THEY’VE got tongues wagging – quite literally – with their over-the-top public displays of affection, from snogging on the red carpet to passionately making out in a hot tub.
And now Kourtney Kardashian, 42, and Travis Barker, 46 have reportedly exchanged vows at Las Vegas’ $199 One Love Wedding Chapel.
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The ceremony – which allegedly was not legally binding – was officiated after the Grammy’s by an Elvis impersonator, and comes just six months after the rocker proposed to the Keeping Up With the Kardashians star.
It led some fans to speculate that Kourtney – mum to Mason, 11, Penelope, eight, and Reign, six, whom she shares with ex Scott Disick – is pregnant.
However, while the couple’s amorous displays have been enough to convince most followers that their love is genuine, some are more sceptical and have slammed the pair’s romance as “fake”.
Here, we dissect their relationship with the help of body language expert Judi James.
PDAs ‘straight out of sex manual’
Ever since becoming Instagram official in February last year, the pair have shared an array of intimate photos, with a source telling The Sun they had “unreal chemistry”.
They couldn’t keep their hands off each during the Grammy’s, and are known as one of the most PDA-heavy couples in Hollywood.
However, fans have tired of their over-the-top affection. Following a clip of them making out at Disneyland, one wrote: “I can’t watch this s*** anymore.”
The pair were also slammed for ‘dry-humping’ in a wedding video, which also saw Kourtney straddle her beau.
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Judi said: “On the red carpet and in front of the press, Kourtney and Travis’s Olympic-winning PDAs look straight out of a sex manual.
“However, most of these displays look more like smoke and mirrors: a rebellious performance aimed at shocking the public.
“It’s a competitive sport, with several Hollywood couples trying to outdo one another, like Justin and Hailey Bieber with their sultry gazes or Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly with their own torrid touch rituals.”
However, Judi suggested there are more subtle signs that could imply a deeper connection, explaining: “Underlying all these promotional poses, Kourtney and Travis do seem to show signals of a more down-to-earth and authentic relationship.
“Their more reliable PDA is a subtle one, for example, the hand-hold as they walk together.
“His hand is often on top, suggesting he will take the lead, and their fingers are meshed, suggesting closeness.”
Showy proposal
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Kourtney and Travis got engaged in typically lavish style last October, with the rocker getting down on one knee on a California beach surrounded by red roses, brandishing an eight-carat ring thought to be worth at least $1m.
While elaborate, Judi said Travis’ proposal showed off his “old-fashioned romantic side” – a departure from his usual “cool, edgy and sensual branding”.
“Surrounded by roses on a beach at sunset suggests he’s a secret idealist when it comes to the relationship and hopefully she’s fallen for the whole package rather than just the raunchy rock-god credentials,” she said.
“Travis’s head is bowed, in contrast to his usual, raised-chin gesture of arrogance, implying he is humbled by love.
“Kourtney’s chin is raised in the interior poses though, suggesting the proposal has made her feel validated and more confident.”
Judi noted that a snap of Kourtney clasping her husband-to-be’s chin is an increasingly signature gesture which suggests she’s “dominant” when it comes to their posing and publicity.
Wedding ‘sham’
The couple didn’t get a marriage license before their early morning ceremony this week, which saw it labelled a stunt.
Some suggested their ‘fake’ nuptials were not a sign of their everlasting love, but to promote the latest Kardashian show, out on Hulu April 14.
One Twitter user wrote: “Surprise! Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker get married just in time to promote the new Kardashian show on Hulu. Nothing in this family is done without a publicity stunt.”
Fancied her sister
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It’s not just their recent behaviour that has caused fans to be sceptical.
Weirdly, it was Kourtney’s sister Kim who initially caught Travis’ eye – when he was dating her BFF Paris Hilton way back in 2006.
Speaking in 2015 to Us Weekly, Travis – who now has Kourtney’s name tattooed on his chest – said: “How could you not stare at Kim? Mind you, I enjoyed hanging out with Paris, but I love curvy girls.
“Kim was eye candy. I was no way disrespectful to Paris, but I couldn’t keep my eyes off Kim!
“I had a crush on her and we were flirtatious but nothing ever happened.”
Judi suggested it might be important to Kourtney to prove to the world that she is the Kardashian Travis wants and is most attracted to – hence the showy PDAs.
The ex factor
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Both Travis and Kourtney had failed relationships that had played out on reality TV before ending – and their romance has attracted some choice words from their exes, both of which are a very different “type”.
Judi said Kourtney trading the “super-smart Scott who is always groomed to within an inch of his life for the very alternative beauty of a man covered in tattoos is making a very obvious statement”.
“When you’re hooked into a toxic or fractured relationship, a pin-ball partner – one that is the total opposite of the one you have left – can seem ideal,” she added.
“Flaunting your ‘intimate’ sex rituals at every opportunity is even more obvious in a ‘look what you’re missing’ way.”
Travis was married to Shanna Moakler, with whom he shares teen daughter Alabama and son Landon.
While Shanna reacted positively to their wedding news, last year she accused Kourtney of “destroying her family” and “alienating” her from her kids.
Travis and I want to have a baby, and so my doctor took us down this road of doing IVF
Kourtney Kardashian
She told TMZ in May 2021: “My family is broken because of this family and now my kids and I are alienated from each other because of another sister in the family, so yay for me.”
When asked what she would tell Kourtney if she ever saw her, she claimed she’d say: “Thanks for destroying my family twice.”
But Kourtney and Travis appear keen to make their blended family work, going on ski trips and theme park day trips together with their kids and regularly hanging out.
Recent rumours suggest the pair are trying for a baby; Kourtney opened up to her mum Kris Jenner about her hopes of becoming pregnant in a new clip for Hulu series The Kardashians.
She said: “Travis and I want to have a baby, and so my doctor took us down this road of doing IVF.”
Long history
But fans have been quick to point out that while Kravis’ romance may appear to be a wild whirlwind, they actually go way back.
They’ve known each other for 15 years, reportedly meeting in 2006 when Travis was dating Paris. It was Travis who encouraged the sisters to do their now infamous Keeping Up With The Kardashian series, after starring in his own fly-on-the-wall series, Meet The Barkers.
Speaking in 2015, Travis revealed: “Kim was like, ‘I really want to do this reality show. We’re supposed to do it with Ryan Seacrest. I just think my family’s interesting’. I gave her the best advice I could.”
Travis and Kourtney have also been neighbours for five years since 2017, living in the same exclusive gated community in Calabasas, and Travis appeared in an episode of KUWTK that same year.
The pair reportedly bonded as their kids became friends, with Travis telling People: “Kourtney’s a dear friend. I mean, I love her to death. I love her family to death. But yeah, just friends.”
This suggests their initially platonic relationship blossomed naturally through genuine affection.
Supportive
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There’s no denying Kourtney has had a positive influence on the Blink-182 drummer, who with her help, conquered his fear of flying 13 years after he was involved in a horrifying fatal plane crash in 2008, which killed four people.
The jet Travis was traveling on from South Carolina to California crashed during take-off, and only he and one other passenger – DJ Adam “DJ AM” Goldstein – survived.
The rocker spent more than 11 weeks in hospital after the incident, enduring 27 surgeries and skin grafts.
He refused to fly afterwards until last September; since they began dating, Travis and Kourtney have flown together to Mexico, Italy, France and New York.
Judi said: “It’s obvious Kourtney will show her protective side with Travis and that he is happy to be on the receiving end of it, which suggests some very deep emotional bonds and trust.
“Phobias of any sort can be difficult to cure and it would say good things about their relationship if Kourtney had the patience, empathy and levels of calm to help Travis.”
