A FORMER headteacher who appeared in Channel 4’s Educating Yorkshire is facing a family rift over his relationship with a woman nearly 30 years his junior, it is claimed.
Jonny Mitchell, 53, said he was “branded a paedophile” after he began dating 25-year-old Abi McMahon following the break down of his marriage.
Gary CaltonHeadteacher Jonny Mitchell earned a legion of fans after appearing on Educating Yorkshire[/caption]
Jonny Mitchell / Abi McMahonThe TV ‘heartthrob’, 53, has now found love with Abi McMahon, 25[/caption]
Abi says she has been branded a ‘gold digger’ with ‘daddy issues’, due to their age gap of nearly 30 yearsJonny Mitchell / Abi McMahon
A pal has now alleged the dad-of-three is at odds with his own kids over the relationship with the social media influencer.
Mr Mitchell became an unlikely heartthrob after appearing on the fly-on-the-wall documentary 12 years ago.
He then found himself back in the limelight this week after going public with his new relationship.
A family friend said the semi-retired teacher’s own children are struggling with the age gap, adding it felt “weird”.
They told the Daily Mail: “When Jonny’s family first heard about Abi, the age gap was the first thing anyone noticed. It was a bit of an elephant in the room because it’s not what you expect.
“Nearly 30 years is a lot, and it did raise eyebrows. Abi was only 21 or so, and his own children weren’t much younger.
“So, yes, the initial reaction was shock. Jonny’s sisters have come to approve of Abi but it has caused friction with the kids.”
They added that they obviously wanted their dad to be happy but “really have struggled to come to terms with it”.
Mr Mitchell was teaching at Thornhill Community Academy in West Yorkshire when he appeared on series one of the Channel 4 show.
He had previously been married to Lisa Westerman, also 53, but the pair divorced in 2015.
He met former police officer Ms McMahon on a night out in Leeds in 2021.
The couple have been living together in a rented cottage in Huddersfield for the last two years.
Mr Mitchell previously hit back at the haters, telling The Sun: “I’ve been branded a paedophile, a groomer, a dirty old man and far worse.
“It’s par for the course for people who hide behind computer screens and keyboards and it makes me feel pessimistic about how society is panning out.
“I never thought I’d fall in love again let alone with a woman so much younger than me but you can’t legislate who you meet.”
Ms McMahon, from Nottingham, meanwhile, has no qualms either about taking on the trolls who blast her for the age gap: “I’ve been labelled online as a gold digger, an embarrassment and the worst was one who told me to kill myself,” she says.
“People will think I must have daddy issues – I definitely don’t. I want people to simply not judge others not so quickly.
“I tend to answer them and that usually shuts them up!”
She admitted she didn’t even know who he was when they met in a bar after she spilled a drink on him.
They exchanged numbers and messaged back and forth for months before meeting up the following year at a Frankie and Benny’s for breakfast.
Jonny is semi-retired, happily divorced and lives with his girlfriend of four yearsJonny Mitchell / Abi McMahon
Jonny Mitchell / Abi McMahonThe pair met on a night out in a Leeds bar in September 2021 when he was separated from his wife[/caption]
Abi didn’t know Jonny from the TV show when they met, but swapped numbers as she thought he was ‘handsome’Jonny Mitchell / Abi McMahon
Jonny Mitchell / Abi McMahonJonny said he is not ‘mentally or physically’ able to have more kids and doesn’t want to have them with Abi[/caption]
Channel 4Jonny, 53, (centre), pictured with schoolboy Jack, left, and Mr Steer, right, gained fans as the original head teacher in the first series of the C4 show when it was first broadcast 12 years ago[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
