Bravo’s Lori Zaslow brings positivity to the reality TV dating game
She may be a matchmaker and the star of reality show for Bravo, but Lori Zaslow is no Patti Stanger, of the same cable channel’s show “The Millionaire Matchmaker.” In fact, Zaslow is the anti-Patti. Unlike the cattle calls Stanger has on her own show, in which she herds a group of women into an office, critiques their appearance and sends them to a mixer hosted by one millionaire looking for love, Zaslow takes a friendlier approach.
“I think we definitely have a positive approach and that people love working with us because when you’re positive, people feel like they can open up,” Zaslow explains, adding that her company will only do blind dates. The client never gets to choose their match.
“I think sometimes people fall into old habits and pick someone who visually is right, but they don’t know anything about their insides,” Zaslow explains. “We spend so much time with our clients — that’s really our passion, the analyzing. We get invigorated by learning about people — what has worked for you, what hasn’t worked.”
On her new show, “The Love Broker,” Zaslow brings the cameras with her as she coaches her clients through the process of dating in New York City — a town that’s caught plenty of flack from Stanger, who once said that women in New York should “dumb it down a little bit” for the men they date here. Typically, Zaslow is a bit more optimistic about the state of dating in her city.
“I love New York. I love the people here. I feel like maybe it’s more of a challenge than in other cities because there are so many people,” she says. “I think there’s more layers here. It’s not skin-deep here. It’s really deep — and it takes a lot more time and a lot more energy, so you have to bring a stronger game. That’s why people come here to find love and then move out of the city.
People come here to meet people. I think New York’s known for that. It should be the Big Heart, not the Big Apple.”
Zaslow’s rules of etiquette for a blind date
1. Just stay for an hour
2. Don’t drink too much
3. Talk as much as you listen, listen as much as you talk
4. Be present
