When Charlotte Marshall began posting on Twitter about her obsession with Holby City at 21, she never thought it would lead her to the love of her life.
But after Julie Kerry, then 49 and married, began replying to her tweets, the pair bonded over their mutual love of the British drama series, and it soon turned into something more.
Now, the couple have been happily together for nine years, but their 27-year age gap has led to regular accusations of ‘grooming’ and ‘mummy issues’.
Charlotte, now 30, recalls: ‘At the time we met, I was very active on Twitter. I was a very big film and TV buff.
‘I loved watching all the old shows and I’d try to tweet celebrities. I was obsessed with Holby City and a lesbian couple – Serena and Bernie – which they had at the time.
‘Julie would like my tweets and reply to me, then one day she sent me a private message.’
Mum-of-one Julie was married at the time, but that didn’t stop the pair from getting pretty personal, with the conversation moving from Holby to their love lives.
‘We talked a lot about relationships because I wasn’t sure what I wanted,’ says Charlotte.
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‘We just clicked’
It was a matter of months before talking online no longer satisfied them, and in December 2016, Julie travelled three-and-a-half hours on a train from Coventry so they could meet face-to-face in Pontypool, South Wales.
‘I was very hesitant, I was worried,’ Charlotte says. ‘I struggle a lot with my appearance and my weight and I was scared about her not liking me in person. But my friend encouraged me to do it.’
As soon as she picked Julie up from the station though, the connection was instant and her fears melted away.
‘We spent the day together and we just clicked,’ she says. ‘When she was going back, I was crying coming out of the station. I felt like my heart was getting ripped out.’
At the time, Julie ‘wasn’t looking for anything’ – not only because she was married to her husband of 20 years, but she also hadn’t come out to her friends or family.
However, the following January, the now-57-year-old spent anotherweekend in Pontypool, and the pair continued to make trips back and forth to see each other.
The ultimatum
Despite their deepening relationship, there was a major elephant in the room for the pair.
Charlotte, who’s currently out of work, explains: ‘I didn’t want to be the other person in Julie’s marriage. We wanted to be respectful to her husband.
‘I basically gave Julie an ultimatum and told her to speak to him before we took things further.’
Age gap relationships
Julie felt the same, saying: ‘I didn’t want to progress any further until I had spoken to him. We both agreed that it was the right thing to do. The news about my sexuality was new for him.
‘I told him our marriage hadn’t been working for the past 10 years and it was best for us to move on.’
Meeting Charlotte was the push healthcare assistant Julie needed to ‘be [her] true self outwardly for the first time’, so she came out to friends and family, before moving in with Charlotte in May that year.
‘I came out to my son first and he was absolutely great with it,’ she says.
‘Both my parents were lovely. My dad said “well it’s about time because I’ve always known”.’
It wasn’t the first time he’d raised questions either.
Thinking back to her wedding day decades before, Julie recalls: ‘Just before I walked down the aisle, my dad pulled me back and said “you don’t have to do this, I know this isn’t you”. I said “don’t be silly, let’s get on with it”.’
Judgement and acceptance
Despite the significant age gap between the two of them, there was no backlash from family and friends when the couple moved in together.
‘There were three important people in my life who I had to tell about Charlotte – my son and my parents,’ Julie says.
‘All three of them were absolutely amazing. My son was proud of me for being my true self and he and Charlotte get on great.’
Like any couple, they’ve had some difficult times, especially when Charlotte’s mum, stepmum, and gran, all died within a year of each other at the height of the Covid pandemic.
But while it was tough to cope at points, Charlotte says she ‘wouldn’t have got through it if it wasn’t for Julie’.
Unfortunately however, people on social media aren’t always as accepting as their loved ones have been – particularly when it comes to their age difference.
Charlotte explains: ‘We do have negative comments. It’s not often. Everyone’s entitled to their opinion but I don’t like when they try to push their opinions on someone else,.
‘We’ve had the odd few comments of “is that your mum?”, “that’s disgusting”, or “you were groomed”.
‘Someone said “there’s another young girl seduced by an older woman”. I replied and joked “actually, I seduced her”.’
Having mummy issues is another accusation levelled at Charlotte, but she insists that she’s more mature than Julie.
‘I moved out at 19 and I was very mature at that age,’ she says. ‘Even before I met Julie, I was the designated driver when I went out. I’d hang out with people in their 50s and 60s. I was very old-fashioned for my age and I still am.’
Charlotte also refutes commenters’ accusations that Julie groomed her, adding: ‘People throw around the word “grooming” but as long as you’re of adult age, I don’t see the problem,’ Charlotte says.
‘Obviously, there are going to be people that don’t agree with it. But we’ve been together for nine years and we’re still going strong.
‘I probably love her more than the first day I met her.’
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