Vanessa Drozda, a 50-year-old salon owner from Jackson Township in Stark County, Ohio, is a cast member on Netflix’s new reality series Age of Attraction. Following our earlier coverage of the show’s announcement, Drozda shares her journey on the age-concealed dating experiment, which premiered March 11.
A 1993 graduate of Louisville High School and owner of Vida Beauty Design in Jackson Township, Drozda has had four engagements but never married. In a phone interview from Los Angeles on March 10, the self-described free spirit explained rejecting traditional expectations: "I'm a Gen Xer, and the expectation was you got married, you had 2.5 kids, a dog and a picket fence."
As detailed in prior coverage, Age of Attraction features 40 singles aged 22 to 60 who date without revealing ages, filmed over nearly six weeks in Whistler and Vancouver, British Columbia. Drozda appreciated the twist: "It was great to get to know someone without me knowing their age or them knowing my age." She was one of 10 singles completing the full season, alongside an MMA fighter, massage therapist, and entrepreneurs.
Unlike shows requiring engagements, the series emphasizes genuine companionship. Drozda seeks a loyal, active partner, inspired by her parents—her late mother and 78-year-old father, married over 50 years. After a four-year dating break caring for her mother, who passed in 2024, she sees the show as destiny: "This opportunity came up, and I just felt like it was the universe calling me."
Hosted by Nick Viall and Natalie Joy, the series is available on Netflix with a subscription.
