An unconventional relationship that shocked the nation is still going strong three years on. Iris Jones, 82, fell for her Egyptian toyboy, Mohamed Ahmed Ibriham, 36, in 2019, despite their huge age gap.
The loved-up couple married in 2020 but have recently had to spend time apart - making Iris realise what a 'priceless gem' her hubby is. Last month, Mohamed had to take an emergency trip to Cairo to visit his father who had fallen unwell.
Iris welcomed him home last weekend, then reflected on how lucky she is to have him on Facebook. The British grandma, from Somerset, was swept off her feet when she met Mohamed in 2019 through a Facebook page for atheists.
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They tried to get married in Cairo just four days after they first met in person, but they didn't have the right paperwork. They were eventually able to wed a year later, and he was able to move in with her shortly afterwards when he was granted a three-year visa.
Iris wrote on Sunday: "Love is knowing you look like s**t after a days housework and gardening, without a scrap of make up on dressed in my scruff! After a month's absence, my wonderful husband will welcome me just the way I am, because that's what love is all about.
"Welcome home, Mohamed. Missing you this past month has made me realise what a priceless gem you are. This rough diamond of a wife will be more appreciative of you in the future."
In an earlier Facebook post, Iris uploaded a photo of a suitcase, and explained in the comments: "My husband had to make an emergency dash to Egypt as his father was ill". The update comes after the pensioner made headlines in January 2020 by sharing intimate details of their sex life.
Speaking on ITV's This Morning, she had hosts Philip Schofield and Holly Willoughby blushing. Describing their first night of passion, Iris said: “Pretty rough. Nobody had been near me for 35 years. I thought I was a virgin again.
“Can I say we used a whole tube of KY Jelly? I couldn’t walk the next day. I felt as if I had been riding a horse. Saddle sore wasn’t in it. Anyway we got over that.”
The pair's romance caused a rift in Iris' family, with her previously opening up about how her two sons, both in their mid-50s, had struggled to come to terms with their mum's relationship with a man 46 years her junior. Speaking with the Sunday Mirror back in 2020, she said: "Darren [one of her sons] is worried Mohamed is just after my money and we had a big row which resulted in me asking him to leave the house.
"We have made up since, but I’ve asked him not to talk about it – I don’t want to argue." Her other son Steve, 54, was 'a bit wary,' according to Iris, but said she thinks he will eventually accept Mohamed as his dad.
“If he’s marrying me for my fortune he’ll be sadly disappointed because I live on a pension," she said to those who questioned why Mohamed was with her. "I don’t suffer fools gladly. I’m honest and I’m truthful and I told him straight away he couldn’t be a freeloader.
“In Egypt we were quite frivolous, going out to the best restaurants all the time and we split everything 50/50." She said Mohamed had agreed to sign a pre-nup to prove his love for her.
"It’s me he wants – not my house," she said. “I’ve spent years making other people happy, now I just want to marry the man I love before I die."
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