FBI Director Kash Patel, 45, has been under fire lately — not only for how he handled the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, but also for his personal life.
Patel’s girlfriend, 26-year-old country singer Alexis Wilkins, is now firing back at critics who won’t stop talking about their age gap.
”There are a lot of shaking heads”
After Kirk’s shocking murder, Patel faced scrutiny from inside and outside the bureau. Four former FBI officials and two administration officials told NBC News that his actions during the crisis raised eyebrows, from where he was on the night of the shooting to what one source described as his “grandstanding” after the suspect’s arrest.
“He has heard concerns about how this looks,” an administration official admitted.
“There are a lot of shaking heads.”
Patel has defended himself, telling Fox & Friends: “Could I have worded it a little better in the heat of the moment? Sure. But do I regret putting it out? Absolutely not. I was telling the world what the FBI was doing as we were doing and I’m continuing to do that.”
But while the criticism of his job has been intense, it’s Patel’s relationship with Nashville country singer Alexis Wilkins, 26, that has also stolen the spotlight.
The couple’s 19-year age gap has become fodder for mockery online, with some even floating conspiracy theories about their romance.
Wilkins, who started dating Patel in January 2023 after meeting him at a friend’s house party, says she’s not bothered.
“There are a lot of people in this administration with age differences. There are a lot of people out there with age differences,” she told the Daily Mail.
Calls her a “honeypot”
She pointed out that her relationship is hardly unusual in Trump’s circle. President Donald Trump, 79, is 24 years older than Melania, 55. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, 27, also recently married Nicholas Riccio, 59 — a 32-year age gap.
Wilkins insists her romance with Patel feels natural to those who know them best, and she dismisses online trolls who label her a “honeypot.”
“I’ve blocked the word ‘honeypot’ from my Instagram comments, if that tells you anything,” she said.
She also made it clear that she was already with Patel before he moved from being a Trump aide to FBI Director. To her, claims that she’s some kind of operative make no sense: pursuing Patel back then “would imply she had been executing ‘a huge long game.’”
Looking to the future, Wilkins told the Daily Mail the couple is “on a good path” when asked about a possible engagement, and they’ve been enjoying more normal life after the chaos of Trump’s second term.
Lawsuit against ex-FBI agent
But the controversy hasn’t stopped.
In fact, it’s escalated into a courtroom fight. Wilkins is now suing ex-FBI agent turned podcaster Kyle Seraphin for defamation, after he suggested on his show that Patel’s relationship with her was part of a “honeypot” operation.
Patel, he claimed, “has had his own little ‘honeypot’ issue that’s been going on of late, so we’re just going to acknowledge it real publicly.”
Without naming her, Seraphin described Patel’s girlfriend as “half his age, who is apparently is both a country music singer, a political commentator on Rumble, a friend of John Rich through [FBI deputy Director Dan] Bongino, who also now owns a big chunk of Rumble, and she’s also a former Mossad agent.”
10,000 monthly listeners
Sarcastically, he added: “But I’m sure that’s totally because, like, she’s really looking for like a cross-eyed, you know, kind of thickish built, super cool bro who’s almost 50 years old who’s Indian in America. Like it has nothing to do with the fact that uh we’re really close to the Trump administration. Anyway, I’m sure that’s totally just like love. That’s what real love looks like.”
Wilkin’s lawsuit calls his claims “malicious lies” and seeks at least $5 million in damages, accusing Seraphin of spreading a fabricated story as “self-enriching clickbait.”
Outside of politics, Wilkins continues to grow her music career. According to her website, Alexis spent her early years in Switzerland and England before her family moved across the pond and settled in Arkansas. Knowing her dream was to make a name for herself in Nashville, the family eventually relocated there — and Alexis quickly dove into the city’s vibrant music scene.
The Nashville-based singer-songwriter has now built a loyal fanbase, fusing classic country with modern flair. Her 2023 track Quite Like Whiskey racked up more than 440,000 streams on Spotify, where she has nearly 10,000 monthly listeners.
