TV star Rylan Clark reveals he’s dating he’s dating a hunky older man with ‘showman’ nickname four years after his difficult divorce


Rylan reveals hunky older boyfriend(Image: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)

Rylan Clark’s hot new boyfriend is a bit of a silver fox, it has been revealed. Four years after his bitter divorce from Dan Neal, the TV star is dating a new man, who is 11 years his senior.

There has been a lot of speculation about Rylan’s love life since his divorce, and many wondered if he was secretly dating his close friend Rob Rinder. But he has recently put those rumours to bed by revealing he is in a new relationship, the most serious since his marriage ended.

Reports have revealed that this new boyfriend is Kennedy Bates, 47, who is part of a successful family funfair business, Billy Bates & Sons, and is 11 years older than Rylan, 36.

Kennedy, who first started working at funfairs aged 11 by selling balloons, posts frequently to the funfair’s Facebook page about his love for his family, their business and all its taught him. “Where would we be without the hard work, love and lessons learned from our fathers and grandfathers,” he wrote.


Rylan Clark’s new boyfriend Kennedy Bates works in the family funfair business(Image: instagram/bbfunfair)

On his podcast How To Be In Love, which has documented Rylan’s mission to find love, the former X Factor and This Morning star let slip some details about his relationship, admitting he and his boyfriend have discussed having children together. Speaking to his guest, Louis Theroux, he said: “I’m loving what I’ve got at the minute and I want to keep it that way.”

When Louis later asked the star if the new couple were thinking about children, Rylan said: “Yeah, I want kids. He wants kids.”

Rylan also joked that sharing his relationship might bring an end to speculation about a romance between him and his longtime friend Rob Rinder. “Like, so many people keep asking, everyone keeps asking me – because there’s all these fake news stories about me and Rob Rinder – we’ve gotten married and all of this. Rob’s my friend,” Rylan said.


There has been a lot of speculation about Rob and Rylan being more than friends(Image: SCU)

“I adore him, and Rob and Rylan’s just about to come out again, our passage to India, and I just thought, ‘Let’s just put the record straight’.”

Whilst he didn’t name Kennedy, he said he was “very content” with his partner. This is the first serious relationship Rylan has spoken about since his divorce from Dan Neal. After six years of marriage, the pair divorced in 2021 when Rylan admitted to cheating on his husband.


Rylan Clark and Dan Neal divorced in 2021 after six years of marriage(Image: WireImage)

Earlier this year, Rylan said he felt like a “failure” following the breakdown of his marriage. “There was part of me that just felt like a complete and utter failure. I felt like I’d failed personally, but I felt like I’d found publicly on behalf of – the gays!”

Since then, Rylan has been keeping his new relationship under wraps, but the pair have been spotted on a number of public dates over the summer, including at an Oasis concert. An insider told The Sun: “Rylan’s family and friends have all met him and they’ve been attending lots of gigs together this summer, including Oasis.”

They added: “This new man has certainly put a smile back on Rylan’s face.”