Exclusive Interview
‘The Later Daters’ Expert Logan Ury Explains Older Dater Challenges & Talks Season 2
[Warning: The following post contains MAJOR spoilers for The Later Daters Season 1.]
Everyone deserves love — at any age. In Netflix’s new series The Later Daters, six over-55 singles tackle modern-day dating with the help of Harvard-trained behavioral scientist Logan Ury. The expert was hand-selected by Michelle Obama, whose Higher Ground Productions produced the series. The 8-episode docuseries chronicled these baby boomers as they went on dates — some good and some not-so-good — and tried to find the right match.
Ury spoke to Swooon about working with the older daters and navigating their potential matches. “There are things about the older daters that I think definitely make things harder,” Ury admitted. “They just have more baggage. They’ve had more years on earth. They may be more jaded in certain ways. They might feel like there’s a new dating rule book that they need to be updated on.”
She continued, “But there are some things about older daters that are easier than being a younger dater. There’s less pressure to marry. There’s less pressure to rush because, oh, we need to have kids by a certain time. A lot of them know themselves better. They know who they are. They know what they want. There’s even some research that they have better sex because they know themselves better, and they’re less likely to fake orgasm.”
Suzanne and Avery in ‘The Later Daters.’ (Courtesy of Netflix)
Ury noted that older daters embrace “different types of relationship structures. There’s no pressure to, let’s say, move in together. There’s something called living apart together. They can have relationships where they keep their separate houses, or they don’t blend their finances, but they still are together in all the other ways.”
Looking back at the season, the How to Not Die Alone author opened up about which Season 1 daters had the most challenges. “Nate’s very rigid, and his house was super neat. I feel like he presented certain challenges around the fact that he wanted to find love, but he wasn’t necessarily willing to change the way his life was set up in order to do so,” Ury explained. “So Nate was some kind of somebody where it was like, if you really want this, what compromises are you able to make? Are you willing to make in terms of your lifestyle?”
The dating coach added, “Anise was somebody where we really bonded over vulnerability and how she felt like she always had to come across as strong. But what would it actually look like to be vulnerable with her dates? And how could she share the fact that she was very accomplished and had a doctorate, even though she was afraid that would scare people off? I was really touched by working with Suzanne because she’s a widow, and it was just an honor to support her as she got back out there and as she had fun again. She’s such a fun-loving person. She has such a beautiful family, and she really lit up on those dates. So just getting to be part of the group responsible for getting her on those dates was something I was really proud of.”
Not all the dates were successful, and Ury’s okay with that. “I love the fact that the show really demonstrates all different types of dates, from dates that you would never want to repeat to potentially the best date of your life,” she noted. “I think the show really shows the diverse experiences of dating, including the good, the bad, and the ugly.”
By the end of the season, two couples emerged: Suzanne and Avery, along with Anise and Willie. “I’ve kept in touch with some of the daters, and people should watch the show to find out what happens, and they can follow them on social media to get updates,” Ury revealed.
The Later Daters joins the running list of shows like The Golden Bachelor and The Golden Bachelorette that focus on older daters. For Ury, she hopes this is just the beginning of the series. “If Netflix wants to make a Season 2, I’ll clear my schedule,” she told Swooon.
“I’m really excited to see what fans react to and incorporate some of those lessons into Season 2,” she continued. “If there’s certain lessons that I tell people that really click, I’d love to dive into those more. If there’s certain populations that weren’t featured in Season 1, I want to make sure that they’re included in Season 2. I really feel like the show is a special combination of an audience of daters that you don’t normally see on TV, a show focused on coaching and growth and really the context of people’s families, which just feels so much more realistic and true to life.”
The Laters Daters, Season 1, Streaming Now, Netflix
