This is the latest high-profile relationship to capture the attention of the American public, and for one reason only.
Former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, 72, recently dated a new love interest, former cheerleader Jordon Hudson, who is just 23, making their age difference a whopping 48 years.
The NFL legend’s new girlfriend is far from the first young woman to take an interest in a much older, more successful man.
The world of celebrities is full of examples of so-called gold diggers: from Al Pacino and Noor Alfalla, 53 years his junior, to Anna Nicole Smith, who was 26 when she married an 89-year-old oil tycoon.
But do some young women really fall in love with older men? And if so, why?
Anna Nicole Smith (pictured right) married billionaire oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall in 1994, despite a 63-year age difference.
Al Pacino, 83, has been dating Noor Alfallah, 30, since April 2022. Their relationship blossomed from a friendship during the pandemic.
DailyMail.com spoke to psychologists who revealed the inner workings of a gold-digger’s mind and what drives them to seek out such unconventional relationships.
Some women are really only interested in money and feel entitled to the lavish lifestyle such a relationship affords them, experts say.
Israeli psychologist Dr. Sam Vaknin saying: ‘These people feel entitled to a good life, entitled to luxury, entitled to splendid company, entitled not to work.
‘They believe that they are entitled to complete and absolute independence, that they are entitled to this entitlement, which is a hallmark of narcissism, and it is very common among gold diggers.
“And this leads them to behave in ways that are essentially extortionate.”
However, some choose much older and often wealthier partners due to deep insecurity.
Dr Catherine Nobile, director of Nobile Psychology in New York, told DailyMail.com: ‘From an evolutionary perspective, women might be inclined to seek out partners who can provide them with stability and resources – traits often associated with older, wealthier men.
Dr. Alexandra Solomon, a licensed clinical psychologist at Northwestern University, added: “Someone who grew up in a very emotionally insecure home may long for someone who feels like a really safe rock, a really secure anchor and protection.”
Belichick, 72, has been dating cheerleader Jordon Hudson, 24, for more than a year.
He added that those who grew up “deprived of attention and affection” can feel especially comforted when they are “lavished” materially and emotionally.
“It offers a balm for that wound of feeling invisible or neglected when someone doesn’t feel special in their home,” she adds.
This rings true in the case of tModel Anna Nicole Smith, who She married an 89-year-old billionaire oil tycoon J Howard Marshall in 1994, despite a 63-year age difference.
Years before she became a Playboy cover girl, the former chicken worker was exploited by those who claimed to love her and abused as a young adult.
In 2007, she told Larry King: “I couldn’t make ends meet. I tried Red Lobster. I tried WalMart. I tried all those places and I couldn’t. I couldn’t. So I tried this gentlemen’s club and, you know, I worked there, and it was horrible at those places. It was terrible. And he saved me from that.
“I saw a very sick man. Someone who was very, very sick and… physically sick. And I just wanted to talk to him… there was no physical attraction at all.”
The relationship is transactional, meaning that it is not just the so-called gold digger who benefits, but the older member of the couple can also vicariously experience the other’s youth and reap the benefits of her beauty and physical attractiveness.
Dr. Solomon said, “By choosing her, he has access to a kind of fountain of youth, or by choosing her, he has his own value reaffirmed. Not a financial value, but a psychological value.”
Even though Russell Simmons was 35 and Kimora was 17 and a sophomore in high school when they met, the two struck up a romantic relationship and eventually married. Kimora ended up taking over his lifestyle brand, Phat Farm.
Some people choose older, richer, more successful partners because they lack the ability to be close to power and have influence over that person.
The Godfather star Al Pacino’s 30-year-old girlfriend, Noor Alfallah, was a film student before becoming a film and television producer, whose credits only include a handful of short films to date, although she was a producer on the upcoming Billy Knight film starring her boyfriend Pacino, according to IMDb.
While her motives for seeking a relationship may be completely honorable, she can benefit from it.
She told Vogue Arabia: “I thought, wow, that’s Al Pacino. I went to film school, so I wasn’t stupid about who he was… he’s a very talented and unique person. But I had no intention of thinking, oh, he’s going to be the father of my child one day.”
The appeal of a wealthy partner may also lie in the sense of stability and the ability to afford a luxurious lifestyle without having to struggle to achieve it.
Dr Nobile said: ‘Some people may struggle with feelings of inadequacy or doubt their ability to achieve financial stability.
‘For these individuals, a relationship with a wealthier partner is a way to ensure a stable and comfortable lifestyle, especially if they have experienced financial difficulties or lack a strong support system.’
Traditional gender roles reinforce this dynamic, she added, telling DailyMail.com that a patriarchal society “sees men as providers,” though she cautioned that “this choice of partner may be more rooted in a desire for security, power and status than in factors related to specific gender roles.”
Women have long been taught that their ticket to success is marrying a rich man. Historically, men have held (and continue to hold) disproportionate control over wealth, power and resources.
Dr Solomon said: “It is a reflection of patriarchy that we point to her as the gold digger rather than to him as a man who is somehow taking advantage of her youth, her beauty or her vitality.”
Centuries of gender-based discrimination have entrenched these disparities, creating a social framework in which men occupy positions of privilege and authority.
As a result, women have often had limited opportunities for economic and social advancement, and for some marriage has been the primary means of securing financial stability and social status.
A relationship between a very young person and a very old person could also have deep roots in psychology and childhood. A dysfunctional relationship with a parent, for example, can determine a person’s preferences for their own partner.
Dr. Susan Krauss Whitbourne, a psychology professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, wrote in Psychology Today that our adult relationships reflect how we were treated by our caregivers. If a woman seeks the security of a father figure in her relationships, it suggests that she may not have received adequate care from her own father.
‘Women who need the security of a father figure, in this view, would have been poorly cared for by their own fathers, as reflected in their subsequent search for security in an older man.’
