Alix Earle speaks publicly for the first time about Tom Brady dating rumors
Alix Earle has commented more directly on camera for the first time about months of speculation that she is romantically involved with Tom Brady. In the new Netflix reality series Earle Meets World, released on September 4, 2026, the influencer was asked about her private life after she and the retired NFL star repeatedly attracted attention throughout the year with appearances at the same events. Earle did not confirm that she and Brady are in a relationship, but when teased about him she replied that she is "just having fun," marking the first time in her own television series that she openly addressed the rumors surrounding their time together since the beginning of the year. Netflix's Tudum says that Earle also remained vague about her current romantic status in a conversation after filming ended, saying that she is "just living life." According to a People report published on September 5, neither Earle nor Brady, through their representatives, has publicly confirmed that an official relationship exists between them.
The comment attracted particular attention because Earle and Brady's relationship had been a topic in American entertainment and sports media for months, but the story was based largely on footage from public events and statements from unnamed sources. The two were linked after spending New Year's Eve welcoming 2026 on the Caribbean island of Saint Barthélemy, then after an encounter at the college football championship game in January and during Super Bowl weekend in San Francisco in February. Still, none of those appearances in itself proves a romantic relationship, and Earle's new statement does not provide a definitive answer either. That distinction between confirmed fact and speculation is crucial to understanding the story: it is confirmed that they met and spent time together, while the nature of their relationship remains private and officially undefined.
From New Year's Eve to questions on camera
The first major wave of rumors began after the New Year's celebration on Saint Barthélemy on December 31, 2025. People reported early in the year that Earle and Brady were at the same party and were filmed talking, laughing and dancing together. Footage from the celebration quickly spread through American entertainment and sports media, and their apparent closeness in the videos became the main reason for speculation. Earle shared vacation content after the trip, but she did not identify Brady as a partner or present her posts as confirmation of a romance. From the start, media attention therefore relied on publicly documented time spent together and interpretations of their behavior rather than on a joint statement about a relationship. That distinction remained important throughout the following months.
Speculation continued on January 19, when both attended the College Football Playoff National Championship in the Miami area. Us Weekly, citing an unnamed source, reported at the time that they briefly saw each other and had remained in contact after the New Year's celebration. Because this was a claim from a source who was not publicly identified, it cannot be treated in the same way as a statement from the people involved themselves. More importantly, another publicly documented encounter appeared in the following weeks: during Super Bowl LX weekend in San Francisco, Earle and Brady were filmed talking and dancing at a Fanatics-related event. Us Weekly reported that they were at the same party on February 7, while People later cited St. Barts and Super Bowl weekend specifically as key moments that kept the rumors alive.
What Earle actually says in the series
The Netflix series provides more context than earlier social-media posts, but it still does not offer an explicit confirmation of a relationship. According to Tudum, after returning from the New Year's trip, Earle receives a message in the series from a "mystery man" who invites her to lunch. Later, she tells her friend Sally that she went on a date she wanted to keep secret and private, and jokes that perhaps she does have a thing for athletes after all. The series does not confirm that the man was Brady, so making that connection would be an inference from context rather than an established fact. That detail shows how Earle Meets World deliberately uses the tension between public interest and the boundaries of privacy, leaving part of the story unresolved.
In the second episode comes the moment that triggered a new wave of headlines. During a meeting related to her appearance on Dancing with the Stars, professional dancer Jenna Johnson teases Earle about Brady and imitates a message she might send inviting him to come. Earle laughs and does not go into details, and People reports that when directly questioned about the situation she replies: "I'm just having fun." The statement is clear enough to show that she does not want to ignore the subject entirely, but at the same time it is too vague to support confirmation of an exclusive or formal relationship. Netflix's Tudum additionally says that when she was asked after filming whether she was currently seeing anyone, she answered in the sense of "not necessarily" and said she was simply living her life.
The subject also runs through family conversations in the series. Tudum describes a scene in which Earle is looking after her younger siblings on Valentine's Day, and her sister Penelope mentions the trip to St. Barts and remarks that she likes older men, without saying Brady's name. Here too, the series relies on the audience already knowing the media context and recognizing the allusion. This storytelling approach simultaneously fuels interest in the rumors while maintaining formal distance from the claim that the relationship has been defined. For viewers looking for a simple answer to "are they together," the first season therefore does not provide one.
Brady emphasized work and family in January
Tom Brady, for his part, remained very reserved throughout the period when it came to his private life. After the first wave of speculation in January, he said in an interview with People, reported by E! News, that he does not have much time for a personal life or for himself and that he enjoys working and spending time with his children. He spoke about the projects he was working on and about enjoying being busy, but he did not comment on Earle or describe their time together as romantic. Such a statement is not a denial of a specific relationship, but neither is it confirmation. In media terms, Brady therefore provided just as little solid information as Earle.
