Lucy Hale isn’t going to settle for anyone who she doesn’t “mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically connect with.” “I think so many people settle. I’m not gonna f**king settle,” the actress of Pretty Little Liars fame said on a new episode of the Broad Ideas with Rachel Bilson podcast. “I’ll die alone before I settle. It’s so dramatic, but that’s just how I feel.” Plain and simple.
During her guest appearance, the Hating Game star revealed she’s entered a new era of dating, in which her non-negotiables — like steering clear of potential partners in need of “fixing”— are front and center.
“I typically liked a little project to fix. Like, your problems are worse than mine, so you’re gonna make me feel better about myself just because I’m helping, you know, fix you,” Hale admitted of her past relationships, which she says have been “essentially a carbon copy of the same dude.”
While some may label Hale as “way too picky” for having exceptionally high standards when it comes to who she dates, Hale refuses to believe there isn’t someone out there who checks all of her boxes. And she knows it may take a bit to find that special person, but she’s willing “to be really patient.”
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“I have put a lot of work into myself, and so someone who’s completely aware of themselves and knows their strengths and their weaknesses, that’s so important to me,” she told Bilson. “Someone who’s not self-aware, bye. Take yourself, there’s the door.”
Above all, her future partner has to be funny. “It’s my biggest, like, slayer. Like, f**king make me laugh and I will pull down my pants.”
Another dating fad she’s ready to leave behind? Mind games.
“I’ve had to really undo that way of thinking because the cat-and-mouse thing was something. Almost like, I was, like, addicted to that chase for a while, but that’s exhausting and we’ve moved past that. No games,” she quipped.
That being said, age is just a number. Hale, who is 33, isn’t limiting herself to suitors of the same age. Currently, her age range on dating apps is set from 27 to 52.
“I’ve dated all the way up to 52. I’m 33 and I feel like I’ll probably end up with someone around my age or older, just because of the non-negotiables,” she realized. “I feel like a lot of people in that older age bracket will meet those.”
In 2021, Hale briefly dated Riverdale star Skeet Ulrich, who is 20 years her senior. The Pretty Little Liars alum has also had romantic flings with Colton Underwood and country star Joel Crouse.
