Lisa Ann Walter of “Abbott Elementary” is swiping right to find love. But, as she’s learned, she has to set parameters.
Walter, 61, shared some candid thoughts with People on Monday about what she’s not willing to tolerate while using dating apps.
“Someone who’s not married,” she said, offering a simple, yet wise guideline for her ideal partner. She elaborated that browsing through dating profiles feels more like cracking a “code” than looking for a soulmate — trying to figure out if the person behind the screen is actually available or is just there to waste one’s time.
Interestingly, Walter admitted that it’s not even “the physical” traits that tip her off to someone’s relationship status. It’s all in the profile text, the little things people write that reveal their true intentions.
Walter recalled encountering profiles that read something similar to, “I want someone who has their own life going on, and we meet up occasionally, but we don’t have to.” To Walter, this message read clear as day: “Will you be my side chick?”
In an earlier conversation with People in April, Walter said she often compares notes about potential suitors on the apps with former “Parent Trap” co-star Elaine Hendrix.
“She does send me her choices if either one of us are ever brave enough to go online and on the apps and look at guys,” Walter said. “She’ll say, ‘What about this guy?’ And, ‘I think that could be fun.’ But then we kind of talk each other out of it. So we’re not great in that way.”
Despite the challenges of online dating, Walter is keeping busy with her role on the ABC sitcom “Abbott Elementary” and has developed a strong friendship with co-star Sheryl Lee Ralph.
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While appearing on the talk show “Sherri,” Walter shared more about her bond with Ralph.
“We trade off who comes in being ‘on it,’” Walter told host Sherri Shepherd. “Very often it’s Sheryl being on one.”
In 1999, she divorced her first husband, Sam Baum, with whom she shares son Jordan and daughter Delia. Walter also married and divorced a second time; she shares twin sons Simon and Spencer with her second husband.