Who Is Jennette McCurdy’s ‘Half His Age’ Book Inspired by? – Hollywood Life

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Jennette McCurdy is about to top the bestseller’s list once again with the release of her 2026 novel, Half His Age. The I’m Glad My Mom Died author’s book explores a fictional relationship between a 17-year-old and her married writing teacher, and during Jennette’s promo tour, she’s opened up about her own experience with a man in his 30s when she was just 18.

Here is everything we know so far about Jennette’s 2026 novel, Half His Age.

Jennette recalled the past toxic relationship during her “Call Her Daddy” 2026 appearance.

Who Has Jennette McCurdy Dated?

Jennette has dated Jesse Carere, Andre Drummond, Paul Glaser and Graham Patrick Martin, according to The Sun. She has not disclosed the name of her current boyfriend yet.

Who Was Jennette McCurdy’s Older Boyfriend When She was 18?

Jennette has not disclosed the name of her former boyfriend, with whom she had a sexual relationship when she was 18 and he was in his 30s. Though she discussed her experience during a January 2026 interview on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, and revealed that she met the unnamed man on the set of iCarly.

“He would show me movies that he thought I would like. Like, Dazed and Confused, which I did not like but I pretended to like. He would play me music that I did not like, but I pretended to like,” Jennette explained. At the time, the 30-something-year-old man was in a relationship with and living with another woman. Jennette, for her part, was raised Mormon and hadn’t engaged in a sexual relationship before meeting him.

“I remember he came over drunk one night to my apartment,” Jennette recalled. “At this point, I’ve moved out of my mom’s, I’m very new — also red flags all over. … He comes over, and he has beer stains on his shirt, and he’s bumbling around. At this point in my life, I’ve never had a sip of alcohol, so I don’t understand how drunk he is. He was drunk off his ass, but I didn’t know. Did you drink one drink, and that’s how drunk you are? How drunk is one drink? How drunk is 10 drinks? I had no frame of reference. So, he comes over really drunk, and we make out, and it’s a lot of dry humping. And it’s that for months.”

At one point, the unnamed man asked her for oral sex, which Jennette had no experience with. “I did not know what come was,” she explained. “Now, it’s funny, but at the time, it was difficult to kind of regroup and figure out, ‘What was that exactly?’ … I don’t know what that is, because I was raised Mormon and because I was homeschooled. I didn’t f**king know. He explains to me what it is, and I’m like, ‘Well, that sounds kinda weird, I’m nervous to do this.’ He’s like, ‘I’ll guide you through it, I’ll guide you through it.’”

“There were phrases like, ‘I’m a mid-30s man, and this is something I need,’” Jennette recalled him saying. “‘I’m respectful of your boundary that you can’t have sex before marriage, but I also have needs of my own.’ … And he’s saying, ‘I shouldn’t have broken up with her. It was the worst mistake of my life.’ He uses the ‘You can’t meet my needs’ thing a lot.”

When Does the I’m Glad My Mom Died Series Come Out?

At the time of publication, the Apple TV+ series adaptation of I’m Glad My Mom Died has no set release date. Jennifer Aniston is expected to star as Jennette’s late mother, Debra McCurdy.