7 celebrity couples with huge age gaps

SINGAPORE – When Australian media mogul Rupert Murdoch, 92, proposed to his American girlfriend Ann Lesley Smith in March, more than a few eyebrows were raised due to their 26-year age gap. Smith is 66.

They met in September 2022, a month after

his split from ex-model wife Jerry Hall,

66, was finalised.

The billionaire had popped the question to the dental hygienist-turned-conservative radio host with an 11-carat diamond ring said to be worth US$2.5 million (S$3.3 million). It would have been his fifth marriage and her fourth.

Mr Murdoch even opened up to The New York Post – which he owns – saying he was in love. He added: “We’re both looking forward to spending the second half of our lives together.”

But perhaps what was even more shocking was that he called off the engagement just two weeks after announcing the good news, as he had reportedly become increasingly uncomfortable with her outspoken evangelical views.

Still, a number of celebrity couples in May-December romances have endured despite the generation gap, proving that age is just a number.

1. Nicolas Cage and Riko Shibata (age gap: 31 years)

To say American actor Nicolas Cage, who has married five times, is a die-hard romantic is perhaps not a stretch.

In fact, the 59-year-old proposed to current Japanese wife Riko Shibata, 28, over FaceTime during the pandemic. He then sent her a customised black diamond engagement ring via FedEx, as black is her favourite colour. She was in Japan at the time, while he was in the United States.

The couple subsequently

walked down the aisle in a surprise Las Vegas wedding

in February 2021, when travel restrictions were lifted.

While little is known about Ms Shibata, they announced in September 2022 that they

welcomed their first child together,

a daughter named August.

The Hollywood star has two sons from previous relationships. His elder son Weston, 32 – from a relationship with American actress Christina Fulton, 55 – is four years older than Ms Shibata.

Cage had a high-profile split from his fourth wife, Asian-American make-up artist Erika Koike, 38, in 2019, when he sought to

annul their marriage four days after they wed.

Previously, he was married to Korean-American waitress Alice Kim, who is 20 years his junior, from 2004 to 2016. They have a 17-year-old son, Kal-El.

Cage told the Los Angeles Times in January 2022: “I’m really happily married. I know five is a lot, but I think I got it right this time.”

2. Stephen Hung and Deborah Valdez-Hung (age gap: 24 years)

Who can forget the power couple from Bling Empire: New York (2023)? Stephen Hung, 64, is a prominent Hong Kong tycoon, while his Mexican wife of 10 years Deborah Valdez-Hung, 40, is a former model, lawyer and socialite.

Those who have binge-watched the Netflix reality show on the crazy rich Asians of New York City will be familiar with the fabulously outrageous lifestyle of the Hungs, who drape themselves in haute couture and diamonds, and drop millions on trendy art pieces.

Hung, who has a long career in finance and property, ranks as one of the richest cast members on the show, with a staggering net worth of approximately US$400 million (S$534 million). He is also into fancy cars, having once dropped a cool US$20 million on 30 custom-made Rolls-Royce Phantoms in 2014, according to The Washington Post, which called him “the world’s biggest spender”.

The couple met in Hong Kong while Valdez-Hung was on vacation after completing her law degree, according to a 2013 Wall Street Journal article.

She told the newspaper at the time: “When I met him, I didn’t want him to impress me with anything but his mind. He has this magnetism. Designers, investors, everyone wants to talk to him.”

3. Jamal Abdillah and Zai Izzati Khairuddin (age gap: 36 years)

Singer Jamal Abdillah, 63, also known as the bad boy of Malaysian pop, married his Malaysian wife Zai Izzati Khairuddin, 27, in 2017, after meeting her just once.

Within a month, they had tied the knot.

This is Jamal’s fourth marriage, with his three previous unions ending in divorce.

“Getting married again isn’t easy, especially when you marry someone who is years younger than you,” he said in an interview, adding that he did not like his Gen Z wife spending too much time on social media.

