Who Is Matt Rife's Girlfriend? All About Jessica Lord

Comedian Matt Rife and actress Jessica Lord confirmed their relationship in September 2023

Matt Rife is officially off the market.

The comedian and his girlfriend, actress and dancer Jessica Lord, have been linked since the summer, when fans first started noticing Rife's flirty comments on Lord's Instagram.

Two months after confirming he wasn’t single on Good Morning America in August, Rife opened up to PEOPLE about his relationship with Lord.

“It's newer, but I mean I do prefer to keep it on the more private side. Just because, I mean, people are literally insane,” he said.

However, he added that Lord has been “so important to my infrastructure,” as he’s had a whirlwind of a year while embarking on his ProbleMATTic World Tour, which sold over 750,000 tickets.

Many of Rife’s jokes — which regularly go viral on TikTok — revolve around riffing off of his audience member's dating problems and “red flags” in relationships. Though he often pokes fun at long-term partnerships, he has stated in the past that he wants to have children and a wife someday.

“I know I am just in my mid-to-late 20s, but still, I do want a wife and a family and a prominent home life that makes me feel comfortable, safe, and is my peace,” he told Esquire in April 2023. “But when I'm touring six days a week, 52 weeks out of the year, it's incredibly hard to maintain a relationship.”

He continued, “I do meet women who are fantastic human beings that I'm like, ‘Wow, you're such a lovely person. You're beautiful. You're sweet, you're kind, you'd be an excellent mother and excellent wife, excellent girlfriend, you check all these boxes, but I might not be in a position right now to fulfill your needs as a responsible boyfriend.’ So I wonder if I am missing out on wonderful people, you know?”

Luckily for Rife, he has since found love with Lord.

So who is Matt Rife’s girlfriend? Here’s everything to know about Jessica Lord and her relationship with the comedian.

She is from England but grew up in Canada

Lord was born in Rochdale, England, which is a small town in the northern region of the country outside of Manchester. When TikTok users commented on her unique accent — which sounds like a combination of British, Scottish and Canadian — the actress explained a bit more about her background.

“I actually spent most of my childhood in Canada so I feel like I’ve got the Canadian intonation but still with the northern vowels,” she said in a TikTok video. “I was really close with my family and still am really close with my family and when I was filming in Europe, I would go and visit my family in the U.K. I never lost my roots but I definitely don’t think it’s as thick as it would be if I was still there of course.”

She is an actress and a dancer

Lord began dancing when she was 4 years old and chose to pursue her passion professionally. In a May 2020 interview with the Canadian Model and Talent Convention (CMTC), she explained that while she originally always thought she wanted to be a dancer, she booked her first acting role through a dancing job, which lit the spark for a career in Hollywood.

Since then, Lord has worked on Hulu's Find Me in Paris, where she plays the leading role, and also has appeared in an episode of Party of Five and an episode of Ransom.

“It’s gone really well and I get to work with some of the most incredible people I’ve ever met,” Lord said, reminiscing on her experience filming Find Me in Paris. “It’s just been such a crazy rollercoaster like a dream I didn’t even know could be reality.”

She moved to Los Angeles in 2020

The young actress decided to make the move to Los Angeles right before the COVID-19 pandemic set in so she could continue auditioning for new projects. She told CMTC that although she was only there for a little over a month before temporarily returning to Canada, she had a “crazy” time and had already gone through “pilot season,” meaning she was auditioning every day.

“I’m not complaining at all, and I love the busy life,” she said. “It’s pretty much just grinding out and auditioning to get a part and if you make it to a certain point of the audition process, that’s when things get really crazy.”

She's a dog mom

Lord may have a busy career as an actress, but she always has time for her dog Lily, whom she often posts on social media. She has even noted that her pup — who has an Instagram account of her own — looks like her.

Lord’s furry friend regularly accompanies her on outings, from hikes to car rides and even a trip to Seattle.

They didn't speak for a year after they first met

Rife first met Lord in Mississippi in 2022 when he instantly fell for her. However, she had a boyfriend at the time, he shared on a November 2023 episode of the Podcrushed podcast.

The romance started when Rife couldn't get a flight out from Mississippi because of tornado warnings. However, he then kept putting off his flight when his manager offered to rebook him so he could spend more time with Lord.

"I stayed an extra two days just so I could keep hanging out with her," he said. "I was really trying, which was such a s----- thing to do, she had a boyfriend."

Regardless, Rife felt that they had a "wonderful connection" and "really good chemistry off the bat." "I was obsessed with her," he said.

Rife ultimately went back to Los Angeles and when Lord was returning home, Rife reached out because he knew she had wanted to go to a show.

"When she got back to L.A. I called her and was like 'Hey, do you wanna come out?' and she was like 'You know, I have a boyfriend and I just don't think it's appropriate that we be friends because obviously you like me,' " he said.

Rife acknowledged that that was fair and said he didn't talk to her for a year after that.

She and Rife were first romantically linked in June 2023

Rumors about Lord and Rife's possible relationship first started in June 2023, when eagle-eyed fans spotted his subtle comments on many of her Instagram posts.

In July, the speculation heated up when Page Six reported that they were an item. One month later, Rife revealed on Good Morning America that he was not single, but didn’t share the name of the lucky lady until September, when he confirmed he was dating Lord during an interview with ELLE.

However, even after his confirmation, the pair have been coy about keeping their relationship private, merely sharing teases of it online. In October, Lord posted photos and videos of herself playing with otters and left just a sliver of someone, who appears to be Rife off camera, in the margins.

She is supportive of Rife’s career

Backstage at the Forbes 30 Under 30 Summit in October 2023, Rife opened up about how Lord has been key in helping him stay grounded and take care of himself.

“She forces me to take personal time, obviously, and I love that,” he told PEOPLE. “Whenever she's like, ‘Can we have tomorrow for ourselves?’ I'm like, ‘Thank you. I would love to have that.’ ”

He added, “She's the most concerned about my sleep problem. She's always making sure I'm eating that day and making sure I get my work done so that I can have the free time.”

Though Rife doesn't run his material by Lord before hitting the stage, he has poked fun at her on occasion during his set. “But she loves it,” he said. “She's British, so she has like the best sense of humor.”

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