Lauren Kerr, 26, from Middlesbrough UK, a support worker, met Anthony Shaylor, 55, from Stockport his co-worker at a nightclub in 2017.
Their first impression of each other was not really a good one as Anthony was the one who is tasked to escort Lauren out of a nightclub after she got into a fight.
After the incident, Lauren started her new job as a support worker, but she was shocked to see Anthony starting his new job at the very same company as well.
“We met at a nightclub in Middlesbrough on a Saturday and he was a doorman,” Lauren said. “I was in trouble for fighting in the club and he escorted me out. Then on Monday, I started a new job and he was standing there!”
In 2017, they both started jobs as support workers at the same company and a romance has blossomed, and the couple began dating.
For Anthony, it was love at second sight and for Lauren, she was attracted to Anthony’s charisma and how he carried himself, but it took her a little longer to fall in love with him.
Despite their 29-year age gap, Lauren and Anthony said it does not bother either of them and fortunately they had the full support of their families who wants the best for the couple.
In April 2020, they welcomed their first daughter into the world, Ruby, 1.
According to Lauren, the advantage of being with a man almost three decades older than her is that Anthony has a wealth of life experience, secure, stable, and knows who he is and what he wants in life.
Lauren also finds it attractive that Anthony is determined to work hard and provide for her and Ruby.
When they were out in public, the couple found strangers staring at them if they show any signs of affection towards one another. Lauren has also been asked on several occasions if she is Anthony’s daughter. But she says that she learned to laugh it off.
The lovebirds wanted to tell the world that regardless of age, “love is love”.
“There are twenty-nine years between us and it’s never really affected us all that much apart from comments from outsiders about how it’s inappropriate,” Lauren said. “Sometimes people stare when they see us together or make comments asking if I’m Anthony’s daughter.”
“In the beginning, it bothered me a lot but as time went on I laughed it off,” she added. “We chose to ignore that and loved each other more despite it.”
“Anthony isn’t bothered at all by what others think,” Lauren said. “Our families reacted really well to our relationship and just want us to be happy and I get on really well with my in-laws and they are family to me.”
Anthony is now divorced from his 25 years relationship and had a 19-year-old son.
“Anthony has a son who is nineteen but he does not see him due to his ex-wife not allowing him,” Lauren explained. “He pays child maintenance which sometimes affects us due to the amount as it puts pressure on us financially.”
“Sometimes Anthony gets down about not seeing his son but I think our daughter Ruby helps a lot with this,” she said. “I think the benefits for me to being in a relationship with someone older is they’ve seen life and experienced a lot.”
“They’re more secure and stable, they know who they are and what they want and I don’t think you find that with younger people,” Lauren said. “He is very confident in who he is and that’s massively attractive to me.”
“Also he provides and works really hard to look after me and my daughter,” she added. “You never know what you could find in a person if you don’t give it a chance due to their age.”
“It’s a small thing in the grand scheme of things and actually affects others more than it affects our own relationship.”
The couple is about to get married and try for a second child. They also wanted to buy a house and travel together as a happy family.
“The plan for the future is to get married and have another child,” Lauren said. “We want to buy a house and a campervan and travel the world and we will always do it together, as a family.”
“For others concerned about falling in love with an older or younger person, trust your instincts about how you feel about that person and go with it,” she said. “You won’t regret it.”