Brady's profile further explains why the story attracted so much attention. The NFL officially lists him as a seven-time Super Bowl champion and one of the most successful players in league history; during his career he won six titles with the New England Patriots and one more with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. After more than two decades of professional American football, he became a globally recognizable sports figure well beyond the league itself. As a result, almost any appearance he makes in the company of another public figure quickly becomes a subject for the broader entertainment industry. But sporting status and the level of media attention do not change the standard of verification: a private relationship can be considered confirmed only when it is confirmed by the people involved themselves or their authorized representatives.
The breakup with Braxton Berrios is an important part of the timeline
Earle's breakup with NFL player Braxton Berrios is also important for understanding her statements. In December 2025, Earle publicly announced that their relationship had ended after roughly two years. As reported by People and Us Weekly, she explained that prolonged physical distance had become a major problem and that they had rarely seen each other since the summer. At the same time, she spoke about the need to focus on herself and on changes in her own life. The first footage of her with Brady therefore appeared only a few weeks after the publicly confirmed breakup, which significantly contributed to the intensity of media interest.
Earle Meets World does not use that breakup merely as background information but as one of the season's central emotional storylines. Tudum says that throughout the episodes Earle questions the decision to end the relationship and wonders whether she made a mistake. In the season finale, she calls Berrios and directly asks whether he still believes the two of them will never get back together; his answer in the episode is left unfinished before the closing credits. Earle told Tudum after filming that they had remained on good terms and that she does not know what the future holds. This part of the series further demonstrates why it would be wrong to reduce her private life to a single simple story about a new relationship with Brady.
And that is precisely one of the reasons why her statement that she is "just having fun" carries more weight than a typical answer to a question about gossip. Within the context of the series, Earle is simultaneously processing the end of a serious relationship, discomfort with being alone, the possibility of new dates and constant public attention. People says that she had previously spoken about learning to be alone after a succession of relationships and about how sadness after a breakup does not necessarily mean that the decision was wrong. Her answer about Brady can therefore be read as a description of a period in which she does not want to publicly define relationships, but that remains an interpretation; the only thing directly confirmed is that she did not attach a label to the relationship.
The reality series expands the story beyond social media
Netflix introduced Earle Meets World as an unscripted behind-the-scenes look at Earle's life and her family, and the series arrived on the platform on September 4, 2026. Before the premiere, Tudum emphasized that the project follows a period of major changes in her private and professional life and includes her sister Ashtin, her parents, extended family and friends. Before the television project, Earle had already built a large social-media audience, particularly through "get ready with me" videos, and she also took part in season 34 of the American Dancing with the Stars with Val Chmerkovskiy. According to reports in American media, the two finished the competition in second place. The series now transfers that digital form of closeness with the audience into a longer reality format, in which personal relationships become part of the narrative almost in real time.
That is also important for how statements about Brady should be interpreted. Reality television often builds a story through allusions, friends' reactions and selectively shown conversations, while viewers already arrive with information from social media and the press. In this case, Netflix's own editorial portal explicitly singles out the question of the "mystery man" and the Brady rumors as one of the season's bigger moments. At the same time, that same source does not claim that Earle and Brady are a couple. The line between a documented event and interpretation therefore remains clear: the encounters and comments exist, but the relationship status has not been announced.
Multiple appearances together, but no official confirmation
By the beginning of September, the publicly available timeline shows several points of contact between Earle and Brady, but none ended with an official announcement of a relationship. After St. Barts and the meeting in Miami, the most visible moment involving both of them was recorded during Super Bowl weekend in San Francisco, when they were filmed at the same event. Throughout the year, entertainment magazines also published additional claims from unnamed sources about how close they were, but such reports cannot be equated with direct confirmation. That is precisely why the latest comment from the Netflix series changes the tone of the story, but not its official status.
As of September 5, 2026, the most precise way to put it is that Alix Earle publicly and on camera answered for the first time a question that had followed her interactions with Tom Brady for months, but she did not confirm a romantic relationship. Her statement that she is "just having fun," along with her later comment to Tudum that she is "just living life," leaves enough room for different interpretations, but it does not provide a basis for claiming that they are an official couple. Brady has likewise not publicly confirmed a relationship with Earle, and his earlier statements about his private life focused on work and family. Until one of them decides to define the relationship more precisely, the story remains at the level of publicly documented encounters, apparent closeness at several events and rumors that neither side has formally confirmed.
Sources:
- Netflix Tudum - overview of key moments from the first season of Earle Meets World, including conversations about the "mystery man," Tom Brady, Braxton Berrios and Alix Earle's current relationship status (link)
- Netflix Tudum - official information about the series Earle Meets World and its September 4, 2026 premiere date (link)
- People - September 5, 2026 report on Earle's first more direct comment about the Tom Brady rumors and her statement that she is "just having fun" (link)
- E! News - Brady's January 2026 statements that work and his children leave him little time for a private life (link)
- Us Weekly - reports on Earle and Brady's encounters during January and Super Bowl weekend in February 2026, as well as the context of Earle's breakup with Braxton Berrios (link)
- NFL.com - official overview of Brady's career, his seven Super Bowl championships and his sporting context (link)