Slimmer & Wiser

09/15/2005 at 12:00 PM EDT

No, she hasn't had sex yet, okay?

When Kirstie Alley spoke on Aug. 18 before 400 Jenny Craig clients gathered in a ballroom at New York’s Pierre Hotel, she gamely answered their questions, including this rather direct one: "When you were on Oprah (last fall), you said you hadn’t had sex in a long time. I was just wondering if that had changed."

"Okay, here’s the deal," Alley said through a giggle. "I’m not going to look for a man until after September." What’s the holdup? She has dropped 50 lbs. – only about 30 lbs. from her goal – and "I’m feeling very confident," says the twice-divorced actress. "But I’ve had enough relationships I didn’t understand. I’ve decided to work on that. By September I’ll be ready. And," she adds with a sly smile, "some guys are interested."

That means you can expect her to have the whole Relationship Thing ticked off her self-improvement to-do list by the time the leaves are turning at her Maine vacation home. Kirstie Alley is a get-it-done gal. She kicked a three-year cocaine habit (before becoming a star in the ’80s) and gave up smoking cold turkey last November after appearing on Oprah. ("She said, ‘You have to stop that,’ and I took her literally.") Then, nine months ago, she decided to vanquish the poor eating habits – she could polish off a platoon of ginger-bread men at one standing – that had packed on the pounds.