Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Is he just too young for her?
YES
KATE Beckinsale is one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood, but with Matt Rife there is too big a gap. If I was dating someone 22 years my junior, I would be far too body and wrinkle conscious to enjoy it. I work in telly, which with HD is unforgiving, but I’m against fillers and surgery — and I am SO over the gym. Staying looking good for my younger man would be a full-time job, which would kill the thrill of the affair and, perhaps, not be worth the pain, time or money. Also 22 years is a significant difference. My eldest son is 18 and, at 21, Kate’s man is not much older. At that age, they are from another world. They watch everything online, I love the cinema. They get their news online, I read the papers. There is so much I do that, to them, is just alien — like shopping in an actual shop. I did once have to get my mum to dump a boyfriend for me. Let’s hope Kate does not have to do the same once she is 45.
NO
I AM guessing that Kate Beckinsale is not planning a long-term future with her new guy Matt Rife. She is thinking about the here and now. And right here and now, I imagine she is having a great laugh — and great sex. Because, brace yourselves gents, that is what most middle-aged women would do if they had the freedom, opportunity and someone sufficiently smouldering and smitten on hand. There are a lot of ifs there, though, so you married fellas need not panic too much. Ms Beckinsale is a hugely talented, rich, successful and independent woman, so why shouldn’t she indulge herself with a younger man who finds her attractive? She has spent the past 20 years bringing up her child and building a career. Now, I imagine, she just wants fun. If this were a male Hollywood star with a young female on his arm, it would not raise an eyebrow. “But what have they got in common,” the cynics will cry. Frankly, who cares?