Kendall Jenner has had “not-so-great” relationships, as well as serious romances, including with Devin Booker and Bad Bunny, but Jacob Elordi “is the first guy she has been crazy about in years,” a friend was quoted as saying to Page Six.

Apparently, the feelings are mutual, with a source telling Us Weekly that the supermodel, 30, and the Oscar-nominated “Frankenstein” actor, 29, have become “very serious and exclusive” since they began dating in January. The source also said: “Everyone around them can see how madly in love they are and how well their relationship works.”

But since Jenner reportedly cherishes this relationship, she’s become protective of it, the source told Page Six. That means that Jenner will do her best “to shield him from the craziness” that sometimes comes with dating someone from her super-famous reality TV family, the insider also said.

It’s not clear how Jenner expects to avoid “the craziness,” given her family’s attention-seeking ways. But the source also said: “She’s not rushing to throw him into the Kardashian machine. Very few men survive that.”

While Page Six reported that Jenner and Elordi have been trying to keep a low profile, gossip and entertainment outlets have managed to feverishly report on some of their outings and romantic getaways. They have published photos of the two tall, beautiful and dark-haired celebrities sunning themselves on a beach in Hawaii and grabbing a ramen meal in Tokyo.

Over the July 4 weekend, the couple were photographed riding in a boat on Lake Coeur d’Alene in northwest Idaho.

TMZ reported that the supermodel and the “Euphoria” actor vacationed in the famous resort town with another top celebrity couple, Justin and Hailey Bieber. Jenner’s older sister, Khloe Kardashian, also turned up at a massive lake house they were staying in, TMZ also said.

Khloe Kardashian’s presence adds to the specter of the “Kardashian machine” that Kendall Jenner is supposedly concerned about. That concern is a reminder of the so-called “Kardashian curse.” This is the idea — which is debated online — that men who date women from the Kardashian/Jenner family often face personal or professional misfortune.

On an old episode of the family’s reality TV show, “Keeping Up With the Kardashians,” Kylie Jenner herself explained the “curse,” saying “Every male figure that comes and dates a Kardashian… their life kind of just goes downhill.”

While some call it sexist to blame any woman for a man’s life going “downhill,” a cultural critic wrote in the New York Times that it probably didn’t help Timothée Chalamet to be so “Kardashian-adjacent” during the 2026 Academy Awards season, when he was campaigning to win a best actor Oscar for “Marty Supreme.” Chalamet ended up losing the Oscar both this year and in 2025 — when his girlfriend Kylie Jenner was his date to both ceremonies.

The cosmetics mogul is Kendall Jenner’s younger sister, and she reportedly encouraged Kendall to date Elordi. Kylie Jenner and Chalamet found themselves seeing a lot of Elordi during this year’s Oscars season, since Elordi was nominated for a best supporting actor for his role in “Frankenstein.”

Both Chalamet and Elordi are regarded as top young Hollywood actors, and both want to be seen as serious film artists, but people online and cultural critics have said that their serious-actor credibility could be undermined by proximity to the famously showy and garish Kardashians.

When it comes to protecting Elordi from the “Kardashian machine,” Jenner does have experience in being “notoriously private” about her personal life — unlike her sisters or her mother, Kris Jenner, according to Page Six.

That’s a tendency she and Elordi apparently share. He, too, has a history of keeping his relationships out of the spotlight. For example, Elordi dated Olivia Jade Giannulli for several years. She’s the influencer daughter of disgraced TV actor Lori Loughlin, but Elordi was rarely seen in public with her.

People close to Jenner have positive things to say about her romance with Elordi, Us Weekly reported. She and Elordi had been friends “for years” but she “was not sure if she wanted to keep him in the friend zone or not,” a source told the Daily Mail in April.

After they began dating, they were spotted at the Vanity Fair Oscars party in March and “making out” at Justin Bieber’s Coachella after-party in Apri, according to reports.

“Kendall and Jacob have become very close recently,” a source told Us Weekly. This insider said they have been seeing each other consistently “when they can.” The source added that the two have a “very natural connection.”

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