Early in 2025, Ashlyn Castro was seen sitting with Jude Bellingham’s parents at a Real Madrid game. As usual, the football media followed her on social media, located her Instagram, and began creating a profile. They found that Ashlyn had an audience without Jude Bellingham. She had one already.
Before being connected to the Real Madrid midfielder, the 28-year-old Californian had been developing her career as a model and influencer for a number of years. With more than 650,000 Instagram followers, brand collaborations with businesses like Pretty Little Thing, and a cameo in DJ Khaled’s 2021 “Popstar” music video, Ashlyn was involved in the A-list industry long before her name was associated with the Bernabéu. When the relationship first came to light, an insider told The Mirror that she knew how to manage attention while maintaining the privacy of her personal life. It’s a skill that takes time to master in the proper settings.
Jude was born in 2003, while Ashlyn was born in 1997. Their six-year age difference is one of those details that immediately comes up in any coverage of the relationship, as if it were unusual. It’s actually a quite typical arrangement for a 22-year-old at the height of his early career dating a 28-year-old with a successful career of her own. The most fascinating tale is how they arrived. Online reports said that the relationship began on Raya, a private app that serves as a sort of closed social layer for influencers, sports, and celebrities. It is a place where the typical noise around famous personalities is sufficiently filtered away to allow for genuine talks to start. That version of events has not been verified by Jude or Ashlyn, and they are under no need to.
When Ashlyn’s name was connected to Atlanta Hawks basketball star Terance Mann in a series of internet rumors that gained momentum before anyone had looked into much proof, the relationship experienced considerable upheaval. Clearly and swiftly, Mann turned it off himself. He described Ashlyn and the two of them as “cool,” termed the rumors “crazy,” and urged people to “calm the narrative down.”
The fact that Mann responded instead of Ashlyn is noteworthy, possibly because this is the type of tale that spreads more quickly than any denial can, and because Ashlyn’s public persona has typically favored moderation over speculation. She has admitted to having three boyfriends in the past eight years, which is a low number by tabloid standards but consistent with someone who maintains a more controlled personal life than her professional one.
Prior to Ashlyn, Bellingham was connected to Dutch model Laura Celia Valk in 2024, however that relationship was also never thoroughly verified. Ashlyn’s choice to be photographed at the family area of a Real Madrid game is more than an accident because Jude has always been cautious about what goes public through his own channels. Being visible in that situation was, at the very least, a conscious decision.
