Woman in 19-Year Age Gap Marriage ‘Politely Swerved’ Husband at First. What He Did Next Completely Changed Her Mind 

Content creator Emily Stomatuk didn’t expect that a routine yoga class in Scottsdale, Arizona, would lead to meeting her future husband.

Week after week, she noticed a handsome man gradually shifting his yoga mat closer to hers. Eventually, they struck up conversations, exchanged numbers, followed each other on Instagram, and soon he asked her out.

The twist? He was nearly two decades older.

“I was 23 and he had white hair,” Stomatuk tells PEOPLE. “I called my mom like, ‘This 50-year-old is asking me out. What’s going on?’ ”

Though she admits she was always “attracted to older guys,” Stomatuk initially declined his offer to grab smoothies before class. But when his interest faded, she found herself missing it. “I was like, ‘Wait, where did that attention go?’ ” she recalls with a laugh.

Michael Justin, then a 42-year-old model, was away in Los Angeles for work when Stomatuk finally made the first move. She sent him a playful DM about how it was a shame he was out of town because she was dogsitting and thought it would be fun to walk the dog together. Justin didn’t hesitate, replying that he was already at the airport on his way home and would be happy to stop by that night.

“He came over and walked the dog,” says Stomatuk.

“For three and a half hours,” Justin adds. “It was seamless. No gaps. Just an instant connection.”

The two began dating, but life seemed to be pulling them apart. Justin soon relocated to Los Angeles to focus on modeling, while Stomatuk was in nursing school and planned to stay in Arizona.

“We were both cheering each other on, but we knew we were at different points in our lives,” she explains.

Everything changed when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Justin moved back to Scottsdale to quarantine with Stomatuk — and they’ve been together ever since.

That was when they faced the harder part: telling family and friends about their 19-year age gap. Justin’s parents quickly accepted the relationship, but Stomatuk’s father was initially skeptical.

“When I told him, he said, ‘I’m disappointed in you. I don’t approve. How could you be with this guy?’ ” she remembers. But once her father met Justin, things shifted.

“Her dad is a Marine, so I was a little nervous,” Justin admits. “But I walked up to the table with two shots of tequila, and it’s been great ever since.”

During quarantine, the couple stumbled upon another age-gap pair on TikTok and decided to share their own story online. Their first videos quickly went viral, sparking a mix of fascination, criticism, and support.

“We knew those videos would perform well, so we leaned into it,” Stomatuk says. Over time, though, they expanded their content to cover fashion, wellness, and highlights from their recent three-week honeymoon in Europe.

While criticism still surfaces, they’ve also heard from others in similar relationships who found comfort in their openness. “People thank us for being more vocal so they don’t feel so bad about falling for someone outside their immediate age bracket,” says Justin.

Today, they’ve even built a network — both online and offline — of friends in age-gap relationships, some with even wider differences.

“As we’ve settled here, people have come to see that age really is just a number,” Stomatuk says.

Justin agrees: “There’s no formula for what works. Who cares? If you’re compatible, you’re compatible. And we are.”