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Kiwi couple with 25-year difference featured on UK show 'Age Gap Love'

Author
NZ Herald,
Publish Date
Sat, 24 Nov 2018, 3:31PM

Kiwi couple with 25-year difference featured on UK show 'Age Gap Love'

Author
NZ Herald,
Publish Date
Sat, 24 Nov 2018, 3:31PM

New Zealander Danyon is 25 years younger than his partner Claire and younger than her eldest child - but that didn't stop the couple from starting a romance.

The 22-year-old Kiwi was a friend of Claire's 19-year-old son and has now had to get used to being his stepdad.

Claire, 47, is originally from Bristol, UK, but the couple live together in Masterton.

Their relationship is the topic of this week's episode of popular UK reality show Age Gap Love, which features relationships between people with big age gaps.

The couple believe their 25-year age gap is more widely accepted in New Zealand than it would be if they lived in Britain.

Photo / Channel 5
Photo / Channel 5

"I think the population [of New Zealand] is quite laid-back. People don't judge so much here as they do in other countries," Claire said.

"I'm more likely to get high-fived than a negative comment."

That doesn't mean they don't have their bad moments.

Claire admits on the show she sometimes struggles, wondering: "How will he possibly find me attractive in 20 years' time?

"How will I cope with the fact that lots of people will find him really attractive, and why would he want to stay with me?"

Danyon has a much more laid-back approach to the age difference:

"I think it's terrific because these things don't actually stress me at all, I don't see it happening. I love her and that's as far as it goes," he said.

He was a friend of her son's. Now he's his stepdad. Photo / Channel 5
He was a friend of her son's. Now he's his stepdad. Photo / Channel 5

Danyon's main worry, when the relationship began, was how Claire's children would see him, a young man, as a stepdad.

"I was more worried about if everyone in the family didn't think I would fit in, if I wouldn't be compatible," he told the show.

Luckily, it all went well and Claire's children really relate to him.

"I think he does really well, they relate to him. I think that's one of the benefits of having a young partner," she said.

Despite having been together for several years, he admits sometimes he still gets nervous that he might not be "as parental" as it should be.

"But everything seems to go fine," he adds.

"I feel like it keeps me more in check, when I was living on my own I'd tidy like once a week.

"I couldn't have stayed the same way, I needed to grow. She showed me how to realise things."

"And how to wash up," Claire added.

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