The influencer chats with PEOPLE at the Broadway Breakout Brunch on May 22, sharing a peek into what's new with her dating life
Credit: John Nacion/Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- Influencer Jess Val Ortiz is sharing a dating update, nearly five months after her split from boyfriend Alexei Mitchell
- Ortiz — who often posts musical theater content — chats with PEOPLE at the Broadway Breakout Brunch on May 22 in New York City, where she was joined by fellow members of the theater community
- She shares a look into the last few months and how things have been going in her dating life
Jess Val Ortiz is keeping her "heart open."
While chatting with PEOPLE on the Broadway Breakout Brunch red carpet in New York City on Friday, May 22, the influencer gave an update on her dating life. The content creator, who is known to her over 11 million followers for her online parody videos and comedy sketches, announced she had split from her boyfriend of almost one year back in January, sharing the news in a TikTok video.
Speaking with PEOPLE, the content creator appears to be entering a new chapter in the dating world. "I'm open, you know, my heart is open," she says.
Credit: Jess Val Ortiz/Instagram
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"I'm open to love, you know, but I, I'm in a really, really good place," she continues, adding that, since the breakup, she feels "healed" and "very optimistic."
"I'm focusing on my career right now, but my heart's open, so I feel good about that," she says.
At the inaugural event honoring the next generation of Broadway talent — including Anania, Whitney Leavitt, Jake Shane and others — Val Ortiz performed a song featuring the lyrics "I don't wanna TikTok no more," which featured humorous lyrics about her social media career.
Following her initial breakup announcement in January, the influencer came back to her social media to open up about how she's been faring since the news of her breakup hit the Internet.
"I always hate it whenever people say, 'Oh, you know, you're going through a breakup, you're gonna be okay.' Because that's not true. I'm not gonna be okay. I'm gonna be better. I'm gonna be better because I'm gonna be stronger. I'm gonna be wiser," the influencer said in a February TikTok post, with her voice shaking.
"Breakups suck. But breakups are growing pains," she said. "They show you you're one step closer to who you truly are and what you truly need and what you want. It's really hard. But when you do hard things, you feel the most proud of yourself, right?"
Credit: Michael Loccisano/Getty
She then added that while the decision to break up with Mitchell had been difficult, "difficult things that you do are supposed to be things that you should be proud of and that you should honor."
In another video posted to her TikTok account on Sunday, March 1, the influencer did her makeup and addressed how she's been healing in the wake of the separation, as well as offered insights into what the last month had been like for her. "It is officially been over one month since my breakup," the content creator began her video as she applied foundation to her skin.
"I've been doing a lot of therapy, been doing a lot of soul searching, spending time with my family and friends," she continued. "It's been a bit of a tumultuous month, not gonna lie. But I have officially found peace with myself and with the breakup."
Val Ortiz went on to reflect on her "adult relationships," saying that, having been in two "serious" ones so far, she thinks she is able to say that she knows what she is looking for in her "forever person."
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