Man, 23, who is dating a 50-YEAR-OLD widow he met on Tinder fires back at critics of the age-gap romance – despite admitting strangers regularly mistake his girlfriend for his MOM
A loved-up couple with a staggering 27-year age gap have responded to criticism of their unique relationship, despite admitting people often mistake them for mother and son.
Mickey Swearingon, 23, and Cherie Salinas, 50, say people often assume they are family members rather than romantic partners — a mistake they admit isn’t helped by the fact that Cherie’s son is the same age as her boyfriend.
The couple, from Katy, Texas, explained that they don’t care about being judged for their relationship and find the comments about being mother and son hilarious.
Mickey said: “I honestly don’t know how to answer when people say she’s my mother. It’s such a gray area and it’s about proving things to people about our relationship.
“We just want to be happy and if people have anything to say about it, let them.”
Mickey Swearingon, 23, and Cherie Salinas, 50, have criticized their 27-year age difference – after admitting people often mistake them for mother and son
The couple, from Katy, Texas, explained that they don’t care about being judged for their relationship and find comments about being mother and son hilarious.
The pair met on Tinder in April last year after Cherie’Her husband unfortunately died and she decided to try dating younger men.
Mickey said he had always been attracted to older women, but had never found someone who clicked as well as Cherie.
He said: ‘When I first saw her, all I could think of was how beautiful she was. She was just so perfect.
‘I’ve never had a serious relationship on Tinder, but we had our first date and haven’t left each other’s sides since.’
Cherie also confessed, “After my husband passed away, it took me some time to decide to start dating again, and I realized I was attracted to younger guys.
“(Mickey) was so cute when I talked to him before the date. I couldn’t wait to meet him. He was exactly what I needed at that moment.”
As their first date came to an end, they decided to continue the date, saying it was love at first sight.
Soon after, they became inseparable and their relationship became serious, which meant it was time to talk about it openly with their families.
The pair met on Tinder in April last year after Cherie’s husband sadly died and she decided to try dating younger men.
Mickey said he had always been attracted to older women, but had never found someone who clicked with him as well as Cherie
Mickey’s mother was hesitant at first and worried about her son, but she has since managed to come to terms with the age difference after spending time with Cherie.
He revealed: ‘When I first started having age gap relationships, my mother wasn’t very supportive because she just thought an older woman would use me.
‘But when she met Cherie, she saw how happy we were and she immediately warmed to her.
“When you come into contact with something like this, it’s inevitable that there will be a difficult time, but we don’t care what people say and we’re just happy to have our families behind us.”
Cherie also talked about how her family has been incredibly supportive, including her son, who is the same age as Mickey. They even started to become very good friends.
‘My son has already met him and they get on really well, which is always nice with something like this.
Cherie also talked about how her family was incredibly supportive, including her son who is the same age as Mickey – they even started to become very good friends
Mickey concluded: ‘People have such a misconception about age gap relationships, they think there must be something weird going on, but I just love the maturity level’
“A lot of my family hasn’t met Mickey yet, but they support me and are just happy because I’m happy.”
Cherie explained: ‘There’s so much stigma around relationships like ours, and it’s largely untrue. We just love being together, no matter what people say.”
And Mickey concluded, “People have such a misconception about age gap relationships, they think there must be something weird going on, but I just love the level of maturity that comes with it.
“If we get hate online, we just brush it off. We are really happy and nothing will get in the way of that.’