June 8, 2006
Spectator - The ABCs of LUV
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The bachelorettes (back row): Anne "the girl next door," Alissa, "the dreamer," MIchelle "the career girl," and Kris "the party girl." The hosts: JD Roberto, left, and Teresa Strasser. Photo by Craig Sjodin/ABC
Now retired from the dating game, Teresa Strasser happily enjoys her new role as love coach. Journal readers have long been treated to her insights on being single in these pages. Strasser, an Emmy winner and news reporter for Adam Carolla's show on KLSX 97.1 FM, now takes on the role of co-dating adviser on the new ABC reality show, "How to Get the Guy."
"The producers were looking for someone with experience writing about single life," Strasser said. "I told them I'm kind of like the Jewish Carrie Bradshaw, only much less sex and a different city."
The six-part summer series follows four Bay Area bachelorettes as they go back to basics to find love. The first episode, airing June 12, has Strasser and her co-host, JD Roberto -- don't call them matchmakers -- teaching "girl next door" Anne how to "drop the hankie" (a metaphor for getting a guy's attention). They're also working on getting "party girl" Kris to party less, having "career girl" Michelle not be so picky, and finding a "real" guy for "dreamer" Alissa.
Although neither host is a therapist, the no-longer-single Strasser has plenty of love lessons to share. At the bookstore, she advises Anne to "use your rack to work the racks."
"I had to harness my own years of tragic dating experiences and those of my friends," said Strasser, who's been with her boyfriend -- the result of a fix-up -- for three years. But her job as love coach wasn't always easy.
"I would worry that I wouldn't have an answer, like when one of the girls asked me, 'How do I know if he's the one?'" she said. "There were times I couldn't sleep at night because I was obsessing about one of the girl's dates and how it would go."
But by the end of the series, Strasser said "the girls made me proud beyond my wildest expectations."
The San Francisco native, who now lives in Los Angeles, noted that geography shouldn't keep anyone from finding love: "Sure, L.A. may have a larger volume of available men, but I think if you refrain from having a bitter, all-the-good-ones-are-gay-or-taken attitude, you can find great men to date anywhere."
The first episode of "How to Get the Guy" airs June 12 at 10 p.m. on ABC. For more information visit abc.com. For more on Teresa Strasser, visit www.teresastrasser.com or read her columns at www.jewishjournal.com.
