Getting real with dating guru Steve Ward

Who: Second-generation matchmaker and host (with mom JoAnn) of "Tough Love," whose New Orleans-based season 5 premiere follows "Mob Wives" Sunday at 9 p.m. on VH1.

Age: 31.

From: Northeast Philly.

Now: Fairmount, "right by the Art Museum."

Family roots: "I was a little Cyrano de Bergerac in high school, a late bloomer. I learned about dating not through personal experience, but sort of by being a fly on the wall."

Little-known fact: "I've performed 13 weddings."

Favorite pastime: Catching a Phils or Birds game. He makes a point to attend home openers, and any and all playoff games.

Dating advice: "Finding people is the easy part. You can meet people everywhere. When it comes to developing a connection with somebody, people lack the skills and the wherewithal to survive dating in this day and age."

Dating status: "I'm single. I'm out there. I'm in the game."

- Lauren McCutcheon