Fran Drescher is not a fan of online dating.
While talking about her guest appearance on the NBC show "Mr. Mayor" during an interview with E! News, she said that she relates to her character, Angelica, because they both dated around after they got out of a serious relationship.
In the show, Angelica hooks up with Ted Danson's character, Neil Bremer.
“I loved that the character that they wrote for me was kind of out there and sexy and free and living her life her way,” Drescher said. “It’s not the norm that they write a woman who’s 60 necessarily that way. So I really responded very favorably to that.”
Drescher, 64, said that there's no doubt that she doesn't relate to Angelica's struggles.
“I mean, not right now in my life,” she said, “but you know when I first got divorced and I was in my early 40s, forget about it. I was like the animal let out of the zoo.”
From 1978 to 1999, Drescher was married to her ex-husband, Peter Marc Jacobson, who later came out to her as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community.
However, once she became single again, she decided to try online dating.
“I’ve been on dates with guys who we got into a fight about how we would raise this imaginary kid that we were never gonna have because we clearly were completely different people who would have different styles of parenting,” Drescher said.
“Anybody that ever says anything that even suggests or hints at any kind of prejudice of anybody, that is like, ‘OK I have a headache, we’re not even gonna order dinner,'" she added.
Drescher noted that was just the beginning of her problems with online dating. She soon found out that people weren't completely honest about who they were in real life.
“I tried one app once and I found that none of the guys seemed to be honest about how they presented themselves," she said. "They weren’t as successful as their profile suggested, some of them smoked.”
“All in all I think that they kind of fudge their age, they fudge their accomplishments," Drescher added. "And although I’ve been with guys who weren’t as successful as I am, I’ve learned the hard way that it’s fun for a while but then eventually they begin to resent you for paying for everything and for having more than they have and for being more successful than they are."
"It starts to chip away at the male ego," she said. "So I’m not gonna do that anymore because it’s too painful for me. I don’t wanna be resented for my success.'"
Despite her dating woes, Drescher said that she's still trying her best to meet people.
“I think I’m at a place right now where I’m just beginning to want to stick my toe back in the water and put the word out there to look for me," she said.
"After my last relationship and certainly through COVID, (I went through) a period where I kind of got more into having a relationship with myself and that’s been going very well," Drescher added.