Getty Paige Butcher and Eddie Murphy
Paige Butcher has been dating comedian Eddie Murphy since 2012. Butcher has a multi-faceted career as a model and an actress, but she prefers to keep her private life out of the spotlight.
I’m in a relationship with a celebrity, so I felt like there’s already enough of me out there,” she told Vanity Fair in 2013. “I felt like I was giving out too much information. I was giving people too much access. I like to keep [things] private.”
Read on to learn more about Butcher’s career and her relationship with Murphy:
1. Butcher Was Born In Australia & Began Modeling At Age 7
According to Famous Birthdays, Butcher was born June 10, 1979 in Perth, Australia. Her mother was a fashion designer and her father Robert Butcher was a model, so she was steeped in the fashion world from an early age. She told Vanity Fair that she was around 6 or 7 when she started modeling her mother’s designs, but that she did not take it seriously until she was a teenager.
“I was modeling for my mum’s stuff, and everybody said, ‘You should be a model.’ So at 13, I started really taking it more seriously,” she recalled. Butcher continued to model throughout her teens, and shortly after she graduated from Santa Maria College, she won the 1994 Cover Girl Cosmetics Supermodel Search. The West Australian reported that the contest led to her signing a contract with IMG modelling and traveling to New York City.
Butcher modeled for various magazines and brands during her time in New York. She gained the most exposure, however, when she was featured in a 2005 swimsuit video for Maxim titled Real Swimsuit DVD Vol. 2. Earn the Necklace stated that the success of the video led to Butcher landing a bit part in the comedy Big Momma’s House 2.
2. Butcher Met Eddie Murphy While She Was Filming ‘Big Momma’s House 2’ In 2006
Butcher made her film debut in the 2003 romance Something’s Gotta Give, but it was her experience making the 2006 comedy Big Momma’s House 2 that proved the most impactful. Not only was the film a commercial success, grossing $138 million, but it was during her time on the set that she met Eddie Murphy. According to Daily Mail, Murphy was visiting his close friend Martin Lawrence (the star of the film), and quickly struck up a rapport with Butcher between takes.
Butcher and Murphy would go on to have relationships with other people after their initial meeting. The Huffington Post reported that Butcher dated model Tyson Beckford for a brief time in 2009, and hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons from 2010-11. Murphy divorced his wife Nicole Mitchell in 2006, and would go on to father a child with media personality and former Spice Girl Mel B in 2007.
Butcher and Murphy started dating in 2012. USA Today said the couple sparked rumors of a romance when they were spotted at Mastro’s Steakhouse in September, but they made their relationship public the following month, when they attended the red carpet for a Murphy tribute called One Night Only.
3. Butcher Has 2 Children Named Izzy & Max Murphy
Butcher and Murphy welcomed a daughter named Izzy Oona Murphy on May 3, 2016. People Magazine announced that the baby weighed 7 pounds, 15 ounces at the time of birth. Izzy was Butcher and Murphy’s first child together, and Murphy’s ninth child overall. The comedian also has five children with his first wife, and three children with various ex-girlfriends.
The comedian told Extra TV that he was hesitant to change his daughter’s diaper because he felt he wasn’t very good at it. “You know, I’m not a good… I don’t change diapers,” he said. “‘Cause I would be horrible at it and that’s not fair to the child.”
Butcher and Murphy welcomed a son named Max Charles Murphy on November 30, 2018. A representative for the couple stated that the baby weighed 6 pounds, 11 ounces and was 19 inches at the time of birth. Today reported that the child’s middle name was chosen as a tribute to Murphy’s brother Charlie, who died of leukemia the year before.
4. Butcher Works with Habitat for Humanity & Several Other Charity Foundations
In addition to her modeling and film career, Butcher has a passion for charity work. She told Vanity Fair that she started working with Habitat for Humanity when she first moved to New York, and has continued to do so over the past decade. “I’ve always wanted to do charity stuff. I’m such a nurturer and love taking care of people,” she explained. “I started doing Habitat for Humanity. I started building houses with them, and I took what I learned from them and started doing [other] stuff.”
In addition to her stint with Habitat for Humanity, Butcher has worked with organizations like New York Cares, which is a volunteer program, and Kids Enjoy Exercise Now (KEEN), which is a sports program that teaches children with physical and mental disabilities. Since she moved to Los Angeles with Murphy, Butcher has also donated her time to various homeless shelters.
“Here [in L.A.] I volunteer at homeless shelters,” she revealed. “I look after the children while the parents go through counseling. The recent one I’m on every week is called Baby to Baby, which is a nonprofit for women that have children and are living below the poverty line, so the charity sends care packages with toys, things for the kids, diapers, etc.”
5. Butcher & Murphy Got Engaged In September 2018
Butcher and Murphy got engaged in September 2018. Page Six confirmed that the couple were planning to be wed, and that Butcher was spotted walking around Los Angeles with an engagement ring on her finger. The couple have not yet set a wedding date.
Butcher rarely gives interviews, but she talked about her relationship with Murphy on the red carpet of the 2020 Golden Globes. She told Extra TV that the comedian was “very sweet and very romantic,” and he responded by saying, “I told her how wonderful she looks.”
Butcher does not have an Instagram or Twitter account. She had both at one time or another, but she told Vanity Fair that she decided against it when she started dating Murphy. “I had Facebook for about a year, then I moved on to Instagram, got rid of both, went to Twitter, then eventually got rid of all of them,” she admitted. “I like to keep as much private as possible now.”
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