With Tracee Ellis Ross‘ 50th birthday a few weeks away, the actress recently opened up about what romance looks like for her.
Ross’ admission occurred during an Oct. 12 interview on “TODAY with Hoda & Jenna” while promoting her new Hulu series “Hair Tales.” During the discussion, Ross shared that although she has built an incredible life for herself personally and professionally, there are moments when she gets lonely.
The 49-year-old said when asked how she feels about the romantic part of her life, “Great, honestly … I have built a beautiful life around me and I get lonely sometimes. And one of the things about being single that you have to be really choiceful about curating what you want to do. You can’t hide behind a relationship, a child, a kid, a dog, or anything. So I have beautiful friends around me. I have made friends with loneliness.”
Ross continued the conversation by saying despite being single and lonely at times, she does enjoy dating and knows that there are good men in the world. She said, “I think there’s wonderful men out in the world. I do want a partner, but I want a partner that’s going to add to my life. I don’t want a partner just ’cause. I find dating to be really fun and again I will repeat there are wonderful men out there. Come and find me.”
Further in the conversation, Ross disclosed that she wished she didn’t waste her time growing up dreaming about a wedding but instead focused on what she wanted to pursue as a career.
She said, “The other thing is, this whole thing I grew up dreaming of my wedding Don’t get me wrong my life has turned out really great and it’s not like my mom has sold me that lie; my mom is doing just fine.”
While also touching points on the pressures that young women and men faced with romance, Ross added, “But I grew up dreaming of my wedding, and I wish I had spent the time and I wish young girls and young boys, young girls, would spend their time dreaming of the lives they want. Who do you want to be? What do you want to contribute to the world? What are your dreams? How do you want to build your dreams? What does that look like?”
Ross wrapped up that portion of the interview by listing why it is essential to focus on one’s dreams and aspirations instead of love. She said, “Part of what happens is if you actually figure out who you are, all those things, it builds around you, and all of sudden you look up and you’re like ‘Oh, this is the life. This is the life I want,’ because it matches who you are and not what everyone else says you should be having.”
