Viral age-gap couple Julia Zelg and Eileen de Freest have decided to part ways in a shock announcement to their fans – the pair have admitted what went wrong in their relationship
A couple with a 37-year age gap who faced massive backlash online have announced their shock divorce, despite once describing their sex life as “booming”.
Julia Zelg, 29, and Eileen de Freest, 66 met on Tinder and got married in 2019, and thanks to Julia’s popular YouTube channel, they skyrocketed in popularity. But the couple faced plenty of backlash in their relationship due to the almost four-decade age-gap.
In late 2023, the London-based couple announced that they were opening up their marriage to other people, sharing that they were going to remain a “team” – so the news of their divorce came as a surprise to fans.
Julia and Eileen shared the sad news in a sit-down video on Julia’s YouTube channel, which has 300,000 subscribers. In the video, Eileen admitted how their age gap had affected their relationship, saying it may not have been “a very smart thing to do”.
Julia said: “Me and my wife have decided to get divorced after five years of marriage. It was a beautiful journey. You know, we had ups and downs, but it was beautiful. I don’t regret it at all”, and Eileen agreed, adding: “Yeah I don’t either. I regret my behaviour but I don’t regret it [the marriage].”
The couple had previously publicly discussed their marital problems, with Julia sharing a video in December responding to claims she had been a “gold digger” and “used Eileen for her money”. She insisted that was not true as she broke down in tears.
In the new video announcing the split, Julia said: “We’ve decided it would be healthier for both of us to just be friends – well, more than friends, we are family”. Eileen revealed that it was “shocking” to end in such a way after “such a dream-like romance”, but she said it was “inevitable”.
Eileen continued: “Many people would think that the older person would have the maturity to know whether going into a relationship with someone 37 years younger is a very smart thing to do.
“I can say with the greatest regret that, for me, I wasn’t a healthy enough person to recognise that this person was quite a lot younger than me and my lack of suitability for a long-term relationship – or for any relationship, really – is what affected us, largely in a negative way. Had this been with a person my age, she might have seen sooner than I could that I wasn’t a viable candidate.”
Eileen described herself as “flawed”, and said that this meant the marriage wasn’t able to be as “healthy” as it could have been. She also said that she should have taken “greater responsibility” to look out for her “shortcomings”. However, Julia said she felt it was about “the choice you make”, disputing that it had “anything to do with age”.
The divorce announcement also went viral on TikTok, garnering 3.2 million views from shocked followers. The former couple said there was “still a little bit of hope” when they decided to open up ther marriage, and they were hoping to be “open and honest” with each other about people they were seeing on the side.
“I’m exploring my sexuality, and Eileen is figuring out that she is more interested in intellectual connection than physical at this stage in her life – though that’s definitely still a part of it”, Julia said at the time. “It’s been really fun to connect over crushes, dates, and more, and it’s brought a new energy and lightness to our connection.”
Eileen also admitted that she didn’t have “much desire” anymore, which had been a “problem” between the pair. Sharing the news of the divorce, the duo also discussed their intention to “co-parent” their joint pets, and move forward remaining close to one another.
Ending the video, Julia says: “It’s like the end of an era, isn’t it? But it’s [love] worth it, even if it ends like this. It was the best time ever, it was really beautiful”, and Eileen agreed, adding: “I’ll always remember the extraordinary love that we had.”
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