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AGE GAP, ADDICTED TO THE SHINDIG

Rock Legend’s Girlfriend Defends Their Age-Gap Relationship

She admits the relationship is either “alarming or impressive” for most people.

Roosa RahkonenReporter, The Looker

PublishedApr 24, 2026, 8:14 PM EDT

UpdatedApr 24, 2026, 8:14 PM EDT

Updated Apr 24, 2026, 8:14 PM EDTPublished Apr 24, 2026, 8:14 PM EDT

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The Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman’s much-younger girlfriend revealed details of their relationship and defended the pair’s 33-year age gap.

In an essay for Vogue, “My Boyfriend Is Double My Age,” Kelly, who writes about sex and dating for the outlet, shared details about her relationship with an unnamed older gentleman.

Rock legend Anthony Kiedis, 63, began making public appearances with Eileen Kelly, 30, in November 2025.

Kelly began the essay by describing her friend’s relationship troubles and recalled suggesting that her friend try dating someone older.

“My own boyfriend is more than twice my age, which is either alarming or impressive, depending on who you ask,” she wrote, adding, “It’s my first time dating someone significantly older, and sometimes I joke with friends that I’ve been missing out my whole life.”

Kelly and her boyfriend met at a birthday party, where they connected over their travels to Hawaii. (Kiedis previously owned a $10 million home on Kauai.) When the two exchanged phone numbers, she initially assumed they would become friends, but the relationship developed into something more.

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She listed several positive aspects of a relationship with an older partner: He was not on dating apps looking for someone better, for instance, and was “genuinely excited” to be with her. “He is fully aware that he’s one lucky b-----d,” she wrote.

Still, there were downsides to the partnership.

The most “shocking” part of dating someone older for Kelly was the public scrutiny they faced.

She wrote that people sometimes referred to him as her father, or to her as his daughter.

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“The remarks come with a cheerful bluntness, suggesting a certain satisfaction at having correctly identified the matter at hand,” she wrote. “And it’s incredibly awkward every time.”

Kelly remarked that responses to age-gap relationships often vary by the older person’s gender.

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She wrote that while Cher, 79, was mainly supported for her relationship with Alexander Edwards, 40, the commentary was different when the older party is a man.

“An older man is reflexively labeled ‘creepy’ and ‘gross,’ while the woman ‘must have daddy issues’ or must be a gold-digger,” she wrote.

“I love my boyfriend, but I’m not at risk of losing everything if we break up,” Kelly explained.

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She wrote that the power balance would be different if she were in her early twenties, but that in her current situation, she was not financially dependent on her partner. “I have my own money, my own career, and I have my own home.”

Kelly admitted that she, too, had previously held certain assumptions about age-gap relationships, but she discussed her biases with her boyfriend, who had been in several such relationships.

Kiedis previously dated many younger women, including model Helena Vestergaard, who was 30 years his junior.

His relationship in the 1980s with Say Anything... star Ione Skye drew criticism in 2025 when the actress, now 55, published her memoir, Say Everything, which revealed details of their late-1980s relationship.

In the book, Skye recalled Kiedis, then 25, pressuring the then-17-year-old to get an abortion—a mistake he later apologized for in an emotional letter, she said.

“It was very thorough, really amazing. It actually did a lot, to be honest,” she told the Mirror, describing it as “really heartfelt and honest.”

Roosa RahkonenReporter, The Looker

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