Millionaire Matchmaker Patti Stanger Is Looking for Love

Photo by Tommy Garcia/Bravo   

They don’t call Patti Stanger The Millionaire Matchmaker for nothing. For the last four seasons she’s been using her decades of experience to match wealthy singles with prospective mates. She’s returned for a fifth season and this time her agency has a very special client named Patti Stanger.

Almost exactly one year ago Patti called off her engagement to fiancé Andy Friedman over the deal breaker issue — having kids. But Stanger admitted that there was another major contributing factor that prevented her from walking down the aisle. “One of the reasons my last relationship broke up is because we were friends first and we didn't have a lot of passion. And you do get comfortable and complacent in those relationships. But the je ne sais quoi was missing.”

She continued, “So whether it's work, love, health, you've got to follow your passion. When we get off the road and we sell out in any of those areas, we don't end up happy to be honest with you. It doesn't matter how much money you have. If you're not happy with it who cares? Same thing in love.”

The Millionaire Matchmaker might be single now, but probably not for long. She revealed that she’ll be looking for love this season on the show. “Yes the 13th episode I actually date. And I do the mixer process and it was the scariest time of my life.”

Patti remarked that fans might be a little surprised when they view the episode, “I am a double Gemini. You will see a totally different Patti. I'm like soft, subdued and submissive when I date. I'm completely different…. Like my ex used to say, ‘Can we push the business mode off and go back to sweet Patti?’ Because I'm really like that in my personal life. And it does come across on camera.

But she wants everyone to know that she’s not pretending for the show. She acknowledged, “As far as my show runner said, he says, ‘Nobody will believe it's you. They think you're going to think you're acting.’ That's how demure I was. And I'm quiet. I'm very quiet when I date.”

Patti confessed that she’s had a bit of a habit when it comes to the men she chooses, too. “I tend to date down. The men who are attracted to me are everything from firefighters to regular Joes. And I never dated a rich guy. And John probably is one of the richest guys I've dated. Not that he's rich. He's just successful. And I realize now, I think I'd like to date a millionaire.”

But she has one problem when it comes to swinging in her own pool of suitors at work, “I never am attracted to my clients. They lead with their negative foot. They tell me all their dark secrets. And I don't see any romance there. So even when they hit on me I'm like, ‘Yuck.’ There have been a lot of guys on camera for the last five years who hit on me and I went, ‘Get away.’ There's one guy this season who will not leave me alone who is in the last episode. I'm like, ‘Get away from me.’ So I don't tend to date millionaires.”

Still she’s not opposed to the notion overall. “It would be nice maybe off camera if I did — and date somebody who made equal or more money than me and let them romance me that way. And I haven't met anyone like that. I have to be sexually attracted. The first thing I say [on my applications] is, ‘Which would you rather have — looks or money?’ And I'm a looks person. And the money person is a person who doesn't care about looks. And there's a reason I say that because there's no gray line. Getting looks and money together is really the chupacabra. That's a hard thing to find. It's not easy. Especially when you're my age.”

So Patti put her heart in the hands of her closet colleagues and friends to help her find love. She recalled, “I was worried about Destin and Rachel finding my type, which they did not do. They would love me to go alternative and goth on them. Not happening... They kind of mess it up. And I wondered if the producers did it on purpose.”

But it sounds like she had a good time anyway. Patti teased, “I pick a guy who's adorable but he's metro. And I like rugged. But he was the only blond. And I like blonds… We're still dating. We're still friends. I'm dating other people as well. I'm not just dating him. We're not exclusive. We're getting to know each other as friends first. And I'll actually see him this weekend. But it's an interesting thing that happened because at first I wasn't sure I was attracted because I like that rugged kind of Aidan type of personality from Sex and the City. I don't really go for the Mr. Big metro.”

Catch the new season of The Millionaire Matchmaker on Mondays at 9 p.m. EST/8 p.m. Central on Bravo.