty taboo for girls to approach men — we were just supposed to sit on the barstool and look pretty. She wanted me to get rid of that taboo and understand that if I were interested, then I should do the approaching. She also wanted me to take the dates early on to a deeper level, not to keep things superficial.

Ury: She was nervous about her blind date, so I helped her think of a topic to discuss, so that they skipped the small talk and talked about something she was interested in.

Is it harder to date after 55, or are there advantages too?

Ury: People in their 20s, they're still figuring out who they are. At an older age, you have more of a sense of who you are and what you want. There’s less pressure to marry, less pressure around fertility timing. If you're not merging your household and raising kids with them, you can be more flexible on that person's religion or their education or background. There's also just more ways to be in relationships — like this idea of living apart together.

The Golden Bachelor couple divorced swiftly, and one of their issues was who had to move into whose home and leave their own.

Ury: You don't need to share an apartment. I think there's just different relationship dynamics you can choose from.

Why do you talk to them both before and after their blind dates?

Ury: One of the ways to get them to be in the most open, optimistic mindset, ready for connection, is to do this call beforehand. And then if the date went well, oh, great! We could celebrate together. And if it went poorly, then we can commiserate together, and I can talk to them about what they learned.

So there’s no such thing as a bad date, if you approach it like a scientific experiment. But what if two blind dates go well?

Suzanne: I had a difficult time trying to determine which one I wanted to go back out with, and I'm very good friends with both of them today. So, great guys.

The Golden Bachelor/Bachelorette forged lasting friendships among many of the people on the show. Will The Later Daters do the same thing?

Suzanne: I will be friends with these guys for life.

Dwayna and Anise in 'The Later Daters'

Courtesy Netflix

Anise, how did Logan alert you to your blind sides before your blind dates?

Anise: She’s amazing. We talked about 30 minutes, and she said, “This is what I see in you.” She gave me three assignments that would help me be a better dater. One, I have my doctorate, but I’d held back on sharing that on dates, because I had a man say, “How do I compete with that?” She said, “If they can’t handle you being a doctor, don’t waste your time.” Changed my life. Assignment number two was, ask followup questions. Don't just make assumptions. Assignment three was, try something new — ask a guy out.

What's the one thing that people can learn from the show?

Anise: To find one's partner, significant other, their boo or baby — show up authentically and see where it goes. Because there's no reward without just a little risk. It's OK to take a little risk, right?