MTV’s resident ego-checker keeps it real when refereeing the battle of the sexes. Game on.
Melanie Iglesias is the Yoda of dating—if Yoda hailed from Brooklyn instead of some swamp. An MTV regular, Iglesias keeps it candid on the talking-head shows Guy Code and Girl Code and serves as the provocatively dressed bailiff on Guy Court. And when the 27-year-old isn’t providing foolproof advice for viewers with suspect dating habits, she’s a correspondent on MTV2’s Off the Bat, interviewing Major League Baseball players. Which makes sense—she’s an expert on why men strike out.
Have you always been brutally honest?
Yeah, and I have to give credit to my parents. They did a really good job of letting me know about people’s agendas. They warned me about creeps. [Laughs.] At one point, when I was a teenager, I started developing physically, and Brooklyn and Manhattan guys would always throw game at me. I figured out quickly who was bullshit and who wasn’t.
Has being on Guy Code and Guy Court sharpened that awareness?
It has. Every guy who has a crush on me thinks they want to date me, but I am a pit bull. I’m so aware of everything that goes on in a guy’s head. I talk a lot to my fellow Guy Code castmates, who are all comedians. They’ve little-sistered me. You have to be a confident man with a great agenda if you want to date me. I can weed out that stuff so fast.
Do dudes ask for your advice off-camera now, too?
It happens a lot, but I don’t mind. I like to help. If I’m at a bar and some guy comes over and asks me for advice, I’ll give it to him, but not because I’m on Guy Code—I’ll do it because I’m a decent human being and I’ve probably been through something similar before. Sometimes, though, it gets personal. They’ll ask for sexual advice, but I don’t want to have that conversation with just anyone. I don’t know you like that.
When men approach you, are they hypersensitive about things you’ve said on TV?
I was at a Yankee game and this guy who worked at the stadium came up to me and said, “Excuse me, can I take a picture with you?” I took a picture with him, and when I walked back his way later, he stopped me and said, “Excuse me, I’m so sorry—I realized that asking to take a picture with you was breaking guy code.” [Laughs.]
Is it good or bad if guys take it all too literally?
It can be bad. I don’t want you to take the show so seriously; a lot of times the male comedians will say things I don’t agree with. If you’re saying the things you see Lil Duval say, I’m going to pass—you won’t have a chance with me. I don’t want you looking up to him like that. [Laughs.] I couldn’t date him; he’s pretty out there.
Some guys must be intimidated, though.
I haven’t had a guy ask me for my phone number in a long time, and that’s the truth. Usually, they’ll come up to me because they want a picture or advice. It’s weird how that happens—you’d think more guys would see me and want to take a chance, but most of them seem too scared. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because they think I’m this dating guru. Maybe they think I’m unattainable, but that’s not true.
They’re probably afraid of messing up in front of someone whose job is to call them out on national TV.
I’m good at reading guys, and they hate that. I’ve had guys take my number and then wait two or three days to text me; I responded and then they waited another few hours to respond. I’ll straight up tell you, “Oh, cool, bro—way to fall asleep in the middle of our conversation.” And I’d never get a text back. [Laughs.] When there’s something I want, I’m aggressive.
This article appears in Complex's October/November 2014 issue.
