She’s one of the most eligible bachelorettes on the planet, but Kim Kardashian has still had to take some pretty drastic measures to meet a new man.
Earlier this year, we reported how the Keeping Up With The Kardashians star has been turning to AI to brush up on her dating skills with a series of virtual boyfriends and, in May, Kim admitted herself that she had gone as far as to create an entire closet for ‘him’ – the future lover she was hoping to 'manifest' through shoe storage.
However, earlier this month, speculation began to mount that Kim has indeed bagged herself a very eligible bachelor, and now a source tells us that the A-list duo have been involved in a secret romance for years.
The lucky man? None other than her long-time pal, rapper Drake.
While rumours that the pair are more than just friends have been circulating for years, eagle-eyed fans spotted that both Kim, 44, and Drake, 38, had posted a carousel of images on their respective social media pages from Italy at very similar times earlier this month.
In one image, Kim is seen posing in a semi-transparent black dress and lace tights as she leans against a pillar overlooking Lake Como, in front of the exact view offered from the stunning Villa Pliniana, where Drake is reported to have stayed for a stint while he performed the Italian leg of his current tour.
Now a source tells us that Kim and Drake have been dating sporadically for years after her 2021 divorce from Kanye, as they reveal their romance has been heating up over the past few months as they meet for secret trysts at exotic locations.
The insider says, ‘Drake has been obsessed with Kim forever, everyone knows she's the reason he moved to Hidden Hills [in 2012] as he wanted to be in her neighbourhood. And it was pretty genius because he was able to get close to the whole family.
‘He played the friend card with Kim for a long time and he still publicly claims that is all they are, but everyone knows they’ve been hooking up for years on and off.’
Despite their new ‘romance’, Kim and Drake actually have a long and complicated history behind them. First linked to the Kardashians in 2013, Drake had already been collaborating with Kim's ex-husband, Kanye West, who supported the early days of his career, since 2008.
Later that year, Drake called Kris Jenner ‘my favourite’ and rumours began to swirl that he was dating the ‘momager’, whose exclusive Christmas party he also popped into back in 2015.
But now our source explains, ‘Those rumours about Kris and Drake got started to take the heat off Kim. For a while even Kanye believed that Drake and Kris had something, but now he knows the truth – Drake has only ever been romantically interested in Kim.’
However, Drake’s affections for Kim took a serious back seat in 2018 when he famously had a very public bust up with Kanye over fellow rapper Pusha T, sparking a feud that would span almost a decade.
At the time, Kim stood up for Kanye, writing on social media, ‘@drake Never threaten my husband or our family. He paved the way for there to be a Drake.’
So it’s little surprise that Kim was left devastated when she revealed in 2023 that Kanye had claimed that she and Drake had been embroiled in an affair.
She said at the time, ‘He accused me of that publicly. So, the person that's supposed to protect me the most publicly would accuse me of having an affair throughout our whole marriage.'
However, that same year, Drake fans went into a frenzy when the rapper used Kim’s voice in his single, ‘Search and Rescue’, which includes the lyrics, ‘I don't really know how to confess my love/ Really seem that God wanna test my love for you.’
Then earlier this year, Kanye also hinted that Kim and Drake were dating, saying in a now-deleted post, ‘These are the last times I get to diss Drake before the Kim pop out cause then it look like I’m hating or care.’
And now the source says that the ‘circus’ surrounding their lives is one of the key reasons the pair have kept quiet about their ‘relationship’.
‘Drake has been hiding her away, which is always his style,’ the insider says. ‘He claims it’s because he doesn't want to deal with a circus. Kim says she's fine with it because she doesn’t need drama with Kanye. He still has so much control over Kim and who knows what he’d do if she and Drake ever came out as a couple.
‘Sure, he predicted they were going to ‘pop out’ as a couple back in the Spring, but that doesn’t mean he’d stay so chill about it in real life. It’s one thing to act cool on the internet. Look at the absolute nightmare he unleashed on Pete Davidson when they dated, it was hell for him.’
Kim - who shares North, 12, Saint, nine, Psalm, six, and Chicago, seven, with Kanye - has been single since splitting with football player Odell Beckham Jnr. in April last year, following her 2022 split from Pete after nine months of dating.
During his romance with Kim, the Saturday Night Live star was faced with a barrage of public threats from Kanye, including a disturbing music video in which he is seen beheading and burying a caricature of Pete.
It was later revealed after their break up that he had sought ‘trauma therapy’ due to Kanye’s actions.
And after Kim admitted that she feared potential suitors would be ‘scared’ by Kanye, who she described as ‘not the easiest ex’, the source says that finding love has been a difficult journey for the SKIMS founder.
‘Kanye has put Kim in a really tough spot for dating because no one wants to deal with that, who would?’ the insider says.
‘She wants men that are ultra-desirable and that means the competition for them is fierce. They have gorgeous women lining up to date them and Kim’s baby daddy drama is not something most of them are going to sign up for.’
They add, ‘Kim’s ego wants people to know she’s with Drake. He’s hot, successful and younger - it’s a flex for her. So if it wasn’t for Kanye and his unhinged behaviour she’d be pushing Drake to go public with her.’
Meanwhile, the source says Drake – who is rumoured to have dated Rihanna, JLo, Serena Williams and Tyra Banks – could finally be tempted to go official with Kim if their romance continues to go from strength to strength.
‘The secrecy is a big draw for him but he treats her like a princess, flying her out somewhere private, and as far as Drake standards go, he’s been pretty devoted,’ the insider says. ‘And it’s clear that Kim’s recent posting doesn’t scream secrecy. There’s no doubt it irks her that she’s getting this reputation for not being able to get a date, so who knows? Drake’s had a thing for her for so long so it’s definitely not hard to imagine him wanting to shout it from the rooftops at some point.’