Brooke Schofield Wishes She Got The Ick More Easily

In Bustle’s series Shooting Your Shot, single influencers and celebrities weigh in on drinking and dating: their drinking rules for a first date, drink order ick, and more.

Brooke Schofield thought she was going to be an actor when she moved to Los Angeles in 2019. Instead, she ended up working at a restaurant for three years and not doing one single audition. Five years after the move, Schofield is the co-host of the Cancelled With Tana Mongeau podcast, which has 4.6 stars on Apple Podcasts and more than 2 million subscribers on YouTube. Now the duo are preparing for their second nationwide tour, which kicks off in February.

On the podcast, and her own TikTok account with nearly 650,000 followers, Schofield talks about her friends, family, and dating stories. She is open about everything and is particularly vocal about her approach to dating — especially the fact that she’s in the market for a serious relationship.

“I love being single, but I have 27 years of single experience. I don’t need any more,” she says. “I have less tolerance now for a casual relationship. In the past, I’ve been hesitant to say something in those situations because I don’t want things to end. This year, hopefully, I’ll be better about just speaking up and being willing to walk away if [a serious relationship is] not what they’re into.”

While potential romantic interests have felt intimidated by her status online in the past, Schofield is up-front about her career. She lets dates know that their relationship may be fodder for the podcast. “I do want guys to be a little bit afraid. Don’t treat me badly, because I will talk about it for sure,” she says.

Below, Schofield talks about her rules for drinking on a first date, why she doesn’t want to be approached at a bar, and why she has hope for the apps.

What’s your go-to drink order on a first date?

Spicy marg, all the time, but I will say it’s catching up to me now. I’m 27, and I feel like the hangovers are horrible.

Do you have any rules when it comes to drinking on dates?

I am such an advocate for drinking before a first date. I can’t remember the last time I went on a date that I wasn’t already a little tipsy. And hopefully, one day, I’ll grow out of that. But right now, it works for me, so don’t fix what’s not broken. My one big flex is that I can be really drunk but whoever is with me can’t tell.

Is there a drink order that would give you the ick?

I don’t think so. I unfortunately do not get the ick very easily, and I almost wish I did.

Have you ever been picked up at a bar in a memorable way?

I don’t like for guys to come up to me at a bar. I don’t want to know that the man I’m seeing is frequenting a bar, even if I’m there as well. I love to meet people through other people. That’s how I usually date, [and] honestly, I’m a big advocate for the apps.

Right now, so many people are hating the apps. Why do you like the idea of meeting someone on a dating app?

I love the concept of being able to do the research before having any interaction with somebody at all. The problem with meeting somebody at a bar is I don’t know anything about them. Where did you go to college? What is your mom’s name? I don’t know the things that I would know if I were able to look you up online.

I don’t have anything about [my job] on my profile, but by the time I get to a first date with somebody, they would’ve had my Instagram, where they could maybe figure it out. My opening online depends on what’s on their profile. I’ll try to pull something funny from their profile, and if there’s nothing funny on their profile, we’re not a match.

What is your advice to someone who is looking to approach dating in a new way this year?

Be clear with your intentions. It’s not always [about] what you want but more [about] what you don’t want. I feel like each guy that I’ve dated or casually seen in the past couple of years has been an example of one thing I will not tolerate in a relationship. I’ll find something in them that I’m like “OK, if I see this again, I’m out.” Process of elimination.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.