Weird Age Gap Relationships We Couldn't Ignore On Reality TV

Millions of people across the world are fascinated by reality television. It gives a unique window into the lives of people who are, in one way or another, completely different than most other human beings. Whether it's confusing reality TV moments, the biggest reality TV tragedies, a polygamist family searching for another member, or someone who weighs 600 pounds trying to lose weight, audiences just can't look away. And everyone who likes the genre of television has their own specific brand that's particularly fascinating, like age gap relationships. 

Those interested in intergenerational romances are in luck, because lots of couples with staggering age gaps have shared their relationship on reality TV. The pictures painted have varied wildly, with some appearing just as functional as any other couple and a few seeming completely tragic. Others, though, are just plain bizarre. These are the weird age gap relationships in the world of reality TV that we absolutely couldn't ignore.

When Erika Jayne joined the cast of "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills," one of the common judgements from the audience was that she's a gold digger. At the time, Jayne was married to Tom Girardi, a wealthy lawyer who is 33 years her senior. The accusations were nothing new to Jayne, though — she and Girardi had already been married for well over a decade by the time she signed up for the Bravo reality show. "Everyone thought I was marrying him to have a baby and lock down the money, as ugly as that sounds," Jayne told People of the judgements she faced at the beginning of her marriage.

While Jayne and Girardi's marriage did weather a lot, it wasn't able to withstand everything. In late 2020, Jayne filed for divorce from Girardi after 21 years of marriage — just before the former powerhouse attorney became embroiled in serious legal issues and was convicted of embezzlement. Jayne later shared further details after she left Girardi, revealing that she was still accused of being a gold digger. For example, fellow cast member Sutton Stracke said that she differs from Jayne in that she doesn't need to date wealthy men. "Good for her. I don't either, and if that's what I wanted to do I would and would have already done it. Believe me, I've been offered. But that's not where I'm at in life to be perfectly honest," Jayne said to E! News in response to here cast mate's comments.

The 2000s were the Wild West of reality television, and fans of the genre were gifted with a range of series featuring actual celebrities. The Osbournes, Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson, and Britney Spears were among the celebs who starred in their own reality shows for reasons audiences couldn't quite figure out. But none were as confounding as Adrianne Curry and Christopher Knight. Despite their 25-year age gap, the "America's Next Top Model" winner and "The Brady Bunch" star became an item in the early 2000s, and in 2005, their reality show "My Fair Brady" aired, documenting their relationship and Curry's desire to get married.

But their age gap was the least of Curry and Knight's relationship issues. The two fought almost constantly, and they didn't seem to align on much. The duo got married in 2006 while the show was still on, but neither critics nor fans saw the relationship lasting. And it didn't. In 2011, Curry and Knight announced their separation, and by 2013 they were officially divorced. In retrospect, Curry knows just how dysfunctional her marriage was. "It was very difficult to have a relationship on TV. And what was most difficult about it is most people would say we were a complete train wreck, and that was us putting our best foot forward because we knew we were being filmed. So, I assure you, it was way worse with the cameras off," she told People in a 2024 interview. Curry is grateful, though, as she learned what she didn't want in a partner, which ultimately led to her second marriage to Matthew Rhode.

For decades, Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner was known for having relationships with young women. As he grew older, the ages of his girlfriends stayed the same. Hefner had invited cameras into his home, the infamous Playboy Mansion, many times throughout his career. But in the 2000s, toward the end of his time at the publication, the editor-in-chief starred in the reality show "The Girls Next Door" alongside his then-girlfriends Holly Madison, Bridget Marquardt, and Kendra Wilkinson, all of whom were at least 40 years his junior. All of Hefner's girlfriends were around 20 or 30 years younger than his two oldest children, making the age gap even more glaring,

On the show, Madison, Marquardt, and Wilkinson all seemed totally pleased with their romantic situations. They knew that plenty of viewers were critical of their relationships, but they took it in stride. However, since leaving the Mansion and ending their relationships with Hefner (who died in 2017), all three cast members of "The Girls Next Door" have spoken out about their involvement with Hefner, their stories detailing a toxic environment and some claiming abuse. In a 2024 interview with People, Wilkinson questioned several aspects of her life with Hefner: "Why did I have sex with an old man at that age? Why did I do that? Why did I go to the mansion in the first place? Why did I get boobs? Why did I bleach blonde my hair? Why did I? I was there for the partying, okay, let's just be real. I was not there for Hugh Hefner to be my boyfriend."

