We've spent the past five years watching Shay Mitchell play Emily Fields on ABC Family's Pretty Little Liars, but on February 10th she's adding a new role: Matchmaker.
Shay talked to HC about her favorite Valentine's Day tradition, how she meets new people and her exciting new role as the host of 'Get Roped In,' a live dating experience.
HC: You’re hosting 'Get Roped In,' a live dating experience. Can you tell us a little bit more about what the show is and your role in it?
SM: Yes! Basically, right in time for Valentine's Day, I partnered with the new SweeTARTS Ropes to host a live dating show where YouTube fans can get roped in to having to the opportunity to going on a group date with their favorite YouTube stars. I’m excited! Using SweeTarts Ropes in different activities and events, they’re going to kind of pair up. We’ll just have to see if there are any sparks that fly.
HC: That’s so exciting and such a different experience than what we’re used to seeing with dating shows.
SM: It’s great, there will be that eye-to-eye contact, so it’ll really be two people standing in front of each other, which is great. Social media is wonderful but it’s also nice to have that personal contact as well.
HC: You’re big on social media. I follow you on Twitter and Instagram and I saw you just joined Snapchat! (Collegiettes: You can add Shay! Username: Officialshaym)
SM: Yes! I did. I’m really excited about this. I kind of felt like when I was explaining how to use the Internet to my grandma with Snapchat. I had to get some friends to teach me how to use it because I’m like, “Wait a minute if I do this…” (laughs) so it’s a learning experience for me as well.
HC: I see on Instagram that you’re a big foodie but you’re into hiking and the outdoors. Do you have any tips for keeping fit in the winter, when it’s a little bit easier to slack off?
SM: You can stay home a lot of the time and do real workouts. When I travel a lot, I do workouts in my hotel room. Using the furniture around you or bringing a skipping rope with you or even just as simple as a walk. It’s never to cold to go for a little brisk walk after dinner, no matter where you live.
HC: Have you ever had a really memorable Valentines Day, either for good or bad reasons?
SM: I have a tradition where I get together with my girlfriends and we buy each other flowers and go out for a great dinner. That’s how I like to spend it. I think romantically that’s fun too and always great, but I’m the kind of girl who likes getting flowers on a random Monday.
HC: The show is about meeting people in a way that’s alternative to typical online dating, do you have any tips for meeting someone offline?
SM: It’s about your interests and joining different groups whether it be sports or just personal hobbies. I think if you join different groups and put yourself out there, you have that chance to maybe meet somebody who has the same interests. Living in LA, I’ll go through the LA Weekly and see what’s up and coming and what events are coming up and I’ll try to attend as many of those as possible. I’m not going to meet anyone in my living room! (laughs)
HC: We're huge Pretty Little Liars fans. Can you tell us anything about what’s coming up on the show or what’s going on with Emily?
SM: The season finale is probably my favorite episode of the season so far, which is really hard because there’s a lot of really great epsiodes, but basically we’ll be seeing what happens with all the blame on Alison, if she’s really the one to blame or not. It’s coming up to the season finale and is going to be really fun. We have a couple of episodes where Hanna and Emily are dancing, I don’t know if you’ve seen the pictures, but that’s going to be really fun as well.
HC: I know that you and Ashley [Benson] are really good friends. You were talking earlier about a girls’ Valentine's Day, have you two ever done that together?
SM: We haven’t yet! We spent New Years together, but we haven’t done a Valentine's Day together. I actually think she’ll be out of town so we won’t get to do it this year. I think it’s really, whoever, any of your friends who are around, just making sure no one’s alone on that day and just have fun!
HC: Do you have any other projects coming up?
SM: Honestly it’s just about enjoying my hiatus and relaxing before we all go back to work. Now there’s this amazing opportunity where I get to match people together, which I never thought I’d be able to do, but I’m really excited about that so that’ll be great.
HC: Do you ever play match-maker for your friends?
SM: I have a couple of times. It might not have worked out so well (laughs) but I’ve tried my best in the past. I’ll have more luck with it this time around.
HC: People are putting a lot of trust in you here!
SM: Exactly! I’m feeling good about it.
HC: Where can our readers get more information about the show?
SM: Yes, the twitter handle is @SweeTARTSCandy. That’s where you can get all of the information. Be sure to check out 'Get Roped In,' our live dating show!