Maisie Smith has insisted boyfriend Max George is “the one" as she defended the 13-year age gap between them.
Max, 34 and Maisie, 21 have come under questioning over their huge age gap, but have consistently defended themselves against the criticism.
Max and Maisie became friends on the 2020 Strictly Come Dancing series before their relationship turned romantic and the pair became inseparable when they started dating last year.
The couple realised they’d fallen for each other on a cast and crew holiday to Portugal at the end of the 2022 Strictly tour last summer.
The Wanted star went public with the EastEnders actress in September and now Maisie has told how she believes Max is “the one”.
“We have so many plans and I see so much of my future with him – stuff I didn’t even know I was capable of seeing. It still feels like the honeymoon stage. I don’t know at what point that ends, but we’re still there,” she explained.
The actress told The Sun : “It doesn’t matter where we are – as long as we’re together, everything is perfect."
Max and Maisie now live together but their relationship has come under fire from critics who have slammed their age gap.
But Maisie has blasted their trolls, as she said she is too loved-up to care about their opinions.
“If it wasn’t that, it would be something else,” she told. “People don’t understand what goes on behind closed doors in a relationship, and I think they also forget that I’m a consenting 21-year-old woman who’s actually been working longer than Max!”
She went on to tell how she doesn’t notice the age difference between them, and neither do their friends and family.
She said everyone she cares about is “incredibly supportive” of their relationship and that she’s been in show business long enough to have developed a thick skin.
Maisie also revealed that she’s living out her childhood fantasy as Max was her crush and she was a huge The Wanted fan growing up.
The star is still not quite over the absurdity of her real-life relationship with the man who she used to have a picture of on her bedroom wall.
The pair have recently taken their relationship to the next level and moved in together in Max’s house in Manchester.
She’s looking forward to spending time off with her boyfriend and being purposefully unemployed this year.