Alec and Hilaria Baldwin have been a Hollywood couple for well over a decade, and in 2025, they welcomed cameras into their home for "The Baldwins," a reality show documenting their life with seven children. While the screen has seen plenty of significant age gaps, with many couples having discussed the possibility of having kids, not often has a couple actually had young kids, let alone seven.

Alec and Hilaria have been extremely candid on camera about how their ages affect their relationship. "Alec and I are 26 years apart. It's something that people focus on a lot. I don't believe that age is just a number," Hilaria said on an episode of the show (via The Daily Mail). "He was very different when he was 26 years younger, and I'll probably be very different when I'm 26 years older. And I think if you respect that and you see your person where they and see it for what it is, and then see if it works, and obviously it does for us." Alec, meanwhile, talked about the reality of being an older father. "I'm 66 years old and I've got seven kids. Once you hit 50, you're not old, but you have no time to waste. I'm worried," he said. That said, the age gap is just one of the red flags that audiences can't ignore about Alec and Hilaria's relationship.

Crystal Minkoff wasn't on "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" for long, but she made some friends and enemies in the short time she held a diamond. And in one of her feuds, her marriage was brought up. Crystal is married to Rob Minkoff, a filmmaker who's best known for directing the 1994 animated film "The Lion King." The couple has been married since 2007, but because of their 20-year age gap — and the fact that Crystal was just 23 years old when she tied the knot — their relationship has faced criticism. For example, another Housewife, Dorit Kemsley, called Crystal a "child bride," and Crystal did not take kindly to the comment.

"I've been with Rob for 20 years. I have one of the most successful marriages [on the show], and regardless of how long I've been married, like, Rob, and I are great. And so, I think it's really rude and disrespectful to say something like that, which is very loaded — it's a loaded comment," Crystal told ET about her cast mate's remark. The reality star also noted that while she is willing to take criticism, she doesn't appreciate it when others pass judgement on her husband. "I'm usually very quiet, but don't come after Rob. Rob Minkoff's the GOAT. Like he is very, very special," she said, adding that she has a great marriage.

Most age gap relationships of note are between a much older man and a much younger woman, but Kris Jenner and Corey Gamble's relationship is a little different — Jenner is 25 years older than Gamble. The duo have been together for over a decade, and Gamble has appeared on episodes of both "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" and "The Kardashians" alongside Jenner. Although Gamble is one year younger than Jenner's oldest child, Kourtney Kardashian, the age difference between him and Jenner isn't as glaring as some might expect.

At the beginning of their relationship, though, Jenner admitted that she was bothered by her and Gamble's age difference. "I used to say to Corey all the time when I first started dating him, like, 'Why do you want to date somebody who is older than you?' I didn't get the age gap, and then he taught me that age is just a number. It's a f***ing big number, but it's a number!" Jenner said on an episode of "The Kardashians" (via People). But the reality star doesn't seem to care much about her and Gamble's age gap now, and neither does he. In fact, Gamble seems to embrace it. "[Being with me] has worked tremendously for your life. Whether anybody wants to talk about it or not. You're gonna be around till you're like 130. I'm gonna preserve you. You'll be fine," he told Jenner (via People).

Perhaps part of the reason that Kris Jenner's age gap with Corey Gamble doesn't garner much concern from viewers is because another age gap relationship that was shown on "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" monopolized the attention. Reality star Scott Disick is known for his scandalous age gap relationships, and in the final seasons of the show, he introduced viewers to his then-girlfriend Sofia Richie. Disick and Richie are 16 years apart — much closer in age than Jenner and Gamble. However, at the time they started dating, Disick was 34 years old and Richie was only 19. What made the age gap between the two even more glaring was the fact that Richie is closer in age to Disick's kids than she is to Disick himself.

