Kendall Jenner and Jacob Elordi’s budding romancemay be the worst kept secret in Hollywood, but they’re doing their best to keep things low-key so the sparks continue to fly, sources tell Page Six.
Meanwhile, Justin and Hailey Bieberplayed Cupid in bringing them together in the first place, insiders add.
The 30-year-old supermodel and the 28-year-old “Euphoria” star were first seen making out at Justin’s Coachella afterparty in April, a matchup made with the Biebers’ and their friends’ encouragement.
Grainy footage of them smooching was leaked to gossip account DeuxMoi, but since then they’ve done their best to stay away from shutterbugs.
However, since the cat is out of the bag, it’s never easy to escape the probing lens of the paps, as evidenced when Jenner and Elordi disastrously attempted to shield their faces (while he was driving!) in an SUV on May 16 in Los Angeles.
In the back of the celeb-packed ride were Kendall’s sister Kylie Jenner, 28, and her boyfriend Timothee Chalamet, 30, who they’d been on a double date with.
Sources say after previous high-profile relationships with Bad Bunny and Devin Booker crashed and burned, Jenner wanted to incubate her relationship with Elordi for as long as possible, rather than a hard public launch.
“She knows the more public the relationship, the more complicated it becomes. She’s trying to have a real relationship versus something that is a public spectacle,” a source close to Jenner told Page Six.
“She wants it to be between her and her guy first — rather than her, Jacob, and the public.”
Another source told Page Six Jenner was “super chill, super to herself and laid back” at the Coachella afterparty, but couldn’t resist Elordi’s charms — although they didn’t know which of them made the first move.
“As long as he’s not like his character in ‘Euphoria,’ I’m happy for her,” the second source joked, referring to Elordi’s angry, psychotic jock, Nate Jacobs, from the HBO show.
By all accounts, the real-life Elordi is a suave, down-to-earth, charming hunk — nothing like Jacobs, or the equally manipulative and overpowering Heathcliff, who he recently portrayed in “Wuthering Heights,” opposite Margot Robbie.
The new couple were spotted over Memorial Day weekend with matchmakers Hailey and Justin, taking cocktails at the five-star Santa Barbara San Ysidro Ranch hotel, close to where Jenner has a 6-acre home.
One onlooker described Jenner as “very touchy,” with her man, according to DeuxMoi. Earlier in the day they had dined at seafood hidden gem Little Mountain restaurant together.
The new couple were fresh off a trip to the Hawaiian island of Kauai earlier in the month, where they were spotted sitting and laughing together oceanside on a private beach.
A bikini clad Jenner was seen enjoying a bottle of rosé wine beside the shirtless actor, who wore a green baseball cap, with the couple appearing to be deep in conversation.
The source close to Jenner told Page Six Elordi, who briefly worked as a model in his teenage years, has a lot in common with “The Kardashians” reality star.
“When Kendall first started modeling, everyone was like ‘nepo baby.’ But she put in the work. She put in the effort and impressed everyone around her,” the source said, adding: “[Elordi’s] a hard-working guy, and seems grounded for who he is. She’s attracted to people like that.”
Reps for Jenner and Elordi did not respond to requests for comment from Page Six.
Elordi, who hails from Brisbane, Australia, is also making headlines as the next potential James Bond in the casting of the movie still only known as “Bond 26.”
Page Six Hollywood reported studio Amazon MGM wants a young actor, ideally under 30, for the coveted role of 007 to carry the franchise over a number of films and years.
The last movie, “No Time to Die,” featuring Daniel Craig, was released in 2021, meaning its been a long time and fans are overdue.
“Jacob Elordi is possibly the kind of actor who could grow into — if anybody was going to remake ‘Gone With The Wind,’ he could star in it. He’s that man. That timeless male lead,” casting director Gary Zuckerbrod — who discovered Elordi and put him in the 2018 teen rom-com “The Kissing Booth” — previously told Page Six of the actor’s talent.
Elordi hails from humble beginnings, growing up working class in Brisbane where his dad was a painter and his mom worked in a school cafeteria.
After he had graduated high school Elordi took acting lessons in Melbourne and began making self-tapes for auditions. He then saved up his money and flew to the US after being discovered, and at 17 was cast as an extra in “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.”
Two years later, Elordi landed his breakthrough role as the male lead in “The Kissing Booth,” a Netflix rom com and things took off from there, both professionally and in his private life — in 2018, he began dating the movie’s co-star, Joey King, now 26.
That relationship didn’t work out, but as Elordi’s visibility in Hollywood grew, he was seen on the arms of some of the most eligible young ladies on the scene, including model Kaia Gerber,whom he dated for around a year from Sept. 2020.
After that relationship, Elordi dated lifestyle influencer Olivia Jade — daughter of “College Blues” scandal jailbirds Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli. The pair had an on-again-off-again relationship, but split for good last August.
Meanwhile, Jenner has been famous since she first appeared in “Keeping Up With The Kardashians” aged 11. Over the years she has been linked to a slew of A-listers — from Harry Styles to Nick Jonas to A$AP Rocky.
Jenner and Phoenix Suns basketball star Devin Booker dated for about two years before calling it quits in October 2022. She was also romantically linked on-and-off to reggaeton superstar Bad Bunny — also appearing with in two major fashion campaigns for Gucci alongside himin 2023 and 2024.
A modeling industry insider told Page Six Jenner’s last name and hailing from the reality TV family dynasty has made it hard for her to settle down and find someone who understands showbiz, and that after years of having TV cameras around her every milestone she’s much happier keeping her life away from prying eyes. And Elordi certainly fits the bill.
“He’s easy on the eye. He’s very close with his mother. Guys that are close to their mothers are good to women. I think she’s hoping — I’m not going to say marriage — I think, to live together,” the modeling industry insider said.
“They’re two good looking people. We’ll see what happens. There’s a lid for every pot.”
However, after sister Kylie has moved back closer to the spotlight again recently — supporting Chalamet in his Oscar bid earlier this year at countless events and being very visible courtsidewith him during New York Knicks games — sources are hoping she’ll convince her sister to also make her relationship with Elordi more public.
And soon enough they will have a fantastic opportunity to make a public debut — at the red carpet when the Elordi star premieres his upcoming post-apocalyptic thriller, “The Dog Stars,” on Aug. 28.
The post How Justin Bieber played Cupid for Kendall Jenner and Jacob Elordi — and why they’re trying to hide the romance appeared first on Page Six.
