An expert at spotting both checkered and red flags? Nearly two months after Danica Patrick and Carter Comstock ended their relationship after nearly one year of dating, she exclusively shared her go-to dating advice to dodge any alarming scarlet-colored revelations.
“I’m not sure [what I’m looking for in a future partner], I was just talking about this earlier: I’m like, ‘Is my judgment the best?’ I don’t know,” the former NASCAR driver, 40, exclusively joked to Us Weekly on Wednesday, May 25, while promoting her partnership with Good Foods and its line of plant-based dips. “But, I think that you just have to follow your heart and trust your intuition.”
She added: “I think that’s something that increasingly over time, I’m doing a better job of. So just trust that intuition, look for … like right, if there are red flags at the beginning, like trust that [and] don’t just brush it off. I think those are the things that I’m beginning to realize are really critical. … I have no doubt that it’ll come along and [at the] perfect timing.”
Danica Patrick and Carter Comstock. Stephen Lovekin/Shutterstock; Erik Pendzich/Shutterstock
The Wisconsin native — who previously dated NFL star Aaron Rodgers and fellow racer Ricky Stenhouse Jr. — announced in March that she and Comstock, 33, had gone their separate ways.
The Somnium Wine founder — who was married to Paul Edward Hospenthal from 2005 to 2013 — further told Us about the difficulties of dating in the public eye.
“I think it’s from an ‘outside, looking in’ [perspective that] almost seems worse because, you know, there’s a tension and then there’s pressure,” Patrick explained to Us on Wednesday. “Like most people get to go through dating life without being looked at, like, you go on a million dates or you date multiple people [and] you just kind of see the one that they end up with, but, when you’re in the public eye, that’s always out there.”
She continued: “So, I think that there is just a general pressure and then also afterwards you don’t get to forget about them if they’re famous too. So they’re always still out there. So, it can kind of make all the processes kind of drawn out and, and a little bit harder, but also, there’s so many gifts with being popular and having opportunities. So I choose to really look at the good.”
While the Pretty Intense author is no stranger to having her personal life “always out there,” she’s not one to remain close to her former partners.
“I’m usually, like, ‘When that door closes, it’s done.’ I think in age I’m getting a little softer in that, but generally speaking, once it’s done, it’s done,” she told Us.
In addition to navigating dating, Patrick has found it increasingly important to eat healthy while balancing various work commitments, including reporting at NBC’s Indy 500 broadcast later this month.
“Everything that I’ve done post-career, and even during my career, has been oriented around health and wellness,” the retired athlete told Us. “So, even if we’re talking about like this morning coming on set [for this interview], I pack my own food and that’s very common for me. I bring a cooler around a lot of times. And so, Good Foods is a partner and they are so good for little snacks on the go: They have individual avocados, Buffalo dip — which is my favorite of theirs — [and] tzatziki and all kinds of great stuff. So, packing little things in a kit and being able to be healthy no matter where I go is something that I do all the time.”
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