Disick and Richie dated on and off for about three years, with Richie making occasional appearances on "Keeping Up with the Kardashians." While their age gap wasn't something the two ignored, it never seemed to be of as much concern for Disick and Richie as it was for other people in their lives. Ultimately, according to Disick, their age difference isn't what caused Richie and Disick to break up, but rather jealousy that Richie had toward Disick's relationship with his ex-girlfriend and the mother of his children, Kourtney Kardashian Barker. "It was no secret they had their ups and downs when it came to Kourtney. Once Kourtney and Scott became closer and were spending more time together with the kids, Sofia had a huge issue with it. She thought she was losing him to Kourtney and was jealous at times," a source told E! News of Richie and Disick.

Fans of "The Real Housewives" have been introduced to plenty of people in unique living situations, but few situations have been as intriguing as Mary Cosby's marriage. Mary, one of the original cast members of "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City," revealed on the show's first season that she's married to her step-grandfather, Robert Cosby Sr. "We were kind of a, I would say, an arranged marriage. It was kind of in my grandma's will for us to marry," said Mary of her relationship with her husband, who's 20-some years older than she is (via People). "She said, 'If anything ever happens to me, Bobby, I want you to marry one of my girls because they'll look out for you,'" Robert Sr. shared of his late wife's wishes.

Viewers were shocked to learn about Mary's relationship with her husband, and Mary understood why. In another interview, the reality star noted that she found the arrangement to be weird at first, too. She claimed that she only entered the marriage because she believed it was what her grandmother wanted, and Mary trusted her grandmother. After nearly 30 years together, Mary has gotten over any initial weirdness she felt about her marriage, and she's glad to be married to Robert Sr. "I am thankful today that I did. I'm happy because I did, and I'm blessed because I did and everything that I have that's beautiful in my life, including my son, it's through my marriage," Mary told People ahead of her 26th wedding anniversary.

Housewives from multiple cities have been accused of marrying their husbands because of their wealth. When Bronwyn Newport joined the cast of "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City," she was subject to the same accusations, all of which were intensified because of the 26-year age difference between her and her husband, Todd Bradley. Early on in her tenure as a Housewife, though, Newport shared that she and Bradley had shut down any outside noise. "I don't think Todd really cares what it looks like to anybody else," Newport told Us Weekly in 2024. "That's a good reminder for me that I'm very happy with Todd and everyone else can see that or not see that, or wish they were me or not wish they were me. They should wish they were me — I'm in a great marriage, I love my relationship, and I'm really happy."

During Newport's first season on the show, however, viewers saw that her and Bradley's age difference was the least of their worries in their marriage. Newport opened up about past issues she's faced with Bradley, including infidelity. The reality TV star assured viewers and her cast mates that she and Bradley had worked on their marriage, though. "I really appreciate his vulnerability. Everybody thinks Todd is not vulnerable. That takes a lot of vulnerability to say 'I'm wrong' and make some changes. Our relationship is much stronger because of it, because I really appreciate that sentiment," Newport told The New York Post in 2025.

Sylvester Stallone and Jennifer Flavin have been of interest to the public since their relationship started in the late 1980s. The two are over 20 years apart, but they've been together for well over three decades despite their significant age gap. The couple has even welcomed three children together. The entire makeup of their relationship made them prime material for a reality show, and in 2023, when "The Family Stallone" premiered, audiences tuned in, hopeful to learn more about how Stallone and Flavin's number of years together has far surpassed their age difference.

Fans were also interested to see how Flavin and Stallone managed to move on after what appeared to be a major rift in their relationship. A year before the season premiere, Flavin had filed for divorce from Stallone after 25 years of marriage. The couple got back together just a month later, but clearly something happened to prompt the legal action. While Stallone and Flavin didn't fully dissect on camera what happened in their marriage, audiences did get an intimate look at the couple's relationship post-fallout. Stallone has indicated that perhaps he was at fault, though. "Sometimes, I put the work ahead of [my family], and that is a tragic mistake which won't happen again," he said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that same year. In this case, it's clear that the couple's age gap was the least of their worries.