Teen, 17, kept relationship with 53-year-old boyfriend a secret for three years over fears family wouldn’t accept them
The pair met on a dating app five years ago
A COUPLE with a 35-year age gap who kept their relationship a secret for three years have explained why they chose not to tell family and friends - and how they kept it under wraps for so long.
22-year-old Cheyenne Baker from Nashville, Tennessee, first met 58-year-old James Hines five years ago when she was just 17.
After speaking online for months, the couple decided to keep their relationship a secret, for fears of how their families would react.
"We discussed the pros and cons of the age gap but it's never been a problem, per se," said Cheyenne.
"We've actually broken up a few times because we thought that it just wasn't possible to have the dream outcome with our families and society accepting and all of that.
"That's part of why we kept the relationship a secret for nearly three years."
"My mother was very opposed, but now she loves James dearly," Cheyenne continued.
"I wouldn't say that all of my family knows about James, not that it's a secret but I'm not entirely close with everyone because there's just too many people and I'm not going to make a special announcement to people that I don't talk to frequently.
"I'm not going to hide him either."
Admitting they had reached a point in the relationship where they felt they either had to be honest or break up, James - who is a United States Marine Corps veteran and retired government employee - said they both felt a huge sense of relief.
"When we told our closest family members there was a huge sense of relief because we expected the worst and it went better than expected," he said.
"We reached a point where we had to be honest with our families or our relationship would have ended.
"If we didn't tell our families it would have been a fake relationship and it was taking an emotional toll on the both of us, so we decided to be free."
Despite the 35-year age gap, the couple revealed people are mostly polite, explaining they haven't had much negativity.
"People are mostly polite, no one's really accosted us about being together," explained James.
"If anything, they're curious but don't know how to ask us.
"We assume they think Cheyenne's a gold digger and I'm a sex fiend.
"Most people don't say anything in public out of politeness, maybe.
"We don't really care anymore. If anyone were to approach us on the street with negative remarks, we'd probably just laugh and walk away."
The loved-up pair also revealed they aren't ruling out children in the future.
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