'He Was Super Fantastic' (Exclusive): Contestants from 1983 Episode of Love Connection Reconnect on Facebook Years Later

People have gone looking for love on television for decades. And while some experiences have faded with time, some memories truly last. That's the case for Anita Stevenson and Mitch Slater, who grew up on opposite coasts and were both in their early 20s when they first met on Love Connection in 1983.

Slater found himself in Los Angeles, doing some production assistant work in early reality TV when he saw an ad for a production looking for assistants who were young men between 18 and 24 years old.

Dressed in a suit and ready for a job interview, Slater arrived at an open call for the gig, only to find out it was staffed. They were, however, looking for talent to participate on the show, a dating show called Love Connection.

"So they asked me a bunch of questions about who I was and what I was looking for in a partner. 'What's your idea of a perfect marriage? Do you want to have kids?' All these things and honestly, I answered and thought nothing of it," he tells PEOPLE. "I left there and I'm like, 'Oh God, what a waste of the day,' you know? Like I thought it was a job interview."

For Anita Stevenson, appearing on the show was the result of a dare from her coworkers. "I was working in jewelry store in Santa Monica. Producers were walking around the mall trying to get people to join the show. Some sales guys told them, 'We have a girl but she's not in today. She'd be perfect.' They left their business card and when I got to work the next day, they were like, 'We dare you to do it,' " she tells PEOPLE.

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Stevenson was first brought onto the show as one of the three options for another bachelor to choose from. She was chosen by the contestant, but "polar opposite schedules" kept them from seeing it through.

"The production girls called me back in. I went into the studio and they said, 'We just love your energy,' and they decided they wanted me to be the contestant who chooses from three people. So we went through some of the bios and I don't remember all the details, but I remember seeing Mitch's bio," she shares.

Love Connection gave both the contestant and the audience an opportunity to choose the best of the three suitors presented to them. The contestant would go on a date with their choice first, then come back to recap the experience. If they don't hit it off, the audience pick would get a chance.

As Stevenson explains, Slater wasn't her first pick. She chose a Harvard graduate, noting she'd never had the chance to go out with one and didn't know that she would again.

"In my mind, I knew the audience would pick Slater because we had so much in common," she explains, noting both mentioned being baseball fans who really wanted families in the future.

Slater got the call from Stevenson a week before Thanksgiving 1983.

"She's like, 'Hey, my name's Anita. 57% of the audience thinks we should go on a date.' I'm like, 'What are you talking about?' She asked me if I watch Love Connection and I told her about what happened and how nothing came from it. And she said, 'Well actually, it did. You were one of the three guys that I got to choose from.' "

When it came to being the audience pick, Slater was happy to give a night out a shot. "I watched it and thought, 'Oh, she's cute. I've got nothing going on this weekend. What the hell?' We talked for a little bit and bonded over sports."

To set up the date, Slater called in a favor from his friend, Larry King, to make the night -

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make an impression.

"I called Larry and said, 'Hey, I just got picked to be on this game show and the girl really likes sports.' I noticed the Rangers and the Kings were playing and this was when Wayne Gretzky had just signed with the Kings. It was a big deal time in hockey. So I asked, 'Larry, could you get me good seats?' And he said, 'Tell you what, I'll get you a table at The Palm too.' It was kind of impressive. We had tickets, perfect seats at center ice. It was an early dinner and a lovely evening."

Stevenson remembers, "We went up to The Palm and got the big steak and lobster. It was a fancy place. And then he took me to my first live hockey event. I'm a big sports fan but he had never been to an NHL game. It was a really great experience. You could smell the ice. I was really into it."

The two had a lot to talk about, although Slater admits Stevenson was "the total opposite of anyone that I ever dated, or even knew."

"She was the least pretentious. She wasn't like what you'd think of for an L.A. girl. She was really decent, a free spirit who wasn't caught up in that other world," he says. "And here I was trying to impress her. I think she was happy to go to a hockey game and a nice dinner and meet a normal guy."

"It was a real shot in the dark but in many ways, so is online dating. You're learning what you can learn in the limited situation."The two went on a few dates over a few months before going their separate ways.

"He was super fantastic. Back then, I'm 23, I might steamroll a guy. But I felt like he was just the salt of the earth, and I wasn't going to do that," Stevenson recalls.

When the show aired, Slater remembers getting phone calls from family and friends about his participation.

"The show aired around Thanksgiving. The Friday after Thanksgiving is a big day for television. It's a big day for shopping, but everyone's home with their families and whatever. Here is the number-one fun show on TV. I would equate it with The Bachelor today. Everyone I ever met called me — people from high school joking, 'How bad is it in L.A. that you're dating on national television?' And I told them, it just came out of the blue."

"I was a great bartender and making good money because I like people and I like to know about their lives, so it was a no-brainer to try it for me. Plus, I got to be on TV," she says. Looking back, he believes, "There was still a novelty to it then. It's something that's fun and different and unique and also an escape. And you know what? There wasn't much else to do."

Though a relationship never happened, Slater says of Stevenson, “She was full of life, full of fun. I really enjoyed the four or five times we went out. We had a great time together. We laughed. Now, I share the clip on Facebook every once in a while. It’s become like a joke, but I’m proud of it."

The two reconnected in the early days of Facebook and have maintained a friendly relationship since."I saw the request and was like, 'Oh my gosh, it's my Love Connection guy!' I never gave the other guys a second thought. I've never looked them up, have no idea where they are. Mitch was a very impactful, really great guy," she says, adding, "I was happy that I had the opportunity, you know, I just told him a little bit more about my path and what I've been through and that I apologize for how things happened when we were young."

"If I had to go back and do it all over again, I would be right back there," she continues. "There was nothing bad about it. We got to meet Chuck Woolery! But yeah, I'd do it all over again if I got to meet Mitch."

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