He has two sons – singers Osama Yamani, 22, and Zaki Yamani, 16 – from previous marriages. The couple now have four young children – two boys and two girls, with the younger daughter born in April.

4. Cher and Alexander Edwards (age gap: 40 years)

News of American pop icon Cher’s new man made headlines in November 2022, not just because of the 40-year age gap between them, but also because of how rare it was for a May-December pairing to feature a much older woman.

Cher is 76, while her boyfriend, American music producer Alexander Edwards, 36, is closer in age to her sons – Chaz Salvatore Bono, 54, and Elijah Blue Allman, 46.

Cher was married to American singer-actor-politician Sonny Bono from 1964 to 1975 and to American musician Gregg Allman from The Allman Brothers Band from 1975 to 1979.

She has famously dated men who were decades her junior in the 1980s, including Hollywood actors Val Kilmer and Tom Cruise.

Cher addressed the age difference on Twitter, writing: “As we all know... I wasn’t born yesterday. What I know for sure, there are no guarantees. Anytime you make a choice, you take a chance. I’ve always taken chances... it’s who I am.”

She described her partner’s appeal on The Kelly Clarkson Show in December 2022, saying he was kind, smart, talented, funny and “quite handsome”.

When Edwards – who has a three-year-old son with his ex, American model Amber Rose – was asked what made him fall for the music legend, he replied: “Just Cher being Cher.”

5. Michelle Yeoh and Jean Todt (age gap: 17 years)

Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh, 60, may be having her moment in the spotlight, having swept best actress awards in recent months for her role in the hit movie Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022), but there has been a man steadily supporting her career for almost 20 years.

Former rally car driver Jean Todt, 77, met Yeoh in Shanghai in 2004, when the Frenchman was the chief executive of Ferrari and she was doing publicity for the Italian luxury sports carmaker.

They got engaged a year later and have been together since, with houses in Paris, the French countryside, Kuala Lumpur, her home town Ipoh and Hong Kong.

Yeoh, who was married from 1988 to 1992 to billionaire studio head Dickson Poon, does not appear to be in a hurry to walk down the aisle a second time, though.

In an interview with The Guardian newspaper in 2021, she said: “We’ve been threatening to get married for such a long time. Sometimes, we say, ‘Wait, didn’t we already do it?’”

6. Aaron Kwok and Moka Fang (age gap: 22 years)

When Hong Kong superstar Aaron Kwok, 57, married Chinese model Moka Fang, 35, in 2017, her father said to him half-jokingly: “Big brother, when I was a child, I grew up listening to your songs. Now, I’m giving my daughter to you. I hope you treat her well.”

There is reportedly just a two-year age gap between Kwok and his father-in-law, who is either 55 or 59.

Kwok married Fang in an intimate wedding with about 100 guests, less than two years after they started dating.

Even though there were ugly rumours that she had gone to a special training camp to learn how to hook a celebrity husband, Fang chose to take the high road by living her best life.

Her Instagram account often features happy photos of their two daughters – Chantelle, six, and Charlotte, four – as well as her eternally youthful-looking husband. On their sixth wedding anniversary last week, she shared photos and a video of their celebratory dinner.

7. Lee Lung Kei and Chris Wong (age gap: 36 years)

Veteran Hong Kong actor Lee Lung Kei, 72, is literally twice the age of his wife-to-be, Chinese artist Chris Wong, 36.

They plan to marry in a low-key wedding later in 2023, he revealed to Hong Kong media in March, after four years together in what has been called a “grandfather-granddaughter relationship”.

Despite the age gap, he said that they can communicate well.

Wong was pregnant in 2020, but later had a miscarriage in her third trimester.

Lee, who is best known for playing emperor roles in period dramas, has three grown children from his previous marriage.

Even before they become man and wife, he has already transferred all seven of his properties to her, so that she will be well taken care of in the future.

He said: “I still have the ability to make money. I can’t bring the money with me into my coffin anyway.”