50-Year-Old Dane Cook Defends 27-Year Age Gap With Fiancé
The comedian is engaged to 23-year-old exercise instructor Kelsi Taylor.
A lot has been said on social media and in news headlines about Dane Cook's age gap with his 23-year-old fiancée, Kelsi Taylor. But, according to the comedian, if he and Taylor can't poke fun at their age difference, then no one else is allowed to laugh at it either. In a new interview with E! News, Cook previewed his new standup special, Dane Cook: Above It All, revealing that it includes jokes about his being over two decades older than his fiancée. He also shared that the pilates instructor gives her approval when it comes to his set. Read on to find out more about the couple and to see what Cook had to say about their age gap.
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Cook and Taylor have been together for five years.
When Taylor and Cook got engaged in July, they had already been dating for five years. During a Q&A on Instagram in 2018, Cook shared that they "met at a game night [he] host[s] at [his] place," as reported by E! News. He added, "We were friends for a while and soon after, fell in like with each and then upgraded to love."
When they got engaged, the 50-year-old comedian told People, "I was asking my best friend, the woman who I've shared some of the greatest times of my life with, to marry me so we can start the next chapter our of lives together."
Taylor told the publication, "I'm about to spend the rest of my life with my favorite person and my best friend—what is there to not look forward to? Family has always been such an important part of my life and the idea of expanding it and starting our own family together with the man of my dreams just fills my heart."
He pokes fun at their age gap in his new special.
In the new interview, Cook shared that his and Taylor's age gap is one of the topics he covers in his new standup special.
"She saw everything that I was working on for the show," he said. "And she was like, 'Keep that in. I think that part will be great.' There's even some fun at our own expense." Cook explained, "We have a bit of an age difference, so it's in the show, it's in the show. If we can't laugh at it, then nobody else is allowed."
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He's addressed critics of their relationship.
Cook has spoken of their age difference a few times in the past, including in his 2018 Instagram Q&A. As reported by E!, when a fan asked for advice for people in relationships with large age gaps, he responded, "The only thing you have to do is plan that your deaths will be somewhat far apart."
Then, during a 2019 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Cook responded to critics. "Sometimes I actually find myself saying, 'Where has she been all my life?' And then I realize, she wasn't alive for the first 26 years of it," he said. "People are like, 'You're robbing the cradle.' I was like, 'She hasn't slept in a cradle for like nine years. Relax.'"
She's impacted his comedy in other ways, too.
In his E! interview, Cook said that his relationship with Taylor has impacted his standup comedy in another way, too.
"I was just trying some material out on her the other day where I was like, 'Hey, I think I have maybe my first what it's like to be married joke,'" he said. "So, she got the exclusive. We tried it out and she said, 'I approve of that. That's a good one.'"
He continued of his comedy, "I think it'll change it in the way that I would always hope growing up with a generation of comedy fans. I was a college kid talking to you know, college-age students. And to grow up with a generation of comedy fans. Their kids are now coming to my show. I'm family-oriented and to be looking at that with Kelsey and our future and family. It's like, all feels like the right timing."
