The gap fits
FOOTBALL star Ian Rush is set to marry a woman 22 years younger than him. The Liverpool legend, 57, has been dating Ronnie Wood and Sally Humphreys – 30 years
The 71-year-old rocker admits his 41-year-old wife often gets mistaken for his daughter. The pair have been married six years and have two-year-old twins. Sally says: “I know the age gap is there. And I wish it wasn’t, but it is.”
The age gap was maybe the least surprising thing when the Baywatch star got together with the Debenhams shop assistant from Wales. Now married, he is 66 and she’s 38.
He says: “For the longest time I didn’t think it was right to marry Hayley as I was so much older.”
Rod Stewart and Penny Lancaster – 26 years
Penny, 47, tamed notorious womaniser Rod, 74, when he put a ring on it in 2007. They have two kids together. Penny says: “I actually wanted to be with an older man, someone mature who’d been around the block. He has all the respect for a woman that younger men haven’t yet acquired.”
Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas – 25 years
Born on the same day a quarter of a century apart, the age difference hasn’t affected CZJ, 49, and her hubby, 74, who have been married for 18 years and have two children. She says: “Given the age difference, what’s remarkable is that we are so similar in so many ways. We have a laid-back, easy-going relationship.”
The Donald, 72, and 48-year-old former model Melania have been wed since 2005. According to reports, the secret of their successful marriage is never sharing a bathroom and sleeping in separate bedrooms at the White House.
An older woman for a change, this couple caused a scandal when they got together as he was 18 and she was 42. But Aaron, 28, says: “I’m an old soul and she’s a young soul. We don’t see an age gap, we just see each other.”
They’ve been together since 2002 and have one of the happiest marriages in Hollywood despite Harrison being 76 and Calista 54. The Ally McBeal star says: “Sometimes I even say, ‘Wow, I keep forgetting that he’s years older than me.’ It doesn’t factor into our relationship at all.”
Jason Statham and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley – 20 years
The actor, 51, and the model, 31, have been together since 2010 and had a son Jack in 2017. She says: “I feel older than my age. People tell me I have an old soul.” Carol Anthony, 35, since 2013. But that age difference is modest for some celebrities.
Here NADINE LINGE looks at famous age-gap relationships.
AGEING WELL: From top, ®
Hoff and Hayley, Penny and Rod, Harrison and Calista