Alix Earle’s Dad Nods at Her Rumored Romance with Tom Brady, Says He Was Inspired by NFL Icon’s Style

Alix Earle’s dad, Thomas “TJ” Earle, has some jokes about Tom Brady — after his daughter was spotted spending time with the former NFL star on New Year’s Eve.

In a TikTok video shared by TJ’s wife, Ashley Earle (formerly known as Dupré), on Saturday, Jan. 3, TJ could be heard chatting with his wife as she got ready for an evening out.

Ashley, 40, was wearing a blue velvet blazer and shared that it previously belonged to TJ.

“I actually got that jacket because I saw Tom Brady wearing one like that,” TJ said in the video, to which Ashley replied, “Are you joking?”

“I swear to God,” he said as Ashley quipped back, “Are you serious? … You know what, honey, you just say the darnedest things. How ironic is that.”

Later in the TikTok, Ashley told TJ that she wouldn’t be “cutting” the interaction from her video.

Alix, 25, was spotted getting cozy with Brady, 48, in St. Barths during a holiday party.

A source previously confirmed to PEOPLE that the influencer and the retired athlete attended the same New Year’s Eve event on the Caribbean island, where they hung out and looked cozy together.

Videos obtained by PEOPLE showed Alix flashing Brady a grin, leaning over to whisper something in his ear and rubbing her hand over his back. The two were also spotted dancing together.

Alix shared a recap of her holiday festivities on Instagram on Jan. 3 — and seemingly referred to her encounter with a new friend.

“Rumor has it we’re still dancing 🕺🕺 new friends, new memories, and new beginnings to start off the new year :),” she captioned the post.

On New Year’s Day, Brady shared a cryptic post on his Instagram Stories that some fans interpreted as a subtle hint at his moment with Alix the night before. “People are not beautiful for how they look or speak. They’re beautiful for how they love, care, and treat others,” the post read.

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At the beginning of December, PEOPLE confirmed that Alix and Houston Texans wide receiver Braxton Berrios had broken up after more than two years of dating. 

Alix later shared that they split because she couldn’t “be what Braxton needs,” adding in a TikTok that she and Berrios, 30, had been doing long distance for five months amid the athlete’s busy NFL schedule and while she taped season 34 of Dancing with the Stars.

In the days after the news of the split was made public, rumors swirled that Alix was linked to another NFL player — New York Giants rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart — after a photo circulated online that appeared to show Dart sliding into the influencer’s DMs. Alix, however, slammed the viral image as a “fake photoshopped dm” in a post on TikTok.

Brady — who finalized his divorce from his wife of 13 years, Gisele Bündchen, in 2022 — was most recently romantically linked to Brooks Nader in 2024. A source told PEOPLE in July of that year that he and the supermodel were casually “hooking up.”