Why Jerry wants a 'kept' man
Wanted: Single, twentysomething toy boy to change light bulbs and escort divorced model-actress down red carpets. Must be somewhat intelligent, well-groomed and able to hang out with rock royalty. Bond-era Sean Connery lookalikes preferred.
That’s exactly what Jerry Hall, the model-actress ex-wife of Rolling Stone Mick Jagger, is looking for in her new US reality show, Kept.
Hall, 48, went from Texas cowgirl to covergal back in the 70s. The long-haired blonde married long-time rock beau Jagger in 1990, then split with him in 1999 and earned a whopping settlement in the process.
The mother of four frequently appears on stage in London’s West End, where in 2000 she disrobed as Mrs Robinson in The Graduate.
On a recent rainy afternoon more typical of her London stomping grounds than New York, Hall and gal pal Rachel Fuller, girlfriend of The Who’s Pete Townshend, taqlked to The Associated Press in a hotel bar.
In the 10 episodes of Kept, which premiered on Sunday in the US, a dozen fumbling American beefcakes are slowly transformed into gentlemen through a series of makeovers and art appreciation lessons.
After a series of velvet rope eliminations, the man Hall ultimately chooses to become her kept man wins a car, apartment and six-figure salary for a year. More important to Hall, though, he becomes her red-carpet arm candy, a delightful twist on society standards.
Talking of her first impression of the Kept men, Hall said: “Some of them looked so gorgeous. I thought, ‘Mmmm. This is gonna be fun’. Some of them looked a bit flawed. I thought, ‘Some of them are gonna have to go quick’.
“When it got down to the last three, they were so gorgeous and so fabulous. I really couldn’t make my mind up. I had to take them to Paris for the weekend and have a close look.”
She said having a “kept” man was “totally empowering”.
“The whole show is empowering. I’m divorced, financially independent. Why shouldn’t I get to carry on like all the guys that have been carrying on forever? The worm has turned.
Hall: "Since I got a divorce, I have been dating younger guys. But it’s just because they’re the ones that ask me out. I suppose they’re confident. I think younger guys love the idea of a divorced woman who’s going to teach them how to be a man.”
When asked what qualities she looked for in a kept man, Hall said: “Someone who fits into my lifestyle, cool, funny, smart, good-looking, gets along well with my friends.
“I like the look of Sean Connery in James Bond. Now that is a gorgeous-looking guy.”
Hall said her children were “a bit worried” at first but then thought it was funny “because I was torturing all these guys”.
