IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Celebrity couples you didn’t know have a huge age difference

Love can be found in the least expected circumstances and for some celebrity couples, it came to them by looking beyond years of difference. 

While more than a few eyebrows would raise especially with the most recent relationship confirmation of Coco Martin and Julia Montes, it is worth noting that such is not inherently the case for other May-December romances. 

There are those celebrity couples with huge age differences who got into their relationships as consenting adults, and whose love has endured through the years. Such commitments are proof that numbers become insignificant when the heart pursues what it wants.

Then again, there are those celebrities you didn’t know have that huge age difference. Come to think of it. Check out the list below and tell us who your favorite celebrity couples are.

Ria Atayde and Zanjoe Marudo — 9 years

Atayde, 31, and Marudo, 40, had been on several trips together with their celebrity circle before their courtship status was disclosed by the actress’ mom, Sylvia Sanchez, in October 2022. The pair then confirmed their relationship in November 2022 by showing couple photos from a Japan trip.

In January 2022, Atayde opened up about her relationship with the actor and said that although Marudo is from an older batch, they get along really well as they are each other’s fans. The actress also noted that he makes her feel valued, and that their relationship is founded on “mutual respect and mutual admiration.”

Sanchez has already given her seal of approval to the actor, whom the veteran actress described as a kind-hearted and respectful person. Marudo also seems to have built a good relationship with Atayde’s family as he has been joining in their trips and gatherings. 

Catriona Gray and Sam Milby — 10 years

In 2020, Milby marked his 36th birthday by making public his relationship with then 26-year-old Gray. While the actor-singer said that they were taking things slow at the time given their 10-year age gap, he already declared the beauty queen as “the one” for him.

The couple has been low-key about their romance until February 2023, when they announced their engagement. Both Gray and Milby have remained tight-lipped about the details of their wedding, although the beauty queen disclosed that it will happen in 2024 as they want to take their time and enjoy the bliss of being an engaged couple.

Richard Gomez and Lucy Torres

Now this is one couple whose relationship has spanned the test of time. Gomez and Torres have been married for 25 long years and have been blessed with their only child Juliana. But did you know that they have a nine-year age difference?

In 1993, then 18-year-old Torres met Gomez on a set of a TV commercial. Although Torres admittedly had a crush on the actor, the two did not immediately get romantically involved as Gomez had only pursued her years later. Torres said they never labeled their relationship prior to their engagement in 1997 and wedding in 1998. 

For their silver anniversary, the couple renewed their vows at the Sts. Peter and Paul Parish in Ormoc, Leyte, the same parish where they first exchanged their “I dos.” 

Billy Crawford and Coleen Garcia

Crawford, 41, and Garcia, 30, got married in 2018 after four years of dating. In a 2016 interview, Crawford said that they “clicked” despite their 11-year age gap because they “balance each other out.”

The couple, who welcomed their firstborn Amari in September 2020, celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary last April by going on a motorcycle trip and enjoying “spontaneous, last-minute plans” in Tagaytay.

Sarah Lahbati and Richard Gutierrez

Lahbati and Gutierrez, who have a nine-year age difference, had been a couple for seven years before they tied the knot in March 2020.

The actors have two sons, namely Zion and Kai. Meanwhile, the couple has been apparently giving some thought to having a baby number three, as per their social media pages.

Jessy Mendiola and Luis Manzano

Mendiola and Manzano had been together for four years before the actor-TV host popped the question in 2020. The couple, who have an 11-year age gap, exchanged “I dos” in an intimate ceremony in February 2021. 

Mendiola then gave birth in December 2022 to their first child, Isabella Rose, who is fondly called by her parents “Peanut” and “Rosie.”

The couple appear to be looking forward to having another addition to their family as they recently joked about “making one more” baby. EDV

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