Actress Tracee Ellis Ross is using her platform—and her new Roku series, “Solo Traveling with Tracee Ellis Ross”—to champion a powerful message of human authenticity, specifically addressing the widespread experience of loneliness and her unconventional dating life.
In a recent interview promoting the show, the Girlfriends star explained her conscious choice to be “transparent” about feeling lonely, reframing the emotion not as a flaw, but as a universal part of being human.
“What I am not afraid to do is be transparent about the reality of my humanity. Because it is where we all connect. We all get lonely. It’s not evidence that my life is broken,” Ross stated.
She emphasized that loneliness is not exclusive to single people, noting that “People in marriages get lonely.” For Ross, her transparency is about offering a realistic perspective that exists outside the extremes.
“I wanted to bring some of that forward because there must be some examples that are between Joan of Arc and cat ladies. Like, you can live a stunning, gorgeous, delicious, full, robust and wonderful life and still be lonely, and still have sadness, and still have shame and heartbreak and all of those things,” she added, pushing back against the societal pressure that suggests a successful life must be perpetually free of difficult emotions.
On Dating: The Preference for Younger Men
Ross’s philosophy of self-acceptance extends into her dating choices. In an earlier appearance on Michelle Obama’s podcast, the actress revealed her preference for seeking companionship with younger men, explaining that she finds men her own age to be “toxic.”
She attributed this preference not to superficial reasons, but to her own personal growth and completeness as an individual.
“It’s not just that I’m older, I’m also very embodied… I am a fully very whole person who knows myself, who is in charge of my life and who lives a very full, just … robust life,” Ross explained.
She noted that this difference in “life experience” and her self-assured status often creates friction in relationships with older men. Though she acknowledges the appeal of youth—”other than they’re hot and gorgeous”—Ross framed her choice as a reflection of her identity as an independent woman who is charting her own course without fear of judgment.