A lesbian couple aged 37 years apart said they do not think about the age gap of almost four decades after getting married in 2019.
Julia Sellge Monteiro, a 26-year-old singer-songwriter and YouTuber, married Eileen de Freest, 63, in 2019 and made their wedding available to watch on Julia's YouTube channel.
The couple live together in Chelsea, west London, reports MyLondon.
Originally from Sao Paulo, Julia (known online as Julia Zelg) now has more than 250,000 followers, and her videos have been watched by over 40 million people.
She's prolific, posting new content twice a week, alongside working as a singer-songwriter. Eileen, hailing from New Jersey, is retired.
She has a YouTube channel of her own, but, given the demand, the couple decided to start creating more content together on Julia's account.
In their videos, they rate each other's outfits, film their travels together and, above all, share the intimacies of their relationship with their followers, from the big moments (their wedding) to the small (their morning routine).
The videos are tagged: "Lesbian Age Gap Couple."
"I think we're just lucky that we've had this unique opportunity to fall in love and we haven't been limited by our ages," says Eileen.
"What comes across [in our videos] is not that we're different in age, but that we're two people who really love each other."
They add that they are at a stage in their relationship where they don't even think about the age gap anymore.
"We're very used to it, and we don't even think about it," says Julia.
"But there are a few things that are different - I mean, I won't take Eileen hiking with me. And she knows different music and things from a different time."
Eileen agrees, saying: "We're lucky to have met somewhere in this magic middle".
She concedes that there are "definitely differences", like having different cultural frames of reference.
Eileen may have the benefit of experience, but she says their relationship has challenged her views on gender and pushed her feminism to become more intersectional.
"I've learned from [Julia] things that weren't part of my experience," she explains.
Their friends, they say, are a mix of ages - some closer to Eileen, some to Julia, and plenty in between.
They weren't surprised when Eileen and Julia introduced their new partners. As Eileen puts it: "My friends are open-minded. Nobody was too bothered about it...I've never had any kickback, have you?"
"No," Julia responds. "My friends have always been very supportive, but I've been with an older woman before, so they were kind of used to it anyway."
She adds: "We've never had any problems in public... people stare a little bit, but it could be our hair."
It was Eileen who made the first move on Tinder, swiping right and initiating an "intense" message conversation, before finally asking Julia out on a date.
Julia says: "We were supposed to go out for dinner, but Eileen was having a problem with her knee, so she asked if I wanted to come over to her place."
Instead, they ordered pizza and drank wine. Julia says: "We got on straight away. We just clicked...Eileen made me feel so comfortable."
Eileen may have made the first move, but it was Julia who popped the big question, pulling Eileen up on stage with her at a gig in London to get down on one knee (you can watch that on YouTube too).
"Love is love," Julia says simply, summarising what she wants viewers to take from her channel.
"As long as you're not harming anyone and you're just doing your best, you shouldn't be judged for that.
"Everybody should focus on being themselves and being kind to one another, instead of judging."
