Darcey Silva isn't giving up on finding the one.
On Monday's episode of Darcey & Stacey, Darcey prepared to go on her first date since ending her engagement following her split from fiancé Georgi Rusev.
The 90 Day Fiancé alum, 48, told her daughters — Aspen, 15, and Aniko, 17 — that she wanted to look "snatched" for her date with Mike, who she met through a friend at a yacht party. Her daughters were thrilled to learn that her new suitor was "the same exact age" as their mother.
Darcey also admitted to some first date jitters, saying, "I haven't dated in two years and I have never dated a mature man like Mike so I'm nervous."
Despite her nerves, Darcey had high hopes for the date, sharing, "Mike seems very put together, like, he's a handsome guy. He's a business owner. He's very successful so I'm excited to see where this may lead."
When she arrived at the restaurant, Mike told Darcey that he "took the liberty to order" her food — something that Darcey admitted she had mixed feelings about.
"It's a little strange that Mike is ordering for me without asking me what I wanted but at the same time, it's a little of a breath of fresh air because he's taking charge and the guys that I used to date never did that for me," she said.
The pair then indulged in "chocolate therapy", where they poured melted chocolate on their hands and licked it off. "Mike is licking that good. His tongue looks like he's doing a mighty fine job," Darcey said.
Despite the unique — and quite memorable — experience, Darcey questioned if the pair could have a future together.
"Mike's leading the conversation. He's talking a lot. But, he's talking a lot about himself. He's not really asking me anything," she shared. "Like, it's starting to make me feel like I'm not attracted to his, you know, personality."
Mike later asked Darcey out on a second date and despite her hesitations, she agreed, saying it would be a "fun thing to do."
She further explained her mixed feelings about Mike in a confessional, saying, "I'm not really sure how I feel. Mike really went out of his way to make me feel special and wine and dined, and you know, respected. But, I feel like that one thing missing that I really desire is that instant love connection. But, that's surface level so that's where I'm confused. I don't know if I should give it more of a chance or just cut my losses."
Darcey then confided in her new friend Leslie — who introduced her to Mike — about how he had been texting her non-stop since their date. She revealed one text from him which read, "P.S. Not kissing your ass (although would luv 2…lol) but really, you have impacted my life positively by being a you [sic], thank you."
In a confessional, Darcey revealed that Mike's texting had made her feel uncomfortable.
"Mike has been texting a lot, like, some crazy weird texts. Like, he's trying to text but he's really sexting," she shared. "I don't even know if you can call it sexting. It's just weird. I don't think that's attractive. It's corny. Awkward. That's a big turnoff. When Georgi and I would text, we would send really explicit stuff. We were really sexting."
Darcey admitted that she doesn't think they are a "love match" and Leslie advised her to "let him down easy." Darcey then immediately called him to say they should remain on a "friend level" rather than continuing in a romantic relationship.
The failed first date made Darcey feel "a little discouraged" and worry that it was going to be "a lot harder" than she expected to find love. In turn, she decided to try using matchmaker Michelle — who is also a dating coach — and hoped to learn "how to date differently."
Michelle advised Darcey to date closer to her age instead of dating younger men and stop using filtered photos, which were "not the right representation" of her.
In a confessional, Darcey finally got to the root of her issues with men.
"My parents got divorced when we were 12 and I don't really feel like I had a good example to see and know what a healthy relationship looks like," she shared. "My mom — she never got remarried. She never really dated much after the divorce. My dad — even though he's had multiple marriages, they were not long-lasting. I'm sure it affected both Stacey and I, and now I just feel like I don't want to be like my mom. Lonely. She's lonely. Daddy too. Sometimes, I think we just choose the wrong ones 'cause we don't wanna be lonely."
"That's why I feel like I need to talk to Michelle and try to figure things out for myself so I don't, you know, die alone," she added.
Michelle told her that she had been turning "a blind eye to red flags" in her past relationships and promised to introduce her to "high quality" people.
"I'm having some revelations. It's definitely kind of a rude awakening," she admitted to cameras. "I mean, I got to put in the work. I got to dig deeper. If it doesn't work out, I don't have anyone else to blame but myself and that scares me that I could fail again and never find the right one and I don't want to die alone."
Elsewhere in the episode, Darcey's twin sister Stacey Silva continued to butt heads with her fiancé Florian Sukaj over wedding planning after he planned a "big surprise" for her.
"I'm going to show to Stacey that wedding planning is important to me. And I'd like Stacey to have her dream wedding," he said in a confessional. "But, to do the wedding in Europe is going to be more expensive, the flights, everything, is going to be double expensive. So I need to convince Stacey we still can have the big dream wedding here in Miami."
While scouting a location for their big day, Stacey was less than impressed by the first spot — a public park — that Florian picked. She took particular issues with the birds, which were "out of control." She also didn't like South Pointe Park Pier and she worried about the "privacy" of the location.
Tensions between the pair hit a boiling point when she realized Florian was trying to save money on the wedding. She admitted, "I waited a long time for this wedding and I want it to be beautiful and I want it to be a dream come true. I'm just tired of everything being half-ass and we need to face the real reason why Florian is cutting corners. It's time that Florian get a job."
"I'm just trying to hold it together right now because I'm fuming inside. Florian [has] had his green card for a little over a year now and he has not even tried to look for a job," she continued. "I was hoping with planning this wedding, it would light a fire under his ass… I see a big lack of effort and it's frustrating because I'm carrying all the weight on my back. He needs to start contributing. If he doesn't help out, I don't know where that leaves us."
Darcey & Stacey airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on TLC.
