Cracking Jokes and Hearts — the Truth Behind Comedian Matt Rife's Love Life

The Gist:

• Matt Rife rose to fame via TikTok to become one of most well-known comedians today.
• He confirmed in September 2023 that he was in a relationship with actress-dancer Jessica Lord.
• He previously dated Kate Beckinsale in 2017, and was briefly linked to Lucy Hale in 2023.

Thanks to social media, comedians can now go viral in what feels like a heartbeat. One such comedian is Matt Rife, who boomed in popularity thanks to his stand-up comedy clips on TikTok and is now easily one of the most famous modern-day comedians.

But Matt — who launched his successful world tour ProbleMATTic in July 2023 — isn’t just famous for his jokes. His good looks have also captured the hearts of his fans, so much so that he has a bit about it in his comedy special. So who is Matt Rife dating, if anyone? Does he have a girlfriend? And what is his relationship history?

In June 2023, fans noticed Matt leaving flirty comments on English actress-dancer Jessica Lord's social media. By August, Matt revealed to Good Morning America that he wasn't single. The following month, Page Six reported on rumors that he was dating Jessica, and he confirmed the rumors to Elle that same month.

In October, he revealed more details to People, saying that Jessica was "so important to [his] infrastructure" and makes sure he eats and gets enough sleep and takes time for himself amid his completely hectic schedule.

“It's newer, but I mean I do prefer to keep it on the more private side," he said of the relationship. "Just because, I mean, people are literally insane.”

Matt's only other public relationship was with Kate Beckinsale in 2017. The then-21-year-old Matt dated then-43-year-old Kate for a few months after his minor fame bump from MTV's Wild ‘n Out and The Challenge. They reportedly began dating in June of that year, but were done by November.

In 2023, Matt was linked to Pretty Little Liars actress Lucy Hale. Page Six reported that they had a "fling" before the summer, when he moved on to "a more serious relationship" with Jessica Lord.

In a May 2023 interview with Elite Daily, Matt revealed when asked about his love life, “I just don’t have time. I’m on the brink of being sick almost every day. Not in a cold kind of way, but just being run down. I don’t sleep. I sleep probably three hours a night, maybe. And then I’ve got basically at least two shows every night, I’d say six days a week at least."

Though having a girlfriend was not his highest priority, he said it once was. “I prioritized women a lot when I was younger, and I was in a lot of healthy and a lot of unhealthy relationships,” he shared. “But both of them are equally time-consuming. A healthy relationship, a lot of times you’re so happy that you prioritize it over things that you should be doing professionally …"

He continued: "And sometimes you’re in a toxic relationship where you're like, ‘Hold on, I can’t do this professional thing because I’m too busy fighting with my partner right now.’”