In the 'swipe right' world of dating today I don't think my husband Sean and I would have ever fallen in love, gotten married and had 9 kids together //

Both Sean and I were cast and the very first moment we laid eyes on each other was captured on tape. Sounds romantic enough, except it wasn’t love at first sight.

For the next month, while Sean and I traveled together with other castmates throughout the U.S. and New Zealand, Sean invested a lot of his time flirting with me. Even after the show, when we parted ways, he continued to pursue me, racking up his long-distance phone bills and finding excuses to come to L.A. where he knew he would see me.

After five months, when he thought he was still stuck in the friend zone, we went out to breakfast. We spent three hours laughing and thoroughly enjoying each other’s company and at some point during that breakfast I realized that this conversation and Sean’s company was exactly what I wanted for the rest of my life.

When the waitress poured our last cup of coffee, I suddenly, and to Sean’s total shock, declared to Sean that I was going to marry him. The way he tells it, that was definitely way more than he was looking for, but we’ve been together ever since.

Had Sean and I met in 2023, I’m convinced we’d never be married. The disconnected and superficial nature of modern dating culture is killing romance and marriage. We need to bring back the art of flirting, and here are 5 ways to do it.