‘Age is a just a number’, according to a man who has a five decade age gap with his wife

The pair who have a 54-year age gap are celebrating their sixth anniversary together.

Almeda and Gary Hardwick married in 2015, two weeks after meeting at her son Robert’s funeral.

At the time Gary was 17 and had recently split up with a 77-year-old and Almeda was 71, but they’re now celebrating six years together.

Despite harsh backlash and various ups and downs, including Amleda’s heart attack, the couple are stronger than ever and admit that the sex is still great.

Almeda and Gary married in a ceremony which he arranged for just $243 in six days.

After marrying the pair moved into Almeda’s house with one of her grandsons who is three years older than her new husband.

“I wasn’t looking for a young man, but Gary just came along,” said Almeda. “I just knew straight away that he was the one.”

The duo are now celebrating their sixth anniversary together and have no regrets.

The couple, who had sex for the first time on their wedding night, previously described each other as ‘wonderful lovers’.

“It was wonderful, beyond my wildest dreams,” revealed Gary previously in a candid interview with Fabulous Digital.

“She really is my dream woman and the physical side of our relationship couldn’t be better.”

They told their love story on Loose Women in 2020, Almeda recalled: ‘I just came out with it and said to him, ‘Look, I’m 71 and you’re 17. Am I too old for you?’ He squeezed my hand, grinned, and replied: “Age is just a number.”’

That night, after returning to Lisa’s with the others, Gary surprised her with red roses and a bracelet for her birthday which had been a few days before. Then they shared their first tender kiss under the moonlight outside on a bench.

“It made me feel like a teenager again,” smiled Almeda.

From then on, they started seeing each other every night, and got the blessing of most friends and family, including Gary’s mum Tammy, then 48, and his grandmother Carolyn, then 71.

Now, on the pair’s anniversary, Gary shared a video on their TikTok accounted showing a picture of the loved-up couple every year since they met.

He captioned the video: “So many more wonderful years to come.”

Gary said: “Almeda is so young at heart that age never bothers us, we never really think about it. I just know that God answered my prayers that day she walked into my life.”

@_garyandalmeda_

I forever cherish our love. ❤️💍 #agegap#agegapcouple#agegaprelationship#garyandalmeda#loveislove#beyou

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Almeda told how she had been married before, for 43 years – but in a YouTube video admitted Gary was her “soulmate”.

“I was married for 43 years and there wasn’t a lot of kissy, huggy stuff going on… no romance.

“[My current relationship] it’s a whirlwind.”

This story originally appeared on U.S. Sun and has been reproduced with permission.