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

Thanks to social media, comedians can now go viral in what feels like a heartbeat. One such comedian is Matt Rife, a rising star throughout the past decade, although he boomed in popularity in 2023 thanks to his stand-up comedy clips on TikTok. He’s easily one of the most famous modern-day comedians with over 14 million TikTok followers and 3.5 million Instagram followers.

On June 5, 2023, Matt announced his world tour, ProbleMATTic, with a cheeky video starring Ashton Kutcher as his magical genie (plus a Mila Kunis cameo). But Matt 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?

Matt Rife, who’s just 27 years old, has skyrocketed to international fame. This means, however, that he has essentially no time for a girlfriend. To get that famous that fast and that young, Matt has to put every bit of his energy into his comedy. He writes, performs, and markets himself almost 24/7, so despite his baby blues and unmatched sense of humor, Matt is totally single.

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.

"So, a lot of times I’ll get done with shows. I’ll go back to my hotel, I’ll maybe smoke a little bit to unwind, and then I just edit for the next probably hour and a half.” Being a comedian is clearly not as glamorous as it seems! Without time for even a quick hookup, becoming an internationally-renowned comedian is hard work.

Although Matt isn’t currently dating anyone, he would like to have a girlfriend (and a dog). “Had we been on a date and you made a joke about my dead dad, I would’ve been like, ‘You know what? You might be the one, actually.’ To have the balls to actually go for it,” he shared when asked what he looks for in a partner.

Now that Matt’s career is blowing up, having a girlfriend is not his highest priority. But 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 …

"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.’”

Matt's only public relationship was with Kate Beckinsale in 2017, who was over twice his age. 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.

In June 2017, a source told PEOPLE, “Kate is enjoying her life. She is dating and having fun. She looks amazing and keeps getting lots of male attention. She has been seeing Matt for the past few weeks. She really seems to like him. She refers to him as an old soul. There is obviously a physical attraction too. The age difference doesn’t matter to her. Matt is amazing to her.”

However, they allegedly split by November 2017, so their romance was short-lived. Since then, Matt hasn’t had any public relationships, although he is on Raya, so he’s clearly open to some romance. But comedy is his number one priority, so Matt may not be ready to settle down just yet.