So, is it Pull a Younger Woman Year in the worlds of acting and fashion? It probably always is, but in these Covid lockdown times, it just seems that more guys than usual are snapping up younger models. Maybe, with more time on their hands, more of them are realizing that life is short, and their fuel tank is running low. Heck, Windows 2021 is almost upon us, and with no Christmas parties to hone their pulling skills, men are going to find leaner pickings as they lose out to hungrier (and richer) rivals.
The latest is Matthew Perry who, at 51, has just become engaged to his 29 year old girlfriend, Molly Hurwitz. Ben Affleck has been seen smooching all over Ana de Armas (16 years his junior), Amelia Hamlin is hanging out in Malibu with Scott Disick (18 years her senior , and it’s HIM, for goodness sake – you can only weep and wail with her parents, Lisa Rinna and Harry Hamlin), Jon Ham (49) has been seen cuddling up to his Mad Men co-star and girlfriend Anna Osceola (32), and the UK’s Charles Dance (74) and his producer girlfriend Alessandra Masi (53) have apparently moved in together. And let’s not forget the hot gossip of the moment, 50 year-old married father of four, Dominic West, hanging out with 31 year old co-star Lily James.
I’m not saying these things can’t work – Catherine Zeta Jones and Michael Douglas have just celebrated their 20thwedding anniversary, after all, and there’s a 25-year age gap between them. But for the most part, relationships with large age gaps ultimately fail. Look at Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (and superstar in her own right) Erika Jayne (49), who has just announced her divorce from husband Tom (81). Still, they had 20 years together, which by today’s standards is several lifetimes.
In a week when all these older men with younger women have hit the headlines, what utter joy to see the UK’s TV/radio presenter and model Melanie Sykes, 50, taking her second trip to Venice to hang out with her new toy boy lover and gondolier, Riccardo Simionato, who is 23. Now, that’s more like it. One thing that women will quickly discover with much older men – they tire very easily if, indeed, they can be bothered at all, behind closed doors.
The thing women have always said about younger guys is that they may not be able to do it well, but they can do it often.
Judging by the smile on Melanie’s face, I’d say that she’s enjoying more than “Just one Cornetto,” as the TV commercial sang.
Methinks there’s a lot more where that cornet came from. Un altro, per favor!