The Oscars aside, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ wedding to Lauren Sanchez could go down in history as one of the most star-studded spectacles of all time.
Whether you loathed the ostentatious display of Bezos’ wealth or loved watching the celebs, including Leonardo DiCaprio and Orlando Bloom, take over the romantic rivers of the Italian City, there is no denying that the nuptials were the place to be and be seen last weekend.
And Kim Kardashian wasted no time doing just that as she slipped into a body-hugging, plunging leopard print gown ahead of the ceremony, before going yet a step further and opting to wear a cream corset and matching fishnet tights the following evening for an impromptu photo shoot.
The KUWTK star has officially been single since splitting with football player Odell Beckham Jr. in April last year and, after Kim, 44, recently dropped some unsubtle hints that she’s back on the dating scene, a source tells us that the underwear entrepreneur saw the wedding of the fourth richest man in the world as the perfect opportunity for some romance.
However, another recently single star may have had the same plan – Sydney Sweeney - who has playfully been nicknamed by her grandparents as having ‘the best breasts in Hollywood’ and, upon recently selling a bath soap by Dr. Squatch containing a tiny drop of her bathwater, crashed the internet.
Now the insider tells us Kim was left having a huge ‘meltdown’ over the attention Sydney was showered with by the many eligible bachelors present at the wedding bash – including sports legend and Gisele Bundchen’s ex, Tom Brady, who Kim was linked to back in 2023.
The source tells us, ‘Kim won’t say it outright, but seeing Sydney get all the attention in Venice was a huge blow to her ego.
‘She went into the trip with very high hopes, She’s been single for so long, it’s really starting to mess with her confidence. She still looks incredible, but she’s in her 40s, has four kids, and she worries it’s too much baggage to get the kind of man she wants.’
Prior to the event, a source said of Tom’s own dating status, ‘Tom is not expecting to fall in love at Jeff's wedding and meeting up with Kim is not one of the first things he is interested in doing.’
However, in a surprise turn of events, reports have been swirling that Tom and Sydney were seen dancing together until 2am, and were pictured touring Venice with Orlando the day after the wedding.
Now the source adds, ‘Kim knew Tom Brady was invited and she’s still got a huge crush on him. But he paid way more attention to Sydney and she ended up feeling nearly invisible.
‘She’s not holding it against Sydney, she actually thinks she’s gorgeous and talented, but it’s more that Kim’s realising she’s not the ‘it’ girl anymore, and that’s triggered all her worst insecurities.'
They continue, ‘She left Venice feeling completely deflated, it turned into a painful wake-up call for her. It’s not as though she didn’t get any attention, it just wasn’t the way it used to be, which totally knocked her confidence.’
While Kim dated SNL’s Pete Davidson for nine months until August 2022, the mum-of-four – who shares North, 12, Saint, nine, Chicago, seven and Psalm, six, with ex-husband Kanye West - hasn’t had a long-term relationship since splitting with the rapper in 2021.
The pair had been married for seven years and Kim has since been open about Kanye’s increasingly erratic behaviour, tearfully admitting in 2023 that she would do ‘anything’ to bring back the person she ‘loved’.
And while Kanye has moved on, marrying Bianca Censori in 2023, the source says Kim can’t help but feel resentful towards her ‘toxic’ ex.
The insider says, ‘Kim can’t help but worry that she might never find love again and a big part of her blames Kanye for that
‘She can’t help but feel bitter that she gave so many of her ‘good years,’ to Kanye. Now here she is, middle-aged and single and competing with women 20 years younger that want the same men. It’s depressing.
‘She’s always comparing herself to younger women, and it’s taking a toll on her for sure. Sydney was front and centre in Venice because she was the one the guys were all going nuts for, but there are plenty of other younger women she compares herself to and it’s so unhealthy.’
Kim has never hidden her obsession with anti-ageing and beauty – opting for everything from the ‘corset diet’ to vampire facials and Botox – and the source says that as she approaches her 45th birthday in October, her single status has further driven the beauty mogul on a downward spiral.
‘This change in life is a hard thing for anyone to go through, but for someone that’s built their entire brand on being young and sexy, it’s especially destabilizing,’ the insider explains.
‘Anytime she sees a picture of herself she zeroes in on her so-called flaws. She has the mindset that getting the most attention and praise from men is the ultimate sign of success, so of course this is all hitting her hard, it is very personal for her.
‘She can do all the surgery she wants and put off looking old for as long as she possibly can, but the fact is she’s never going to recapture her twenties.’
Last year Kim – who has sought the help of controversial anti-ageist Bryan Johnson - ‘freaked’ out when an ageing filter became the latest Tik Tok trend, transforming her to look like her mum, Kris Jenner, and has even admitted she would gobble up excrement to stay young.
‘Now that I think about it, I would probably eat s--t if someone told me, ‘If you eat this bowl of poop every single day, you'll look younger.’’ she said.
Kim, who has admitted to having Botox, laser and ‘a little lipo’ has previously quipped that there is ‘nothing worse’ than going overboard with surgery. But now the source says the ‘snub’ in Venice has led her to consider even more ‘tweakments’.
The source says, ‘She won’t stop trying, so it’s no surprise her first call after the wedding weekend was to her doctors to arrange some skin treatments. Injections and fillers are on a regimented schedule but things like micro-needling and lasers and Vampire Facials she can do any time she wants.
‘She calls her trips to the doctor’s office self-care but it’s starting to seem more like desperation because she’s constantly chasing perfection. It’s exhausting to watch.
They add, ‘The thing is, she’s going to have to come to terms with ageing one way or another. She’s never going to be in her twenties again, no matter how much she spends. She can’t turn back the clock.’