For avid followers of the showbiz world, nothing can be more gripping than a love story, unlikely or otherwise.
And while many celebrity couples have raised an eyebrow or two, some names have also caught the eye for their romances with their older partners.
In some cases, such as Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Nick Jonas, age is nothing but a number, with both among the stars who have ditched dating to find love with someone far older than their years.
In some cases, it’s led to long-term joy and matrimony, with marriage and children on the horizon.
However for others, it’s proven a struggle with their relationships eventually coming to a sad end.
Here are the biggest stars who aimed to find happiness with an older partner…
Aaron Taylor Johnson
Aaron Taylor-Johnson was in a brief relationship with his Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging costar Georgia Groome, reportedly dating for around a year
But while working on Nowhere Boy in 2009, he met his now wife Sam Taylor-Johnson, who is 24 years his senior
Aaron was in brief relationship with his Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging costar Georgia Groome, reportedly dating for around a year until 2009.
But while working on Nowhere Boy that same year, he met his now wife Sam Taylor-Johnson, who is 24 years his senior. There’s nothing to suggest there was any crossover.
The pair announced their engagement in 2009 after just a few months of dating.
The couple have a fiercely private relationship and have previously caused controversy within the public due to their age gap.
They have two daughters together, Wylda, 14, and Romy, 13, and Sam also has two older daughters, Angelica, 27, and Jessie, 18, from a previous marriage to art dealer Jay Jopling, who she split from in 2008.
Sam has acknowledged that their age difference makes them ‘a bit of anomaly’ compared to most other couples, but she doesn’t understand why it’s still a big deal.
Asked if their age gap ever shows in terms of different interests or reference points, she told The Guardian’s Saturday magazine: ‘No, it never does. I mean, it’s coming up now because you’re asking.
‘And it comes up on the outside perspective of people who don’t know us, because I guess people will always.
‘We’re a bit of an anomaly, but it’s that thing: after 14 years you just think, surely by now it doesn’t really matter?’
Tom Kaulitz
Tom Kaulitz of band Tokio Hotel was married to Ria Sommerfeld before he started dating Heidi Klum – who is 16 years his senior (pictured earlier this week)
Tom Kaulitz of band Tokio Hotel was married to Ria Sommerfeld before he started dating Heidi Klum – who is 16 years his senior.
The couple had split in 2016 after a year of marriage, but their divorce wasn’t finalised until September 2018, six months after he and Heidi started dating.
At the time, Tom cited irreconcilable differences as the reason for the split, and at the time insisted it was ‘mutual and amicable.’
Heidi and Tom went onto tie the knot in February 2019, less than a year after they started dating.
The fashion star shares Henry, Johan and Lou with her ex Seal while she had eldest daughter Leni with her ex Flavio Briatore.
Last year, the German supermodel gushed over the singer and said their energetic bedroom antics kept her young.
She told The Times: ‘I have no back or knee pain and I have my husband’, before giggling their sex life was ‘very good’ and insisting she’d found her match in the hunk.
Heidi also said how she disliked the term ‘toy boy’, referring to the younger male partner of an older woman, because she doesn’t think their age difference matters.
In fact, the America’s Got Talent judge admitted she and Tom sometimes joke about their age difference.
She said: ‘He has to read the menu at dinner or I have to take a photo and zoom in if I forget my reading glasses, but we joke about it.’
Nick Jonas
While pop star Nick no doubt has an illustrious dating history, one of his more high-profile romances came when he enjoyed a brief fling with model Georgia Fowler
However, the pair’s romance appeared to fizzle out, and in May 2018, it was revealed that Nick was dating Priyanka Chopra, who is 10 years his senior (pictured in 2019)
While pop star Nick no doubt has an illustrious dating history, one of his more high-profile romances came when he enjoyed a brief fling with model Georgia Fowler.
In 2017 it was revealed that the pair were casually dating, and they were pictured leaving his brother Joe’s engagement party together.
However, the pair’s romance appeared to fizzle out soon after, and in May 2018, it was revealed that Nick was dating Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra, who is 10 years his senior.
At the time Nick was just 25 when he and Priyanka started dating, and the actress herself has previously admitted she tried to ‘put a stop’ to their relationship due to the age gap.
Speaking on the Armchair Expert podcast, Chopra explained: ‘I didn’t want to engage as much at the time… I was also like 35, Nick was 25.’
But then she decided to give the relationship a go years later. The 40-year-old actress started dating pop star in May 2018.
The couple married in December 2018 and welcomed daughter Malti Marie in 2022.
She recalled: ‘I really put a stop to it in a way because I judged the book by the cover. I said, ‘I wanna settle down. I have been there and done the fun dating things. was like ready to get serious.”
After first getting a message from Jonas via Twitter back in 2016, they went on to meet in person a year later in 2017 and ended up keeping in touch via text.
However, Chopra stated that she was still reluctant to jump into another relationship because she was worried about making the same dating ‘mistakes’ again.
She added: ‘I kept making the same mistakes. A lot of the pattern in my relationships was me feeling gaslit because I gave that kind of power to the people that I was with, where I was like, ‘You come first.”
However, the actress eventually put her reservations aside and struck up a romance with Jonas in May of 2018 and they have been together ever since.
The happy couple revealed that they had become engaged after just a few months of dating.
The pair went on to tie the knot during a wedding ceremony that took place in her native India in December of 2018.
Jason Mamoa
Best known for his role as the rogue DC hero Aquaman, Jason was previously engaged to McLeod’s Daughters star Simmone Jade Mackinnon
However, their engagement ended when Jason started dating actress Lisa Monet, and they welcomed their first chld together just a year later
Best known for his role as the rogue DC hero Aquaman, Jason was previously engaged to McLeod’s Daughters star Simmone Jade Mackinnon before his rise to fame.
The couple were together for six years after meeting on the set of Baywatch, and got engaged in 2004.
However, their engagement was called off in 2006 when Jason met actress Lisa Bonet, who is 11 years his senior.
Shortly after their split, it was revealed that Lisa was pregnant and several months later in July 2007, she and Jason welcomed their first child together, Lola, 17.
At the time, Mackinnon told Confidential that the news of Bonet’s pregnancy was a shock, saying: ‘Honestly, it’s a shock and of course this news has been upsetting.
‘But I have moved on and I am very happy.’
Jason and Lisa married in 2007, and the star previously shared he had a crush on her long before they met.
‘Ever since I was eight years old and I saw her on TV, I was like, ‘Mommy, I want that one!” he said on The Late Late Show.
The couple married in 2007, but in 2022 announced they were separating. Their divorce was settled in 2024 (pictured in 2020)
‘I’m like, ‘I’m going to stalk you for the rest of my life and I’m going to get you.” I am a full-fledged stalker. I didn’t tell her that until we had two babies – otherwise, I’d be creepy and weird. I’ve always wanted to meet her. She was a queen, always.’
Jason and Lisa went onto have a second child, Nakoa-Wolf, 16, but in 2022 they shared the shock news that they were separating.
It wasn’t until two years later that Lisa official filed for divorce, and documents revealed that they had allegedly separated back in 2020.
Just days later, Jason and Lisa settled their divorce, with the couple agreeing to joint custody of their children.
The divorce was listed as ‘uncontested’ and both stars ‘waived the right’ to seek or receive spousal support from one another.