While there isn’t a conclusive answer about the best city to find love, actress and producer Issa Rae says, conclusively, it isn’t Los Angeles. This admittedly contrasts with her portrayal of L.A. as an abundant dating hub on her beloved series Insecure, which ran from 2016 to 2021.
“I don’t think L.A. is a good dating city, and I for sure romanticized it in Insecure. Knowingly,” she said during an interview with Bustle to promote her new essay collection, I Should Be Smarter By Now. The Awkward Black Girl actress, writer and author is an L.A. native, which is why she chose to highlight the city in her work.
The hit show, which had five solid seasons, showcased a vibrant dating scene. Despite Issa Dee’s (played by Rae) romantic life often being in shambles, there were always prospects for her to choose from—literally, even close to home in her apartment complex. The 40-year-old admitted that, in reality, that isn’t often the case.
“I was like, I’m deceiving people. I don’t care, this is what I want it to be. But sorry, it’s not,” she added.
Rae may be speaking on the L.A. dating scene, but she isn’t single and mingling to deal with it. The producer is a married woman and has been with her partner, Senegalese businessman Louis Diame, for over a decade. She first mentioned him as her partner in 2012. The lowkey pair married in 2021 in Southeast France, and we still know very little about their relationship.
During the interview, Rae did mention a city she thinks might be good for singles searching for prospects.
“I think New York is a…everyone says it’s terrible, but everyone is very attractive here,” she said.
The actress may be on to something, considering New York made the top three for cities for Black singles to date in a recent survey conducted by the BLK dating app. Houston took the number one spot, followed by Chicago.
The bottom line is that you can find love anywhere, and all cities have frogs depending on what’s on your dating checklist. Sometimes success in dating is about the law of averages, and you might need to cast your net as wide as possible.