Skydiving and owning a Tesla: Inside Matt Rife’s whirlwind life since his rise to fame

It’s actually quite crazy to see Matt Rife with his own Netflix special after what can be considered a lengthy rise to fame. Despite his 18.2 million TikTok followers, it actually took him 11 years in comedy clubs to finally blow up and become the well known name he is today. And blow up he did.

Despite being on tour pretty much all the time, he still manages to get up to some weird and wonderful stuff. So here’s a look inside the life of Matt Rife when he’s not on stage.

Comedy star Matt Rife is 28 and from Ohio, in the US

American comedian Matthew Steven Rife is from Columbus, Ohio and shot to fame after posting a clip from one of his comedy sets on TikTok back in 2022. Matt has since described the explosive response to his videos since as a “massive chain reaction” and has become a bit of a heartthrob among the ladies since. That may also be down to his crazy transformation over the years, but who knows. He’s definitely got a strong female audience anyway.

He’s currently dating actress and dancer Jessica Lord

It makes total sense that Matt wants to keep his relationship status on the down low – he’d be an idiot to throw those free gifts from all his female fans down the drain. But it recently came out that he is in fact off the market and it wouldn’t be a look inside the life of Matt Rife unless we uncovered his dating life.

After admitting in the past how he’d love to eventually settle down, Matt has been dating Jessica Lord since this summer, after fans noticed his flirty comments on her Instagram posts, including a flamingo emoji on multiple posts for some unknown reason.

His last public relationship with actress Kate Beckinsale in 2017 lasted a year.

Matt is an animal lover

Whether it’s pugs or otters, Matt has posted pictures on his Instagram getting cuddly with creatures, even going as far to refer to this interaction at a safari park as his “Hero Origin Story”. Just looks like he got in a pool with a bunch of otters to me but ok.

However, he does also do a lot of work with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) to bring awareness to the issue.

He’s also a gym lad, but you knew that

This isn’t news to anyone who knows him, I’m sure. But the shirtless black and white photograph of him when you enter his website suggests that if you didn’t know, he wants you to. But on top of working out, Matt is also into boxing and packs a mean punch. He even shared a post workout picture with Mario Lopez after what looked to be a sweaty session for for a TV documentary. Wow, so macho.

Matt likes baseball and supports The Philadelphia Phillies

Understandably, the hype over baseball is just something us Brits will never quite experience. But I know that rivalry between teams is serious, so some of Matt’s fans might care to know that he’s a Phillies fan, even throwing out the first pitch at a game a few weeks ago and calling himself “one of the CheeseSteakes now”. So Troy Bolton of him but I don’t hate the uniform so I’ll leave it at that.

He’s a John Lennon fan and has a tattoo of him on his arm

Matt is a fan of John Lennon, posting a beautiful tribute to his grandad who loved the singer on his Instagram account. He even went as far as to get a tattoo of his face above his elbow, explaining how it only “felt right” to get a constant reminder of the bond they shared.

Matt is of course fan of the great outdoors

On top of his busy schedule, Matt clearly is at one with nature. On top of the happy snaps of him gazing away into the distance, he also is impartial to a cheeky row in a canoe or an excursion to the Grand Canyon.

He even took part in a skydive last year with friends Alex Cureau and Jackson McQueen, kindly filming it and posting the footage on his Instagram for us all to enjoy. Thanks for thinking of us, Matt.

The comedian has dabbled with acting in the past and has always been into comedy

Alongside stand up, Matt’s loves a cheeky bit of acting, previously making appearances in Brooklyn 99, Fresh Off the Boat, Burb Patrol and a stint on Wild ‘n Out, where he touched Zendaya’s face while trying to make her laugh in a game. He’s quite the show pony.

And after over a decade in the industry, he of course landed his very own Netflix special, which is out now.

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Featured image via Instagram @mattrife

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