Forget men trading in their wives for younger models – meet the models trading in for a younger man

Heard the one about the rich superstar who trades in a partner for a much younger, better looking model? Of course you have.

And traditionally it has always been the men who have managed to upgrade to someone more decorative.

Well no more: the tables are turning and this week supermodel Lara Stone, 37, married for the second time — to property developer David Grievson. 

He is almost a decade younger than her first husband, the writer and Britain’s Got Talent judge David Walliams, 49, and arguably more her equal in looks.

Grievson, 40, is a successful London property developer who the model found on the dating app Tinder. 

Unlike Walliams, who was a star in his own right, Grievson seems very happy to be in her shadow and described himself on Instagram as an ‘unknown bearded cuddle cushion’.

She’s not the first model to find a more youthful partner. 

Here, ALISON BOSHOFF looks at the supermodels who managed an age, and sometimes wealth, upgrade.

 Going from Bloom to blooming rich 

Victoria’s Secret Angel Miranda Kerr, 38, ditched actor Orlando Bloom, 44, in 2013 after three years of marriage. They share son Flynn, ten.

There was talk of a flirtation with singer Justin Bieber and, extraordinarily, the two men traded blows after bumping into each other in Ibiza after the marriage was over.

In 2014, the Australian model moved on and up. She was seated next to billionaire tech mogul Evan Spiegel, 31 — the CEO of Snapchat’s parent company and seven years her junior — at a fashion dinner. 

Delphine Arnault, executive vice president of Louis Vuitton, said: ‘I thought, ‘She is very beautiful; I’m sure he will have a good time.’ ‘

The couple kept in touch and had their first date in 2015 at a yoga studio in Los Angeles. 

There, Spiegel gave Kerr a gingerbread house he’d made and iced with her and Flynn’s names. They married in 2017 and have children Myles and Hart.

Kerr didn’t only upgrade on age, but wealth too. Spiegel is worth more than £3.5 billion compared to Bloom’s estimated £30 million. 

 Bye to Seal and Heidi hi to a rocker 

Heidi Klum, 48, was married to singer Seal, 58, from 2005 to 2014. In 2019 she moved on with a man 27 years Seal’s junior when she married toyboy Tom Kaulitz, 31, a rock star, on a yacht.

German Klum was pregnant from a romance with Formula One boss Flavio Briatore when she fell head over heels with Brit recording star Seal. 

He was at her side when she had daughter Leni by Briatore. They subsequently married.

They had children Henry, Johan and Lou and renewed their vows on their anniversary with close friends and family every year.

But the marriage broke down in 2012. Last year the couple were in legal conflict over Klum’s plans to take their children with her to Germany while filming a show.

Her new man — bearded, pierced and tattooed — is in rock band Tokio Hotel and is 17 years her junior. 

She says: ‘He is the kindest, sweetest, most caring, loving person. I don’t know the last time I was this happy. Maybe it is because he is German and we understand each other in a different way.’

 Swapping David for David 

Lara Stone wed David Walliams after a whirlwind courtship. He proposed by putting a £100,000 diamond ring inside a burger in January 2010. They were married that May.

He was so blown away by her looks that he played Disney song Beauty And The Beast for their first dances at Claridge’s — to the embarrassed amusement of their wedding guests.

As Walliams told an interviewer: ‘The thing about beauty is you do feel it is very compelling, because you hope it rubs off on you in some way.’

They had a son Alfred in 2013, but announced they were parting in 2015. 

Some blamed hectic work schedules, others said Walliams was jealous and infuriated after his wife canoodled on camera with Justin Bieber for an ad campaign.

Stone met David Grievson via Tinder in 2018 and got engaged in February last year. 

This week she wrote: ‘Got to marry my love this weekend,’ and shared pictures of the big day. A fashion source said: ‘Lara and David seem besotted.’

 Jamie’s out for the count

Kat Moss, 47, has been married just once — to The Kills guitarist Jamie Hince. She dated him after Googling rock stars, telling Vanity Fair: ‘I went: ‘Ooh, I like the look of him.’ ‘

She went on: ‘A friend set us up. He turned up and we spent the next four days together. And after we finally woke up, I said, ‘Do you want a bacon sandwich’ and he just laughed. I didn’t know he was a vegan.’

Moss, the Croydon schoolgirl turned eternally party-going supermodel, ended up by being bored by Hince. 

With her £45million fortune and huge public profile, some also say Hince, 52, was asked to play second fiddle in the relationship.

In 2015, Count Nikolai von Bismarck, whose mother is a friend of Kate’s, moved into the basement of her house in Highgate. 

Later there were reports of a romance — which is still thriving today. Moss and Hince were divorced in 2016

Photographer Von Bismarck, 34, with his youthful good looks, is credited with helping Moss achieve her current sobriety and happiness.

 A man hunkier than Leo?

Gisele, 41, is one of many models who dated actor Leonardo DiCaprio, 46. 

After getting together in 2000 she moved to LA to live with him in 2003, calling him the love of her life. 

However, they split in 2005, with a source saying: ‘It’s just that Gisele was getting a bit bored.’

The Brazilian supermodel moved on with NFL star Tom Brady, 43, three years younger than DiCaprio, and they married in 2009. 

Brady, even more improbably handsome than DiCaprio and with an estimated fortune of £145 million, posted a tribute to her this week on her birthday, saying: ‘It’s hard to imagine loving you more today than I did a year ago, but I do! You love our family the way nobody else can.’

The couple have a son Ben, 11, and daughter Vivian, eight.

 Rob’s the Twi-light of Suki’s life

British model Suki Waterhouse, 29, spent two years with Hollywood heartthrob Bradley Cooper, 46, who is estimated to be worth around £73 million.

He is 17 years older than she is and has a long history of dating, but never committing to, beauties including actress Renee Zellweger. 

After meeting at the Elle Style Awards in 2013 their romance ran out of steam in 2015 and, in 2018, Suki very quietly started dating British actor Robert Pattinson, of Twilight fame. 

At 35, he is estimated to have a similar net worth to Cooper, so no upgrade there.

The couple have been spotted in Paris, at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles and have been isolating in London during the pandemic. He has been in the UK to film Batman.

Life’s magic with Matthew

Claudia Schiffer, now 50, was contracted to appear at a celebrity gala in Berlin in 1993, where magician David Copperfield, 64, brought her on stage to participate in two illusions.

Cupid struck and they got engaged the following year, even though she was one of the world’s most beautiful women and he was 14 years her senior with a rather unconvincing aim to make magic ‘sexy’. 

However, the novelty had faded by 1999 and they announced their break-up.

The German married film director Matthew Vaughn, 50, and they live together in Suffolk. 

They have three children — Caspar, Clementine and Cosima. Vaughn is one of our most successful creatives, producing films Rocketman, Kingsman and Kick-Ass.