Everything you need to know about the biggest showbiz age gap in the WORLD! Why US football boss Bill Belichick, 73, dating ‘controlling’ beauty queen, 24, is having his sanity questioned

He’s a sports star- she’s a cheerleader – it’s a tale as old as time.

But in this instance, it’s 73-year-old Bill Belichick, an American football legend, and his girlfriend Jordon Hudson – who is 49 years his junior.

Aside from the UK’s NFL fans, you probably haven’t heard of the former general manager of the New England Patriots even though he is considered to be among one of the ‘greatest of all time’ in his field.

However, he has found himself firmly in the spotlight after the controversial romance came to light shortly after breaking things off with his partner of 16 years.

Now, Bill – who previously dated TV host Linda Holliday, 62 – finds himself in one of the biggest showbiz age gaps in the world.

Perhaps only 99-year-old Dick Van Dyke, whose wife Arlene Silver is 46 years younger, comes close; with notable contenders also including Sarah Paulson, 50, and Holland Taylor, 82, as well as Catherine Zeta-Jones, 55, and Michael Douglas, 80.

At one point Al Pacino, 85, and Noor Alfallah, 31 – with a 54 year age gap between them – held the crown, but have since split, after welcoming a baby in 2023.

Beauty queen Jordon, 24, is understood to have been dating the University of North Carolina‘s Head Coach for two years – and they have weathered scrutiny over both their age differences, and accusations that the pageant star was ‘controlling’ following a deeply awkward CBS interview in April.

The couple saw their relationship ruthlessly propelled into the spotlight last month when footage emerged of her interrupting a conversation with Tony Dokoupil.

Wince-worthy scenes sparked an outpouring of dismay around the pairing, from friends publicly vowing to intervene on Bill’s behalf to former players he coached questioning his sanity.

Jordon was described as ‘a constant presence during the interview,’ lurking off camera.

As Bill was quizzed on their love story, he brushed off critics who have relentlessly trolled the couple for their near half-century age difference,

‘[I’ve] Never been too bothered about what everyone else thinks. Just try to do what I feel is best for me and what’s right,’ the sports star, who was wearing a sweater with tears in it, bluntly responded. 

The host continued to ask the age-old question of how the couple met – an encounter that is reported to have taken place on a flight – but Jordon swiftly intervened.

‘We’re not talking about this,’ she said firmly, shutting Dokoupil down when he turned to clarify with an emphatic, ‘no’.

It’s a stark contrast from Jordon’s many gushing Instagram posts about her beau, which includes photoshoots both candid and glitzy that make up a big chunk of her feed.

The influencer, who last month put her name in the ring for the Miss Maine pageant, has 107,000 followers on the platform and has shared a series of insights into her romance with Bill.

It includes snaps of the couple eating lobster, doing couples’ yoga on the beach – and a bizarre picture of Jordon dressed up as a mermaid that is being ‘caught ‘ by her boyfriend with a fishing rod for Halloween.

Other moments capture romantic gestures from Bill: a bouquet of red roses in New York, a signed book copy reminiscing on one of their first meetings and a special UNC shirt made for Jordon are just some of the loved-up snippets shown to supporters.

And while Jordon wasn’t keen to speak on how they first came into each other’s life on CBS, she was more than happy to dedicate a post to their four-year ‘meetingversary’ on February 11.

This suggests Jordon was 20 years old when they first met, with the ex-cheerleader writing: ‘Cheers to the fact that you still let me give you lengthy philosophical lectures four years later.’

As well as a sultry photoshoot showing Bill’s hand on the small of her back, she also shared how he gifted her a textbook on ‘Deductive Logic’ in 2021 – when he was still understood to be in a relationship with TV host Linda Holliday, 62 – signed: ‘Jordon, Thanks for giving me a course on logic! Safe travels!’

While they were spotted together throughout 2023, the relationship was officially confirmed in 2024.

On her Stories in December, as reported by People, Jordon penned: ‘Nothing changed for us in 2024 except for ‘public knowledge’: yet, somehow everything changed. Going strong.

‘I can’t wait to take punches for you in 2025. Keep swinging, Keyboard Warriors. Your illusion of righteousness only fuels my authenticity.’

That same month, they made their ‘red carpet debut’ at the Museum Gala in New York. 

‘The evening was saturated with all of my favourite things: friendship, education, philanthropy, glamour, beet salad, Billy, dance-worthy music, ornithological and oceanic exhibits,’ she gushed on Instagram. 

