52yo dating ‘stupidly good looking' man 25 years younger cops hate
Charlotte Anne Fidler, 52, was married for 17 years when she discovered her husband was having a long-term affair with another woman.
The career-driven British journalist, who travelled the world working for glossy magazines, said she was 'blindsided' by the break-up – and blamed her gruelling work schedule for the 'widening chasm' that had formed between them.
For several years, Ms Fidler struggled to move on, but after her ex remarried she decided to get back on the horse.
After several dates that she described as 'fine', she soon realised she didn't want to 'swap stories about divorce and children'.
On a quest for 'something different' with her love life, she switched the age range on her dating to 27-39, and after a fling with a man in his 30s, she matched with V – a 27-year-old Romanian vet.
The pair have been together for four years now, but after Ms Fidler penned a piece about 'turning things around at a particularly tough time and finding love in an unexpected place' for The Telegraph, she said she wasn't prepared for the onslaught of criticism online.
'I didn't quite realise the impact that it might have – or the over 1300 mostly negative, mostly written by men, comments that it would generate,' Ms Fidler explained in an Instagram post recently.
She went on to explain that the negative reaction made her realise that her 104,000 followers were all 'incredibly supportive' of their relationship, but that she was 'quite buffered' from critics.
'Perhaps that's given me an unrealistic idea of what a wider audience would think about me talking about this unconventional relationship,' she said.
'Some even suggest the Vet is only with me for a visa (he already has one) or my money (I don't have much!). And worse!'
Many leapt to Ms Fidler's defence, stating there was a double standard when it came to older women dating younger men.
'I think it's so ridiculous that people have strong opinions about relationships where the woman is older. Who decided that the man always has to be older? So many men date much younger women without anyone raising an eyebrow,' one wrote.
'What's the big deal …? How many men have relationships or marry far younger women, take Mick Jagger as one example of many. Why is it acceptable for an 80 year old man to go out with a woman 40 or 50 years younger, any yet there's some kind of uproar if a woman is even slightly older than the guy? I really don't get it,' another agreed.
As one declared: 'You are beautiful intelligent and inspiring and why should you not date a hot younger man? Nobody bats an eyelid when men do it!'
Ms Fidler explained the reason she and V 'work' is because she's not trying to force him into anything.
'Some people said it wouldn't last (not to my face, tho'!). But, somehow it has – because there is something about the way we both live our lives that fits and makes us happy,' she wrote in a previous Instagram post.
'Perhaps because he's a free spirit that doesn't want to be pinned down or plan anything. And my life is so full that I have no desire – or time – to do that to him.
'And we both like our space. No desire to be together all the time. But when we are together, it's magical (exactly because we're NOT together all the time!).'
Ms Fidler also detailed her sex life with the 'stupidly good looking' man 25 years younger, describing it as 'life-changing'.
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