Woman in 19Year Age Gap Marriage 'Politely Swerved' Husband at First. What He Did Next Completely Changed Her Mind (Exclusive) Luke ChinmanAugust 29, 2025 at 4:00 AM Bianca Virtue Photography Emily Stomatuk and Michael Justin Influencers Emily Stomatuk and Michael Justin, separated in age by 19 year...
- - Woman in 19-Year Age Gap Marriage 'Politely Swerved' Husband at First. What He Did Next Completely Changed Her Mind (Exclusive)
Luke ChinmanAugust 29, 2025 at 4:00 AM
Bianca Virtue Photography
Emily Stomatuk and Michael Justin -
Influencers Emily Stomatuk and Michael Justin, separated in age by 19 years, wed in 2023 after several years of dating
The pair have documented their love story on TikTok, where some commenters are appalled by the gap in their ages, and others come to their defense
"There is no recipe for what works," Justin tells PEOPLE. "It works out if you're compatible, and we're compatible now"
Content creator Emily Stomatuk's meet-cute with her future husband was like any other.
She saw a handsome man at a yoga class in her hometown of Scottsdale, Ariz., and over the next few weeks, Stomatuk noticed that he slowly moved his mat closer and closer to hers each session. Then they started chatting after class, exchanged numbers, followed each other on Instagram and eventually he asked her out.
The catch? He was much older.
"I was 23 and he had white hair," Stomatuk says in an exclusive conversation with PEOPLE. "I was calling my mom like, 'This 50-year-old is asking me out. What's going on?' "
Though she says she was always "attracted to older guys," Stomatuk "politely swerved" when he suggested they grab smoothies before class, and so he stopped asking. But then she realized she missed his interest in her: "I was like, 'Wait, where did that attention go?' " adds Stomatuk with a laugh.
Michael Justin, a 42-year-old model at the time, was away for a work trip in Los Angeles when he received a DM from Stomatuk a few weeks later — a coy message saying it was a shame he was out of town because she was dogsitting and it would be fun to walk the dog together. But Justin didn't miss a beat, replying that he was at the airport on his way home and would be happy to pop over that night.
Emily Stomatuk
Michael Justin and Emily Stomatuk
"So he came over, walked the dog—" says Stomatuk.
"For three and a half hours," Justin finishes. "It was a great walk — just back and forth. Seamless. No gaps."
Stomatuk adds: "It was a pretty instant connection."
The pair started casually dating, but their life paths seemed to be pulling them in separate directions. Justin decided to move to L.A. full-time to continue pursuing his modeling career, and Stomatuk was in nursing school and wasn't planning to move with him.
"We were both rooting each other on, but we kind of knew we were just at two different points in our lives," remembers Stomatuk.
Then the COVID-19 pandemic struck, and Justin decided to move back to Scottsdale to quarantine with Stomatuk — and the pair have been together ever since.
Emily Stomatuk
Michael Justin and Emily Stomatuk
It was time to "get into the nitty gritty of it all," says Justin: breaking the news to their family and friends that they were in a 19-year age-gap relationship. While Justin's parents were quickly on board — "they'd seen everything at this point with my dating," he jokes — Stomatuk's were harder to convince.
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When she first told her dad, she remembers, "He was like, 'I'm disappointed in you. I don't approve of this. How could you be with this guy?' " But after Justin had the chance to meet her dad, they quickly hit it off.
"Her dad is a Marine — there is some scariness to the thought of meeting him," says Justin. "But I fixed that up by walking to the table with two shots of tequila in my hand."
He adds: "It's been fantastic ever since."
While solidifying their relationship in quarantine, the lovebirds came across another age-gap couple on TikTok and inspiration struck: Why couldn't they post about their relationship, too?
"So we did," says Stomatuk, "and the first couple videos went pretty viral."
Unsurprisingly, their posts sparked strong reactions from commenters — some of whom were appalled by the gap in their ages, and others who came to Stomatuk and Justin's defense.
Related: 11 Long-term Celebrity Couples with Large Age Gaps Whose Relationships Have Stood the Test of Time
"We kind of fed into it a little bit because we just knew that those videos performed well," admits Stomatuk. But over time, they've evolved their content to highlight other aspects of their lifestyles as well: their fashion, their health, and, most recently, their three-week honeymoon throughout Europe.
Emily Stomatuk
Michael Justin and Emily Stomatuk
As they've grown their platform, they've gotten used to the "hate out there" — negative comments on their accounts regarding their unconventional love story. But they've also received "encouragement" from others in age-gap relationships, "thanking us for being a bit more vocal so they don't feel so bad falling for someone who's not in their immediate age bracket," says Justin.
And they've even started to grow a community, both online and in-person, of friends who are in age-gap relationships, some even wider than their own.
"I think as we've lived here, people have gotten used to the idea that age really is just a number," says Stomatuk.
"There is no recipe for what works," adds Justin. "Who gives a s---. It works out if you're compatible, and we're compatible now."
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