Paige Butcher and Eddie Murphy have been together for almost a decade despite their 18-year age-gap.
Love is a complicated affair and not everyone gets it right on the first go. Some people need multiple attempts to find the love of their life, and Eddie Murphy, 59, is one of them. Murphy, who shares his 10 children with five women, didn't meet his current fiancée Paige Butcher until he was in his 50s. The couple has an 18-year age-gap but it hasn't stopped them from loving each other.
The 59-year-old comedian and Butcher started dating in 2012. At the time, the model deleted all of her social media accounts to ensure they have privacy. "I’m in a relationship with a celebrity, so I felt like there’s already enough of me out there," the 41-year-old told Vanity Fair in 2013. "I felt like I was giving out too much information. I was giving people too much access. I like to keep as much private as possible now," she added. "As you say, people will use anything against you. The more you put out, the more you get back. I just wasn’t using it. And I was really boring," she said.
The couple welcomed their first child together, daughter Izzy Oona Murphy, in 2016. Since then, they have also welcomed a boy Max Charles Murphy in 2018. Murphy was around 57 years old at the time.
Butcher, who was a model and actress, has worked on films like Something’s Gotta Give (2003) and Big Momma’s House 2 (2006). She also featured in a swimsuit video for Maxim magazine in 2005 called Maxim the Real Swimsuit DVD Vol. 2. Born in Perth, Australia, to her fashion designer mom and model father, she always wanted to be part of the fashion world. "I’ve always only wanted to model. It really is the only life I want," the star said, as per HollywoodLife.
Butcher revealed that acting was "not really" her preferred line of work. "I moved to L.A. mainly for the lifestyle. Living in New York after 14 years, I’m such an outdoors kind of person. I love gardening and building things. I like restoring old furniture," she told Vanity Fair.
In 2012, Murphy reportedly "pursued her" for her beauty and down-to-earth personality, a source told Us Weekly. The Australian native "loves sports, too, and likes to go to basketball games."
Both of them also share a love for humanitarian work. The Dr. Dolittle star has given back to many charities like The HollyRod Foundation, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. Butcher has been a supporter of Habitat for Humanity. "I started building houses with them, and I took what I learned from them and started doing stuff for myself," she told Vanity Fair. She is now the handyman around the house. "I’ve laid electrical, I’ve made brick paving paths and walls, laid dry wall, hung doors, doorframes . . . I really enjoy it. I’m very artistic. I find it’s very therapeutic. I’m definitely a perfectionist," she added.
The father-of-10 has had a turbulent few years when it comes to his personal life but he still puts his children first. "The brightest part of my life is my kids […] My world revolves around them," he told Entertainment Tonight in 2016.
When he and the model got engaged in 2018, she fit right into his blended family. "There is no people not getting along with each other, trippin’. There’s none of that,” he told HipHollywood.
Murphy shares son Eric with Paulette McNeely, son Miles and daughters Bria, Shayne, Zola, and Bella with Nicole Mitchell Murphy, son Christian with Tamara Hood, and daughter Angel with former Spice Girls alumna Mel B. "I really got lucky with my kids. There really isn’t a bad one in the bunch, everyone turned out to be really good people," he said in 2016 to People.
Not only did the Dolemite Is My Name star get lucky with his kids, but he also is also lucky about his long-time partner. Despite a broken marriage after 13 years, he had kept the hope for love alive, and it all worked out.
References:
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2013/10/paige-butcher-exercise-routine
https://hollywoodlife.com/2016/05/04/who-is-paige-butcher-eddie-murphy-girlfriend-ninth-child/
https://people.com/movies/eddie-murphy-supports-daughter-bria-art-show/
Cover image source: Getty Images | Photo by (L)Jason Merritt (R)Frazer Harrison
