LOCKING eyes for the first time at her son’s funeral, Amelda and Gary Hardwick knew they were destined to be together.
Despite the vast age gap – she was 71 and he was just 17 – they were determined to make their romance work and are now celebrating almost a decade together.
garyandalmeda/InstagramGary was just 17 when he met Imelda, 71, at her son’s funeral[/caption]
Gary has now paid a touching tribute to his “babydoll” to mark her 80th birthday, telling her: “You’re truly the love of my lifetime and I love you with every beat of my heart. Here’s to celebrating my queen.”
While the concept of dating someone much older or younger remains taboo, there are plenty of successful couples who would argue age is just a number.
Here we reveal the UK’s biggest age gap couples.
Enduring love
When 28-year-old Simon Martin met his wife Edna, then 68, few thought their relationship would go all the way.
Now 47 and 87 respectively, the couple have proved doubters wrong and celebrated 17 years of marriage last year.
It was love at first sight for the Somerset duo, who met at a concert in 2004 and have been going strong ever since.
They claim going on romantic adventures every day and treating each other with love and affection is the secret to their lasting love.
Last year Simon said: “We still go out together and walk hand-in-hand on our wheelers because we both struggle with our mobility.
Simon and Edna met at a concert in 2004 and have been together ever since
“We have actually inspired other people in age-gap relationships to take the next step and get married.
“Our friends and acquaintances have always been happy for us but of course, we just ignore any weird looks and comments.”
Gran Edna, who is a retired engineer, said: “We are still very much in love and keep our relationship alive through our little adventures.”
£150K inheritance
Philip met Florin on a gay dating app before getting married in 2017
In 2021, Philip Clements made headlines when he revealed he’d left the UK to go and live with his toyboy lover in Bucharest, Romania.
The former vicar, 78, from Kent met Florin Marin, then 24, on a gay dating app and married him in 2017.
But soon after selling up, Philip grew tired of his husband’s late-night partying and moved back to the UK.
They later healed their rift, with Philip agreeing that Florin should spend time with people his own age at the weekends.
The pensioner told The Sun: “He must have space to be with younger people, it’s very important when there’s this big age difference. We’ve both learnt a lot.”
When Philip died in 2020, it was revealed Florin now receives a £2,000-a-month pension for the rest of his life, along with £150,000 from Philip’s life insurance policy, plus £100,000 worth of property.
Philip’s brother Anthony wasn’t happy, telling Mail Online: “Florin is nothing but a gold digger who set out to rob my brother from the moment they met. And now he has got what he wanted. The man is a disgrace.”
‘Mistaken for my dad’
HotSpot MediaMichaela says people often think Keith is her dad when they’re out and about[/caption]
Keith Manning had a new lease of life when he married Michaela and fathered a child with her.
The grandfather-of-seven from Bristol was 69 and she was 33 when they met on a cruise in 2010. Within 10 months, they’d married and had their son.
In 2015 Michaela insisted the age gap does not play a role in their relationship.
“I had always been interested in older men and Keith was just my type, she said.
“We’re just the same as any other couple, but admittedly Keith does get mistaken for my dad when we’re out.”
Keith added: “Michaela and my son help keep me feeling spritely, I’m forever running about playing games with them both in the garden.
‘We both have so much in common; we both love rock anthems and old films from the 1950s.
“When we met I was 68, which was the same age as Michaela’s dad, but I didn’t find it strange – I didn’t care about age, I was attracted to her and that was all that mattered.”
Michaela said she wasn’t worried about introducing Keith to her family because she had always dated older men.
“I wasn’t surprised that my dad, John, was really happy that I’d found such a gentleman,” she said.
Facebook lovers
Isabelle and Bayram married after he sent her a Facebook friend request
When gran-of-10 Isabell Diddle, 65, accepted a Facebook friend request from Bayram Boussada, 29, in May 2019, she never imagined it would lead to marriage.
She was initially dubious given he was much younger than her, but she gave in and got to know the Tunisian on the site.
After a few months she decided to make a trip to Madeira, Portugal, to meet her taxi driver lover for the first time.
Bayram wasted no time in proposing to her; they married in January 2020 at a registry in Madeira and celebrated with 100 well-wishers, including his family members.
In 2020 she said: “I know there are so many cons that go on, so I had my doubts and I was sceptical. I read stories about women like this and I never thought I’d be in this position.
“He’s never asked me for money, he’s never asked me for anything. He doesn’t care if I move there or he comes here, we just want to be together.
“I have family here, children and grandchildren, so I don’t want to leave.”
Bitter split
Iris Jones has slammed her toyboy lover for continuously taking huge sums of money from her
Like all relationships, age gap romances don’t always have a happy ending.
Iris Jones, 83, was on cloud nine thinking she had found the man of her dreams when she married Egyptian toyboy Mohamed Ibrahim, 37.
The pensioner famously gushed about their sex life during an interview on This Morning, but relations appear to have soured between the pair.
Iris recently took to Facebook to slam her former beau and his “money-grabbing” ways.
Despite pleas from concerned people not to hand over any cash to him, she claimed she kept giving him huge sums of money and even once flew to his home country to hand over £15,000.
She explained: “I had £40,000 in my bank account and I handed over my bank card to Mohamed every day and we were drawing 1,000 Egyptian pounds daily.
“This was to pay for living expenses, eating out, a honeymoon in Sharm el-Sheikh and generally enjoying the high life.”
Upon returning to the UK, she claims she found out he had fleeced her out of £20,000, leaving her with just £9,000.
She added: “Mohamed has never had a job and has never had any money. I used to say to people that we shared expenses, but my money paid for everything.”
After asking for more cash, despite already receiving over £50,000, Iris says she made him aware there was nothing left and decided to break up with him after a few difficult years together.
She ended by writing: “It was one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make, as my love for Mohamed was genuine but it was no good pretending that things would improve.”
Iris also claimed they’d begun to bicker a lot, telling Closer: “We used to have a great sex life but then, rather than making love, we ended up arguing all the time about anything and everything.”
‘Hard to keep up’
Kay Brooks’ friends and family could hardly believe it when she told them she had fallen madly in love with a man 50 years her senior.
Brian was dating Kay’s aunt before getting with her when that relationship ended in June 2011.
But the family was even more shocked to discover that it was 70-year-old Brian who eventually called time on their love story in 2013.
In an interview following the split, distraught Kay, then 21, said: “Brian might be old and wrinkly but I still love him and I think he’s gorgeous. I’m absolutely heartbroken and can’t stop crying.
“At first he wouldn’t give me a straight answer or tell me why it was over but after some discussion, I think I can understand his reasoning.
“He said he wants me to meet someone closer to my own age and go on to have children with them – but if he asked me to come back, I wouldn’t think twice.”
Explaining why he ended it, Brian said he often found himself out of breath during their love-making.
“I want to stay friends and I realise now she’s too young,” he said. “We got on as she’s mature but it was hard to keep up with her in the bedroom.”
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