NFL legend Bill Belichick, 73, steps out hand-in-hand with Jordon Hudson, 24, after cozy dinner date in Chapel Hill

Bill Belichick was spotted holding hands with his 24-year-old girlfriend Jordon Hudson after a cozy dinner date in Chapel Hill on Thursday night.

The controversial couple were seen leaving Stoney River Steakhouse and Grill near the UNC campus, looking relaxed and comfortable as they strolled side by side. 

Hudson, dressed head-to-toe in white, smiled while carrying a to-go box in one hand and linking fingers with the 73-year-old NFL legend.

Belichick, known for his trademark game-day scowl, even appeared to crack a smile - swapping the hoodie for a tucked-in dress shirt, jeans and white sneakers.

It’s the first public sighting of the pair in weeks, after a quieter stretch following a flurry of headlines earlier this year. 

Earlier this week, a friend of Linda Holliday slammed Hudson for a 'grossly inappropriate' appearance at a Nantucket Christmas gala last December.

Belichick, 73, and Holliday, 62, were together for 16 years, and broke up around September 2022. The following year, and despite their 49-year age gap, Belichick started dating Hudson after meeting her on a flight in 2021. 

Hudson and her beauty pageant bestie Melissa Sapini reportedly enraged Holliday by appearing at the event where her daughters were DJing. They were asked to leave close to the end of the night, agreeing to depart alongside an employee at the venue.

As they waited by the exit, Hudson supposedly then told the employee that Holliday had threatened Sapini during the clash on the dance floor.

Elin Hilderbrand, a novelist and longtime friend of Holliday, said: 'No punches were thrown, no hair was pulled.

'But we did suggest she leave because we thought it was grossly inappropriate for her to be there. Bill and Linda were together since the girls were, like, fourteen years old, and they thought of him as a father figure.'

Hudson reportedly refused to leave at first, and the situation escalated enough that a venue employee filed an internal incident report - later published by TMZ.

Hudson has also tried keeping a low profile following an excruciating April CBS interview with Belichick, where she was exposed for interrupting questions from off-camera about how the couple met. 

The fallout led to friends of Belichick publicly discussing an intervention, while others questioned his sanity and if Hudson was taking advantage of him. 

Then, at the beginning of August, two podcasters claimed they spoke to Hudson over the course of a week in several phone calls that left them with a growing sense of unease.

They were trying to get Hudson to appear on their show but talks broke down, with Hudson allegedly shouting and crying over how the podcasters had previously spoken about her. 

This all comes with Belichick's first UNC game on the horizon. 

His team faces TCU in Chapel Hill on Monday, September 1. After Belichick failed to clinch another NFL job following his departure from the New England Patriots, he is deeply determined to be a success in North Carolina.

Perhaps, then, it is no surprise to Belichick that his ex is causing more trouble at a time like this.