Is John Cleese's 27-Year-Old Girlfriend Really 45?

This morning, we briefly touched on Barbie Orr, John Cleese’s girlfriend who claimed to be 27 years old. Turns out Ms. Orr is actually 45. So why did she shave 18 years off her age?

The obvious answer is this: Barbie Orr (real name: Kristine Reinhard) wanted to be somebody else. She changed her name, knocked 18 years off of her age, and allegedly began telling friends how excited she was to finally be getting bit parts in Hollywood. 45-year-old Kristine Reinhard had struggled as a comedienne for years, but 27-year-old Barbie Orr, hot young blonde girlfriend of John Cleese, was surrounded with industry buzz.

Cleese, who is going through a fairly nasty divorce, apparently began dating younger women as a bit of a “screw you” to his ex-wife, Alyce. “I think part of his attraction to these younger women is because it is a bit of a two-fingered salute to Alyce. He wants her to know he’s having no trouble attracting girlfriends,” a source says. But the revelations about Orr have only increased Cleese’s troubles: “This is the last thing John needs. Given what he’s been through with this wretched divorce, nobody could blame him having his head turned by this woman. He’s a great talent and a good man and nobody wants him to be made a laughing stock when he’s feeling like he’s already been through the mill.”

So why is John Cleese upset? One hopes it’s because his girlfriend is a fraud and a liar, and not just because she’s 45 instead of 27. As for Orr, who recently assured the public that Cleese has “a nice package,” and who has been reveling in her role as Cleese’s 27-year-old blonde, she responded to the Daily Mail’s claims as such: “This will be career suicide for me if you print that. Please leave out my age – age is a huge thing to pass. It stays for ever. I am a quiet, cheerful, fun person. Print 35 if that makes them feel better. . . but not 45!” On her supposedly “official” page, however, Barbie notes that the papers ” elaborate and twist….and now there are more fake ‘facts’!! Obviously my ‘facts’ were too boring for their entertainment and not much of a story….so they keep making things up!!”

Which leads us to ask this: what the hell is so wrong with being John Cleese’s pretty, blonde 45 year old girlfriend? Barbie Orr’s pictures are all the same: the only thing that has changed is the age attached to them. In lying about her age, and allowing the media to make a huge deal about it, Orr has played right into the stereotype that younger women are somehow sexier, throwing away an opportunity to present herself as a sexy woman in her 40’s. Granted, I am 28 and admittedly do not know what it is like to be a 45-year-old woman, or the pressures one feels at that age, but overall this story makes me angry and gives me the creeps, at both Orr and the media (and Cleese, to a lesser extent) for making such a big bloody deal out of her age in the first place.

What do you think, dear commenters? Can you understand Orr’s position? Or is it just another example of women screwing each other over by desperately clinging to the stupid, totally untrue idea that sexiness can only be found in one’s 20’s?

John Cleese, His Blonde Lover, And The Truth About Her Claim To Be Only 27 [DailyMail]
John Cleese’s Girlfriend, Barbie, Is Quite The Charmer {The Guardian]
[Barbie Orr]