Eileen Kelly reflects on dating a boyfriend twice her age in a Vogue essay
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She shares how their connection began at a party and addresses public assumptions and awkward moments about their dynamic
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Kelly emphasizes her independence and stability, noting the relationship is often judged more for its symbolism than reality
Anthony Kiedis' girlfriendEileen Kellyis opening up about dating a "much older boyfriend."
Kelly, 30, published aVogueessay on Tuesday, April 21 titled "My Boyfriend Is Double My Age," and while she didn't identify the Red Hot Chili Peppers member, 63, by name, the pair's been seen out together on numerous occasions.
TheVogueessay began with Kelly reflecting on speaking with a friend who's dating "a man in his mid-30s" about their lackluster relationship. Noting that her "sympathy had worn thin" regarding the situation, the writer recalled suggesting 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," wrote Kelly, who said her partner "seems genuinely excited to be with me" rather than looking for "someone better," as he knows "he's one lucky bastard."
Kelly recalled meeting her boyfriend at a birthday party and connecting over the fact that she'd recently been to Hawaii, where her boyfriend's owned a house for more than two decades. "We joked about whether we’d ever passed each other on the same stretch of sand, or stood in line next to each other at the same health food store," she wrote.
The couple's "age gap didn't register at first," according to Kelly, who first thought they'd "just become friends" before going on a first date.
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Kelly said her boyfriend's been in multiple age-gap relationships in the past and acknowledged how disparities in finances or emotions in such a scenario "can set up a dangerous dynamic." However, she entered the relationship feeling stable with her own money, career and home. "I love my boyfriend, but I’m not at risk of losing everything if we break up," she wrote.
The essay also featured commentary on how people in public often ask questions that lead to "incredible awkward moments," including assumptions that one's older boyfriend is actually her father. Kelly said she's also faced disappointment from friends regarding the relationship.
Kelly noted that people often project their own anxieties onto an age-gap couple. "What people assume about me, about him, about the structure of our relationship, often reveals more about them than anything that exists between my boyfriend and me," she wrote. "The relationship itself becomes secondary to what it represents."
She ultimately described her actual experience in the relationship as "unremarkable" in comparison to others' thoughts on the dynamic.
PEOPLE reached out to a rep for the Red Hot Chili Peppers for comment.
Kelly and Kiedis have been pictured together on several occasions this year. They were seenholding hands in Los Angelesaround the Grammys in February, and theyposed for a photo together at Guy Oseary and Madonna's Oscars afterpartyin March.
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