My Life with the Walter Boys is currently enjoying yet another wave of success, and it seems some news outlets have to look for potential trouble where there is none.
For those who haven’t yet seen the conversations unfolding on social media, My Life with the Walter Boys star Nikki Rodriguez is coming under fire following a new report from The Sun, which alleges that Rodriguez is 33 years old rather than 22 years old as cited on her IMDB, Wikipedia, and on various news outlets.
The outlet alleges that they obtained public records that list her date of birth as July 1992, in addition to footage of her graduating in 2010. The Sun even dredged up a 2023 Vanity Fair profile, which began with "The petite 20-something performer (she's loath to reveal her exact age)..." to back up their claim.
The report has since begun to gain traction with additional outlets picking up the “news” and reporting it as fact, including Pop Crave in a tweet that has racked up over 1 million impressions already and is fueling a brewing age scandal at a time when focus should be on celebrating the success of the show.
Regardless of whether or not the reports are true, we fully support Rodriguez. Her talent speaks for itself, and there’s really no point in calling her age into question outside of an attempt to create a juicy scandal to drive clicks.
It’s disappointing that in 2025, women in Hollywood still feel the need to bend the truth about something as simple as age just to be taken seriously or considered for roles. If an actress did feel pressure to do so, the real issue isn’t her choice — it’s the double standard in an industry that continues to treat women differently than their male counterparts. The conversation shouldn’t be about whether she was honest about her age, but about why she might have felt she had to be.
Some fans have argued that she clearly omitted the truth about being in her early 30s because she never would have landed the role of Jackie on the show otherwise. However, those same fans seem to overlook the fact that the large majority of the “teen” characters on the show are played by actors in their late 20s. They also seem not to grasp that it’s far from uncommon for older actors to play teen characters and has long been common on TV. This rings true for fellow teen hit The Summer I Turned Pretty, whose “teen” leads are all well into their 20s.
Thankfully, there are just as many fans who are stepping up to come to Rodriguez’s defense.
“Age really is not important; what is important is that she did her job to perfection,” commented one supportive fan. Echoed another, “What an incredible testament to her talent! To have convincingly played a teenager so well is a true sign of a skilled actress. This just makes her performance even more impressive.”
In showing their support, several fans directly called out the media outlets for their treatment of Rodriguez and for trying to make something as simple as one’s age into a full-blown scandal.
“Media outlets and fans should be careful about age-shaming or speculating. Nikki’s talent isn’t defined by her age,” one user pointed out. Added another fan, “We still stan. Imagine being ageist in 2025.”
With the controversy picking up momentum, we’ll wait to see if Rodriguez releases a formal statement. However, it shouldn’t have even reached the point of her having to worry about addressing these rumors. As one fan perfectly noted, “How is this any of our business?” And they’re correct, it’s not.
No matter whether she’s 22 or 33, she’s an amazing actress who has helped make My Life with the Walter Boys into the hit series it is today. That’s what we should be talking about, not a number that has no impact at all on her acting abilities.