Tim Allen and Jenna Elfman‘s romance on Shifting Gears has raised eyebrows — but what has been said in regards to the surprising fictional age gap?
Shifting Gears, which premiered in 2025, introduced fans to Matt (Allen) and Eve’s (Elfman) romance in season 1. The pair dated throughout the second season before calling it quits on account of long distance. Matt and Eve — who’ve an age gap — found their way back to one another before season 2 concluded.
“Our showrunner [Michelle Nader] put this thing together they usually really just like the romance. I wanted a automotive show a few widower to cope with grief. That’s what I wanted,” Allen exclusively told Us Weekly in June 2026. “I loved Kat Dennings [as my daughter] because she’s the proper alternative. That old dynamic is absolutely where I used to be at.”
Allen selected to drift when Elfman’s character was introduced, saying, “They threw this romance in there and I do know Jenna so I said, ‘That’s not the issue. It’s just that I’m feeling way too old for her.’ Sometimes they are saying, ‘Visually it doesn’t seem like you’re thinking that it does.’”
After seeing the reception to the connection, Allen got interested to see where the show takes the characters next.
“She’s so fun to be around and it’s brought out a complete different a part of that show and brought a special audience to that show,” he continued. “I’m really on the market for the automotive guys and I make certain the automotive stuff is fun and exciting. Then the office is cool and now you’ve got romance for the those who want that. Since it seems the flirting and the actual activity between these two characters is working and I said, ‘All right, I’ll go there.’ [Jenna is] really good at this and the romance is sort of generated quite by accident.”
Elfman, meanwhile, praised Allen for his support as a scene partner.
“I like doing scenes with Tim. I got very excited and it took me a pair episodes to go, ‘OK, who’re we on this? Who’re you? How is he playing inside this format? How is his timing?’ It takes a moment to see how we’re dancing together as partners,” Elfman told Us in February 2025.
The actress continued: “He’s so confident as a comedic actor. He’s just confident and I’m confident and we don’t care if something [doesn’t land]. Once you’ve been doing it long enough, you’re not paranoid a few joke not working and also you don’t care. There’s no preciousness and there’s enough confidence to support the exploration of the scene of humor.”
Keep scrolling for probably the most candid commentary about Matt and Eve’s age gap:
Expressing Concerns
After the ABC show featured jokes in regards to the age gap, Allen spoke to Us about his response.
“The age difference is just not much different than my wife and I,” Allen, who has been married to wife Jane Hajduk since 2006, told Us in June 2026.
Allen noted that his response to the age gap varies, adding, “It relies on the photographs. It gets creepy for me at a certain age [and] we’re right at that border. If Jenna didn’t look so rattling nice than our age gap is just not that much. I just let my hair go natural and she or he just looks — especially on camera — quite young.”
Trusting the Vision
“They are saying once you’re lit higher and I am going, ‘Once I’m lit higher, I look probably 68,’” he quipped to Us. “I just don’t wish to be creepy about it — and that’s sort of the borderline image lately.”
Allen continued: “It hasn’t really come out — except after they joke about, ‘Well, a man your age.’ After they have her making jokes about it, it’s not my preference. But I said, ‘It’s admitting what’s there.’ There’s times — and I’ll give it to them — that they lit right and in the proper clothing so it doesn’t look creepy.”
Following What Works
After Matt and Eve’s transient onscreen split, Allen shut down the belief that their issues were too large to work through.
“Coming up, you’ll see it’s not over yet and it’s really a special thing for a comic book to play this,” Allen told Us in January 2026. “Within the show, by design there’s more drama to put the comedy on top of. It’s something I’ve all the time liked to do.”
Allen stood by the vision, saying, “The fact of the story is that it was working and it was really romantic for the show. [While] they’re probably not a pair yet, it just was really sad. Each of us really got affected by the writing of it and played it thoroughly.”
Not Being Afraid of Obstacles
Before season 2, showrunner Michelle Nader teased the fictional couple’s journey.
“I’ll say that it is absolutely interesting to look at them,” Nader shared with Us in September 2025 in regards to the onscreen dynamic. “It’s interesting to look at their relationship develop, and so that they’re going to enter high gear — however it’s going to be a little bit little bit of a roller-coaster.”