It's heartening to know that love isn't bound by generation.
After all, age is just a number, right?
But when spouses are younger than their partner's adult kids, things get weird fast.
These reality star relationships feature some very awkward age gaps.
Before Liam Payne was heating up the Fifty Shades Freed soundtrack, the former One Direction-er
was heating up The X Factor, at least in the eyes of Cheryl Cole.
This is pretty awkward once you consider Cole was a cool decade older than Payne way back
then.
"What's your name?"
"Liam."
"And what age are you?"
"14."
According to the Mirror, the shaggy-haired teen initially impressed Cole with a rendition
of "Fly Me to the Moon" during his 2008 X Factor appearance.
And it was like at first sight.
After Simon Cowell gave Payne his patented verbal beating, Cole claimed,
"I like you, I think you're really cute."
"Thanks."
"I think you've got charisma.
You give us that little cheeky wink."
It still took a few years, two divorces, and another X Factor appearance for the singer
to link up with the One Direction star in 2015.
Of course, a 10 year age gap wouldn't be all that strange if Cole hadn't met Payne before
he was even old enough to drive.
As of late 2019, the couple share a child, but have called it quits on their relationship.
"She's a fantastic mom, I can't complain, she's absolutely awesome."
Courtney Stodden is a true career reality star.
She's appeared on Lifetime's The Mother/Daughter Experiment, Couples Therapy, and Big Brother,
and she's made cameos on Hollywood Hillbillies, Dr. Phil, and The Doctors.
She even premiered her own reality show in 2019, where she serves as co-executive producer.
Nonetheless, the thing Stodden is still most famous for is her controversial relationship
with Green Mile actor Doug Hutchison.
"I was very, very happy.
I got what I wanted."
Their 35 year age gap was particularly uncomfortable when everyone realized Stodden's parents actually
gave their consent for the marriage.
"We got engaged without meeting in person.
It was like overnight, we got married."
According to Fox News, the teen should have been celebrating her Sweet 16 when she married
her manager hubby in 2011.
He was 51 years old, and things were rocky as heck, from the start.
After multiple separations, the couple divorced for good in 2016.
Stodden told Us Weekly a year later,
"On one hand, we are...our bond is so, you know, deep and profound."
But she added:
"In order to, you know, just remain friends hopefully, I just want to part and try to
work on each other."
In 2018, Vanderpump Rules firecracker Lala Kent officially retired the phrase "my man,"
which she used to describe her then-46-year-old movie producer boyfriend Randall Emmett while
protecting his identity amidst his divorce.
She shouted the phrase from his private jet, and while referencing the Range Rover he bought
her.
She also dropped the term while discussing the Gucci slides he confiscated amidst a very
temporary breakup.
"He took my Gucci slides.
But then he gave them back to me."
According to Entertainment Tonight, Kent was able to go public with her relationship once
her beau inked the divorce papers, and it seems like the couple is stronger than ever
despite their 18-year age gap.
"I let him hit it the first night, and we were inseparable."
They've managed to endure the 0% Rotten Tomatoes score for Gotti, which Emmett produced, somehow
made it through Kent accosting James Kennedy's girlfriend, and endured actual tragedies and
challenges like the death of Kent's father and her struggle with alcoholism.
In the wake of their engagement, their 18-year age gap only gets a little awkward when you
realize the 40-something father has very continuous, serious beef with James Kennedy, one of the
youngest cast members on Vanderpump Rules.
You'd think he'd have something better to do, but you know what they say, the couple
that publicly feuds together stays together.
These two truly seem like a match made in Hollywood.
The Kardashians somehow getting wrapped up in the world of Justin Bieber is one of the
most bizarre timelines in Hollywood history, especially because it doesn't seem like Kris
Jenner would tolerate neighborhood eggings.
But if the rumored relationship between eldest Kardashian sister Kourtney and the "I'm Sorry"
singer wasn't bizarre enough, the fact that Mama Jenner is dating one of Bieber's team
members tips it right over the edge.
"What's going on in this world?
It's gonna be amazing."
According to People magazine, Kris connected with Corey Gamble, a former tour manager for
the Beebz, in 2014 amid her divorce from Caitlyn Jenner, but her daughters weren't thrilled
about their mom's new guy.
"We're like, 'Well, okay, who is this guy?
We don't know you.'"
Corey is about the same age as Kim, and in an episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians,
Khloe admitted the pair's 25-year age difference was quote "creepy."
"We're all different.
We all put up with each other's s---."
Despite the initial push back, it seems like the Kardashian sisters eventually welcomed
Corey into their clan.
The couple is still going strong as of late 2019, and Kris even admitted on an episode
of the show,
"Corey is really taking care of me like no one ever has in my entire life."
If Lord Disick could find the one loophole that allowed him to be knighted into a half-baked
version of British royalty, it's not really all that shocking that he convinced a teenager
to fall in love with him.
"I just feel like, I like to change it up, I don't know."
According to Us Weekly, the Keeping Up With the Kardashians star has been romantically
linked to Sofia Richie since 2017.
At the time, Sofia was 19 years old and Scott was 34, which wouldn't be nearly as uncomfortable
if their relationship wasn't filled with weird politics.
"It is definitely a really hard and awkward situation."
Justin Bieber once again worked his way into the world of the Kardashians because Sofia
happens to be the singer's ex.
Justin was also linked to Kourtney Kardashian around the same time Sofia shacked up with
Disick.
In essence, the stars traded partners, but Sofia's father, famed singer Lionel Richie,
was less than pleased with his little girl's budding love affair with the fake lord.
He told Us Weekly, quote, "I'm scared to death, are you kidding me?"
