A woman who fell in love with her colleague 31 years older than her has hit back at sick trolls who branded him a paedophile despite her being an adult.
Claire Paradis, now 21, fell head over heels for partner Scott Medley, 52, who was also in a long-term relationship after selecting him as a personal trainer at the gym they both worked for.
Although the newly-engaged couple couldn't be happier with each other, she says not all her friends and family are on board with their age-gap relationship and that others have wrongly called her a sugar baby and Scott a paedophile.
The receptionist, however, insists these claims are wrong and the pair from Victoria, Canada, are ready to spend the rest of their lives together.
Claire said: "I've never been in an age gap relationship before and neither has he, so I've never faced this type of negativity before.
"I know that my partner has been called a paedophile even though I am of age, and I've also had acquaintances who don’t even know him call him my sugar daddy which is so far from the truth.
"All of my previous relationships were with people of my own age, and they were all not that great. The boys my age lacked emotional maturity, financial funds, and effort to put into the relationship.
"I’m not necessarily into 'older men' I’m just very into Scott. He provides for me, spoils me and takes really good care of me - he goes above and beyond to make me happy.
"He’s so good at expressing his feelings and boundaries, And I’m so grateful that I didn’t have to teach him that, like I did with the others.
"He’s also so sexually experienced, and the sex was incredible the first time which rarely ever happens!"
Although the pair often face backlash from their unconventional relationship, Claire and Scott say that others are pleased to see how happy they make each other.
Claire said: "There are many people who are supportive of us, and these are the people we hold close to us.
"The way we deal with backlash is to distance ourselves from the people bringing negativity in our lives.
"We met in June 2020 when I got a job as a receptionist at the same gym, he was a personal trainer at.
"We were both in separate relationships ourselves at the time but the attraction was there from the beginning.
"I broke up with my ex-boyfriend on New Years and that same week I paid for personal training sessions with my now-fiancé.
"He and I got to know each other and then the tension and chemistry built up.
“Scott says he left his relationship to be with me.
"On my side, I broke up with my ex for my own reasons but in the back of my mind, I was happy to be single because then I could flirt more heavily with him.
"We’ve been together a little over a year and we are really happy together."
The love struck couple got engaged on May 30, 2022.
Reminiscing the day, Claire said: "We went to the gold stream waterfalls and were in the middle of doing a couple's photoshoot and he got down on one knee in front of the waterfalls - it was really beautiful!
"We hope our story normalises age gaps and proves love has no limits."
