Erika Jayne, 50, says she has a cut-off for the age of the men she dates: 'It’s 25 right now'
“I'm most unapologetic about fighting for myself,” Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Erika Jayne tells Yahoo Life. “I'm most unapologetic for saying my truth. I'm most unapologetic for telling everybody exactly how I feel. And it doesn't mean that I'm rude. It just means that if you're going to push me, I'm going to push you back. And I don't apologize for that.”
Jayne, 50, has plenty of reasons to stay firm in her own truth. In 2020, the law firm Edelson PC sued her and her soon-to-be ex-husband Tom Girardi, 82, on behalf of families of victims of a 2018 Lion Air plane crash, claiming Girardi used settlements intended for these families to fund an expensive lifestyle. Jayne, who, in addition to having her reality TV career has released songs like “How Many F**ks?” and “XXPEN$IVE,” claimed she had no idea about the alleged embezzlement, which came one month after Jayne filed for divorce.
The firm then claimed Jayne’s decision to legally split from her husband was a way to protect assets. Jayne, however, has repeatedly stressed that she was completely unaware of her husband’s alleged illegal actions.
Despite the drama, Jayne — who married the much-older Girardi in 1999 — is still getting used to her single life as her divorce moves forward. She tells Yahoo Life she’s “not open” to getting married again at the moment, even if she misses some elements of being one half of a couple.
“I've had a hard time being single at first because I was very used to someone else in the house,” she notes. “I was used to a partner, someone to call all the time, check in with or fight with or disagree with or hug. I mean, thank God I have my dog.”
Now, she says, she’s more like a “big teenager.”
“This house is a mess and I just throw my clothes around and nobody tells me to pick it up,” she jokes.
Jayne says she stays away from online dating because she’s a little “afraid of strangers” — but hookups? Well, they're still very much on the table.
“I approach sex like a lioness. I mean, I think it's great. I love sex so I have no problem having sex,” she explains. “I have a cut-off of for age. It's 25 right now. But it's kind of weird because my son's going to be 30. So I always thought that I wouldn't date anything under his age, but now that he's 30, I'm like, you’re old.”
As for her own approach to aging, Jayne says she wishes people would look at the concept in a different way.
“Aging is something that's going to hopefully happen to all of us and, you know, everyone is going to age differently,” she notes. “We need to … accept that, embrace that and have fun. It doesn't mean that you are put out to pasture and that you're of no use or that you're not sexy.”
Jayne, however, says she’s not immune to insecurities. She still wears a bikini, but mostly to “piss people off.”
“I also am very critical of my own body,” she admits. “I'm 50 now. It doesn't snap back like it did in my 40s or 30s or certainly 20s.”
Of course, she notes, there will “always be critics out there that say, 'you should dress your age, you should act your age.' And I take that as, like, you know what, I'm living my life. You should live your life.”
As for Jayne, the next chapter of her story is just beginning on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, which premiered its 12th season on Bravo on May 11. Jayne says fans will get to see her have a “good time” after last season, which was wave after wave of “bad news.”
“Going through what I've gone through has made me a lot more confident in myself,” she says. “Even though I've stumbled and perhaps haven't always looked great doing it. I've really learned who I am at my core. And I'm pretty satisfied with that.”
Video produced by Stacy Jackman
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