Despite the couple's massive age gap, Scott described Sofia as quote "different," and
swore his relationship with her was a move in a positive direction.
On the Kardashians Season 15 premiere, he admitted,
"This is the first time I've ever been with anybody other than Kourtney, so it's definitely
different but it's been a really good thing for me."
In our minds, Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez will forever be a thing.
But unfortunately for us, JLo isn't the only one who's moved on from their marriage.
Mark Anthony briefly dated a reality star-slash-heiress who was 23 years his junior.
According to the Daily Mail, the singer went public with his relationship with Made In
Chelsea star and Topshop heiress, Chloe Green, in 2013, before his divorce with Lopez was
even finalized.
Green, who was 21 years old when she started dating the then 44-year-old singer, is two
years younger than Marc's eldest daughter Ariana.
But Anthony's rebound didn't last very long.
The Daily Mail reports that Greene was so smitten that she moved to the United States
to be with her new beau, but he allegedly dumped her a few weeks later.
Hugh Hefner and Crystal Harris truly proved that age is nothing but a number.
Despite their enormous 60 year age gap, Harris wed the late Playboy mogul on New Year's Eve
in 2012, and remained with him in the infamous mansion until his death five years later,
according to AOL.
His passing was not easy on the model, who admitted in an interview with Access that
she struggled with his absence.
She said,
"The first, like, three months were really, really hard, and from then on I just thought,
'Okay, I need to get out of here, and go do something.'"
That "something" ended up being a world-wide travel adventure, where Crystal hit up places
like Japan, and Mexico, all in the name of quote "finding herself"…And maybe getting
that perfect post for Instagram.
"'Cause I was such a part of Hef's world for ten years, and, you know, at the mansion most
of the time, so I'm kind of trying to find myself."
According to E! News, Harris was 26 years old when she married the 86-year-old icon.
There's no doubt that the relationship was loving, but it was also a little uncomfortable,
at least when it came to speculation about intimacy.
Harris finally squashed our curiosities and divulged the nitty gritty details of their
love life, telling Access in 2018,
"You know that point and time in his life, that wasn't, you know, all that important
to him, so."
Erika Girardi, better known by her stage name Erika Jayne, is one of the most perplexing
of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills cast members.
The star, who goes exactly nowhere without her glam squad, reportedly spends quote "$40,000
a month on hair, makeup, and clothes," according to E! News.
"For Christmas, I got a chinchilla coat.
For Valentine's day, I got a new Porsche.
So…that's pretty good right?"
While she claims to pay all her own bills, there's no doubt she has at least a little
bit of her husband's money to fall back on.
But don't get it twisted.
The star, who proves age is nothing but a number, didn't marry her husband Tom Girardi
for his reported $30 million net worth.
"I'm not really worried about other people's marriages, I don't know why they should be
worried about mine."
Erika is 33 years younger than her famed lawyer husband.
According to People magazine, they met in Los Angeles when she was 27 years old, raising
her son as a single mother, and cocktail waitressing to make ends meet.
After a solid year of friendship, the attorney finally asked her on a date.
She moved in with him shortly thereafter, and they were engaged in just six months.
Though they've been married for nearly two decades as of 2019, Erika is still fielding
questions about the age gap.
She told People magazine,
"Everyone thought I was marrying him to have a baby and lock down the money, as ugly as
that sounds.
I see it less and less now."
It's almost impossible not to rubberneck at Angela and Michael, the breakout stars of
90 Day Fiance: Before the 90 Days.
"This year, he is all about this white chocolate."
If the couple's relationship wasn't already awkward because Angela basically treats the
streets of Africa like it's The Maury Povich Show, their 22-year age gap causes some very
uncomfortable problems.
At the end of Season 2, Angela had an absolute meltdown when Michael called her his quote
"elder," despite the fact that she is, in fact, his elder.
"I'm not your elder.
I'm not your damn...Michael you just pissed me off."
If that wasn't enough, they have spent the better part of Season 3 discussing their fertility
options and begging Angela's daughter to donate an egg.
Apparently, as fans will never be able to purge from their minds, Angela can quote "tote"
it in her "beautiful uterus" but she's only got one egg left, which could very well be
fried given the sheer amount it seems like she tans.
"Don't ask me to have y'all baby."
"I can tote it, I just need ya egg."
If your head is spinning, you're not alone.
Angela's lonely egg instantly became an internet meme with viewers posting pics of sad eggs,
like this user who titled this one, quote "Angela's only egg."
Ashley Darby might one of the youngest members of The Real Housewives of Potomac, but the
star's husband is nothing of the sort.
According to the Daily Mail, the pair shares a nearly 30-year age gap, with Ashley in her
early thirties and her Australian hubby Michael in his late-50s, as of 2019.
"The last thing I want is for Michael to think that I'm with him for his money."
Though the age gap is apparent, it doesn't seem that strange unless you frame it in the
context of family.
According to the Daily Mail, the former beauty queen, who met Michael when she was 18 years
old, is two years younger than his son from a previous relationship.
When the pair tied the knot after dating for four years, Ashley became a step-mom to Michael's
21-year-old and 24-year-old children.
At the time, she was just 22.
Because of the huge age gap, Ashley is also staying practical about having children.
She gave birth to her first child in 2019, but isn't sure how many more kids may be in
their future.
She told People magazine,
"Michael has some limitations and he's practical about his lifestyle and his age.
He's very practical.
Like, 'I don't want to be in this position of not being able to be there for my kids.'"
Check out one of our newest videos right here!
Plus, even more Nicki Swift videos about your favorite celebs are coming soon.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one.