In an unusual case of matchmaking, syndicated Atlanta radio host Bert Weiss solicited dates for his ex-wife Stacey Sakal on the air a few weeks ago.
While Weiss readily admitted this was a radio bit, she came back on air this week to offer some surprising news: Weiss found her a man she is now smitten with.
Weiss, who is currently dating a woman himself after his engagement last year with Tiffany Haynes fell through, divorced Sakal in 2015 after 20 years.
They have been co-parenting two sons ever since and are now friends, Weiss said on air.
When Sakal told her ex-husband privately that she was struggling to find good men to date, he suggested he could use his syndicated radio show, which is based out of Q99.7 studios in Atlanta, as a dating app of sorts on her behalf. None of Sakal’s friends (nor her sons) thought this was a good idea.
But Sakal, a 54-year-old nonprofit executive at grief management group Kate’s Club, decided to go for it. She came on air in April.
“I built this radio show with him,” said Sakal in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Women just want to date him because he’s on the radio. I don’t get that access anymore.”
At the same time, she said, “I felt very safe and protected. I know he’d never make me seem desperate.”
After her divorce with Weiss, she said on the air, “I dated a little and had a long-term relationship but it’s been four and a half years. I chose to heal myself and personally get to a good place.”
Sakal provided her basic criteria to Weiss and his listeners for a quality man worth dating: “Someone who was ready to partner to do the rest of our lives together. Has a lot of baggage gone, has kids over 13, is Christian and likes to travel.”
Weiss placed an application on his Bert Show website. “I’m going to sift through them,” Weiss said in April. “To get to my ex-wife and the mother of my children, you have to go through me, all 5′ 4″ of me!”
Only five viable applications came in but Weiss wasn’t surprised because of the demographics of his show. Plus, she said interested men had to work pretty hard to fill one out so they had to be truly motivated.
This week, Sakal came back on air. Surprise! Her ex-husband found her a man she likes.
Weiss had given her two men who fit her criteria on May 13. She spoke with both guys but liked Joe so much, she didn’t even go on a date with the other guy.
“Joe is amazing,” she said. “We talked that Tuesday [May 14]. The moment I heard his voice, I felt it. I just knew. He talked about Andy Stanley. We go to the same church. We have so much in alignment.”
She said she muted the call at one point and told her younger son Hollis, “This is the one!”
The next day, on her 54th birthday, Joe sent her flowers, which made her happy.
“It’s been nine years since Bert and I have been together,” Sakal said. “I’ve done a lot of work. I’ve gone through a lot of pain. I’ve been in some relationships and I’ve done a lot of things. I’m so ready for this. I’m in a place where I feel worthy so I can receive what he’s doing.”
The first date with Joe, she said, was at Avalon in Alpharetta on May 18. It lasted nine hours including dinner, a movie and a comedy show. “I was over the moon,” she said. “We’re both in the same place. He’s feeling exactly what I’m feeling. We’re on the same page. You can feel it. It’s just wonderful.”
In a weird coincidence, Weiss and his girlfriend ran into Sakal and her new boyfriend at the same restaurant so they had dinner together on what would have the wedding anniversary for Weiss and Sakal.
“That felt full circle,” Sakal said.
“He’s a great guy,” Weiss said.
They are already planning to go to Italy together, she said.
Joe had never listened to the Bert Show. Joe’s cousin Kim, an inveterate Bert Show listener for years, convinced him to fill out the application, Sakal said.
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