Originally appeared on E! Online.
Kaia Gerber admits she hasn’t always been in model relationships.
The 24-year-old detailed how the age gaps in her past romances sometimes created unhealthy dynamics within the relationships.
“I used to be the opposite way where I would completely just change my personality, really, my values for someone,” Gerber explained during the Oct. 1 episode of Jake Shane’s “Therapuss” podcast. “I always dated people that were older than me, and so I was very willing to give up everything.”
For the supermodel — whose dating history includes Austin Butler, Pete Davidson and Jacob Elordi — she said sacrificing her own needs was a form of showing her affection.
“I was like, ‘I can show you I love you by completely, giving up my life for you,’ which is actually not how you build respect and trust and is not good in the long run,” Gerber continued, “because then you start to bring a little bit more of who you really are into the relationship. And they’re like, ‘No, I like that person before.'”
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Now, she realizes that she wasn’t entirely to blame for that disconnect. As she put it, “It’s my fault. But well, it’s also their fault.”
Of course, that doesn’t mean Gerber won’t ever date someone older than her again. After all, she said that she is “being healed” by her current relationship with Lewis Pullman, 32, who she first sparked romance rumors with in January.
As for what makes their love story so special? Gerber credited the fact that she and the “Lessons in Chemistry” actor were friends first.
“I really feel like if you have the opportunity to date a friend, do it because, it just is so much better,” she said. “I would never want to fight with my friends. I never want to be mad at my friends. I respect my friends. It just is a whole other thing.”
Gerber added, “Sometimes, you forget that you like someone when you love them.”
PHOTOSSarah Paulson, Holland Taylor, 2023
