Carson Daly's Comments About His Failed Tara Reid Engagement Hint They Made The Right Call

Once upon a time, Carson Daly and Tara Reid were in a relationship. The "Total Request Live" VJ and the "American Pie" star then got engaged in October 2000 after only about six months of dating. It didn't last, though. The whole thing was called off by June 2001, when Reid and Carson split for good. Comments Daly made about the short-lived engagement show they made the right decision. "To some extent, I dodged a bullet," he told Elle in 2012. While the remark might come across as disrespectful, matchmaker Susan Trombetti told Nicki Swift they both probably did.

In his response, Daly noted they had different lifestyles and that the experience helped him see he had more in common with non-famous women. "There were values I was more likely to find in a nice, Midwestern girl than one who was living on the coast, pursuing fame," Daly said. It turns out that Daly wasn't alone in his musing. Trombetti, CEO of Exclusive Matchmaking, told us she often gets clients looking for Midwestern or small-town matches. "Midwest and small towns offer a stronger sense of community, family, tradition, and politeness compared to big cities where people are just hurrying through life on the daily grind," she said.

In her experience, the stereotype isn't completely off. "There does seem to be something to Midwest values or small-town values and have experienced that with my Midwest clients," she said. Reid is obviously not that. She started acting at age 6 and shot to fame early. With different aspirations, their relationship was unlikely to work out.

Carson Daly went on to marry Siri Pinter, who isn't from the Midwest — far from it. Not only was she born in Los Angeles but she's also the daughter of former soap opera actor Mark Pinter. However, she and Daly have a lot in common. When they met in 2005, she was a writer's assistant on "Last Call with Carson Daly." She worked behind the scenes and never wanted fame. As matchmaker Susan Trombetti told us, this worked out in their favor. "When a celebrity finds love with a non-celeb, there is a grounding that happens in the relationship," she told Nicki Swift.

Besides, Daly and Siri, now a cookbook author and blogger, had career aspirations that were different enough so they wouldn't clash, but similar enough that they remained interested in each other's professional lives. "There is no jealousy regarding who is having the bigger career or the better projects at the time because there is no competition in the same career," she explained.

Non-celebrities also have a vantage point that might help the celebrity in the relationship see things from a different perspective. "They will tell you when your surrounding team is just giving you a bunch of yes answers because they are awestruck or just want to keep their job," Trombetti noted. Work aside, Trombetti highlighted the family-building benefits of marrying someone outside the industry. "They keep the home fires burning when celebrities are on the road and bring deeper values because they aren't swayed by the bright lights," she said. All things considered, it looks like Daly found what he was looking for.