Comedian-turned-actor-turned-author Steve Harvey has taught women across America to “act like a lady” and to “think like a man,” and now, he’s out to teach women to “become more dateable.”
The popular radio and TV show host recently launched a dating website, Delightful.com, a joint venture with IAC, the company that owns Match.com, OkCupid, Tinder and other niche-oriented matchmaking services.
Based on Harvey’s oft-espoused readings of gender politics, the service is geared mainly towards single women but also toward men who are looking to settle down.
“Women are wired differently,” Harvey told Forbes. “The one thing I know about women is women don’t really want to just date. They want to date with the hope that it leads to a relationship.”
As it is, however, Internet dating has been mostly ideal for men, who are more interested in playing the field, Harvey said.
“A man doesn’t have any problem at all dating several or a wide variety of people until he finds the right one,” he said. Women, however, are different: “A lot of women have that biological clock that ticks in them.”
As it happens, Match CEO Sam Yagan had noticed the lack of a dating brand that put love “front and center.” And, in discussions with Harvey—who already had a relationship with IAC, as a spokesman for its site BlackPeopleMeet.com—Yagan said, “As I heard him talk about relationships, he had a real passion around love and how to develop love after the first date.”
In addition to providing the site’s central philosophy, Harvey will supply articles and videos for subscribers hoping to “find love and keep it,” as the tagline reads.
For women, there will be advice columns on topics such as “how to become more dateable,” or “10 signs that he’s a keeper;” for men, instructional advice on how to treat women.
Harvey said his expertise on dating comes from having been around the block and having failed at love a few times.
“The majority of mine (wisdom) came from failure, to be honest with you,” he said. “I’ve come to learn in my life that failure’s a wonderful teacher. I’ve scooped a lot of the dog poop off the sidewalk so you wouldn’t have to step in it.”