Amanda Kloots may be ready to love again, but she’s ruled out dating apps to find romance.
On the latest episode of Oldish podcast, Kloots, 42, discussed how she tried one unnamed app for 8 months “with a good, solid push at the end for like 3 months.”
“I was, like, in it to win it,” she said. “I’m gonna make it, you know, advancements. I’m gonna go for any coffee, wine, date, you know, just push myself.”
But the experience proved demoralizing for The Talk cohost, who disclosed that using the app sent her into depression.
“I really was depressed,” she said. “I’m not a depressed person. I was not somebody that usually would have anxiety attacks and anxiety. I was in such a bad place after three months of really giving it a go on this dating app that I ended up canceling the dating app and then just since then, just meeting people.”
Kloots admitted that she felt “bad” for “judging” people on the app — a behavior that isn’t uncommon among online daters.
“I felt bad judging people, because I’m an energy person too. I do not have a type,” she emphasized, adding that her first husband David Larsen has blonde hair and blue eyes and her second husband, Nick Cordero, was Latino and 6 feet 5 inches tall.
“I’m an ‘in-person’ person. I hated the fact that I was, like, judging these people [on apps],” she added. “I felt like an awful human being, like, morally not okay. The whole thing just wasn’t for me. I know a lot of people find love and success on it, though.”
Kloots was married to Cordero when he died in July 2020 at age 41 after suffering severe complications from COVID-19. The Tony-nominated performer — whose Broadway credits included Waitress and Rock of Ages — has been hospitalized for over 90 days. The pair share a 5 year old son, Elvis Eduardo.
“Nick was such a bright light. He was everyone’s friend, loved to listen, help and especially talk,” Kloots wrote in an Instagram post in July 2020 alongside a black-and-white photo of her husband. “He was an incredible actor and musician. He loved his family and loved being a father and husband. Elvis and I will miss him in everything we do, everyday.”
Kloots recently opened up about how her son is processing his dad’s death. “It has come up a couple of times. And, of course, it’s always at random, weird times,” she explained in TheRetaility.com’s “In Conversation” series in June.
The Tell Me Your Dreams author added that watching Elvis process the situation and ask his mom tough questions as he grows older is a “battle of emotions. It’s hard.” Kloots also recalled a specific example from Cordero’s birthday celebration this year, saying, “This is the best way to sum up how he is understanding things right now.”
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Kloots, for her part, has found a way to honor Cordero while also slowly moving on.
“On Nick’s birthday,” she shared, “I like to plan a celebration on that day. So, we get a cake and we sing Happy Birthday to Dada. This year, we went to Del Frisco’s [Steakhouse] because that was Nick and [my favorite].”
She called the steakhouse “iconic” for the couple, adding, “It became our spot.”