‘We created so many great memories together while supporting a great cause; my heart is filled to the brim!!!’

But it looks like it’s not just anonymous ‘Keyboard Warriors’ Jordon has to worry about – NFL players themselves have taken to poking fun at the pair’s relationship. 

 Taking to The Roast of Tom Brady in May last year, Rob Gronkowski recalled times where Bill would compare the New England Patriots – which he used to coach – to football players at a nearby school.

‘Coach, you used to talk about Foxborough High School when we sucked,’ Gronkowski said at the roast.

‘But now I know why you were so obsessed with Foxborough High School: you were scouting your new girlfriend.

‘I mean coach, my joke wasn’t f**ked up but that’s f**ked up. You’re 73 years old, you should be trying to bang someone your own age – like Nikki [Glazer].’

At the time, it wasn’t clear who Bill was seeing and the joke flew over a few people’s heads.

Tom Brady himself also quipped: ‘When somebody asked me which ring was my favorite, I used to say, “The next one”.

‘Now that I’m retired, my favorite is that Ring camera that caught Coach Belichick slinking out of that poor girl’s house at 6am a few months ago.’

Even rapper Snoop Dogg has offered his thoughts on the romance, joking during the NFL Honors in February that he was a fan of football ‘back when the Cowboys was good and the Chief was bad’.

‘ I remember, what was it, Bill Belichick’s girlfriend wasn’t even born yet?’ he added.

The pair are said to have bonded over a philosophy project that Jordon – a student-athlete who attended Bridgewater State University where she was a cheerleader, as well as an entrepreneur – had been working on at the time.

They reportedly exchanged contact information after landing and kept in contact over the next few months while discussing school work and cheerleading routines.

And after calling off his longtime romance with Linda, Bill’s relationship with Hudson quickly began to heat up.

They initially kept things lowkey and were only briefly spotted on rare occasions, but TMZ claims Hudson secretly visited Gillette Stadium to support her man during the 2022 and 2023 seasons with the Patriots.

Their relationship has become more public of late, with Belichick spotted rooting for her at a cheerleading competition in Maryland in 2024.

People at the competition told TMZ that he kept to himself and sat in the back row after watching at least one of the team’s routines before exiting the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center.

Bill has also been seen with Jordon – an executive director for special members club Trouble Club Enterprises – on a work trip to Croatia, while she even attended Tom Brady’s Patriots Hall of Fame induction ceremony with him.

And while the couple have faced backlash as of late, it’s clear that they’re doubling down on being ‘stronger than ever’. 

Bill, DailyMail.com exclusively reported, was not massively concerned by the backlash but it has now emerged that he is resuming his book tour – titled ‘The Art of Winning’ – with subtle signs that he might think he is better off without Jordon on the tour.

Page Six claimed that Bill was joined by Brandon Faber, the former vice-president of communications at the Chicago Bears, instead of his girlfriend.

‘Cooler heads may be starting to prevail,’ the outlet quoted a source as saying. ‘Her influence may be waning.’

Meanwhile, Bill had hit out at CBS as the backlash at Jordon intensified as a result of their interview. He accused CBS of using ‘selectively edited clips’ that have made Jordon the subject of ongoing ridicule.

‘I repeatedly expressed to the reporter, Tony Dokoupil, and the producers that I preferred to keep the conversation centered on the book,’ he said.

‘After this occurred several times, Jordon, with whom I share both a personal and professional relationship, stepped in to reiterate that point to help focus the discussion.’

CBS disputed those claims, saying: ‘When we agreed to speak with Mr. Belichick, it was for a wide-ranging interview.

‘There were no preconditions or limitations to this conversation.

‘This was confirmed repeatedly with his publisher before the interview took place and after it was completed.’

This week, Bill also appeared to push aside accusations that Jordon is ‘controlling’ – and that their relationship is ‘distracting’.

‘Really off to the side, it’s a personal relationship, and she doesn’t have anything to do with football,’ he said during an interview with a SportsCenter from the ACC spring meetings on Tuesday, as reported by ESPN.

On Tuesday, the UNC athletic director – Bubba Cunningham – also dismissed claims of concerns that the romance will in any way distract from the work, revealing: ‘Bill’s been great to work with… He talked about practicing like a pro and he runs a professional organisation that is teaching students how to be professional in all aspects of their life.

‘He is a very determined, professional individual, and that’s the way he carries himself and the way he conducts the program.’