A TEENAGER found love with a 72-year-old gran after meeting her in a pizza restaurant - despite being younger than one of her grandchildren.

Gary Hardwick, 19, has been married to pensioner Almeda for two years, having popped the question after two weeks of dating.

6 Gary Hardwick said it was love at first sight for him and Almeda Credit: Barcroft Media

He told how, aged 17, he'd just come out of an unhappy relationship with a 77-year-old when he locked eyes with gran-of-six Almeda - and said it was love at first sight.

Now the couple, who live in Maryville, Tennessee, are happier than ever.

Gary explained: "The first thing that attracted me to Almeda was her beautiful, gorgeous blue eyes. And her personality.

“She’s always full of laughter and we just connected so well. The chemistry was great.

6 Gary, pictured with Almeda and some of her grandchildren in the park, is younger than her eldest grandchild Credit: Barcroft Media

“Everything about her has just captured my heart since day one.”

Almeda added: "If you love somebody, age is just a number. I’ve now been happily married going on two years with my true soulmate.

“We met at Chuck E Cheese, there was a birthday party there. I looked into his eyes and I just fell in love.

“I knew he was the one I wanted to spend my life with. I was never intimidated by the age at all.”

Despite the staggering 53-year age gap, Gary and Almeda have similar interests and hobbies.

“I never feel as though I’m missing out on anything by being married to Almeda,” Gary said.

“I’m really mature for my age, I do not fit into the young age bracket at all.

6 Despite the staggering difference in age, Gary and Almeda have similar interests and hobbies Credit: Barcroft Media

“I’ve never been attracted to younger women. Even when I was 13 or 14, I’ve always had an attraction for older women and when I told my grandmother, who raised me, I didn’t know how she would take it. But she accepted us.

“A lot of people wait years to get married and everyone has different opinions on getting married quickly. But we knew we were in love, so I jumped on that.

“The first time we made love was on our wedding night. It was an amazing experience. There was such a deep connection there. She’s a wonderful lover.”

The happy couple are more than aware that a lot of people disagree with the nature of their relationship - and that includes Almeda’s son, who hasn’t spoken to her since the day she met Gary.

Aaron and Indiana Elliott, Almeda’s grandchildren, also found it difficult to accept their relationship in the early stages – particularly 22-year-old Aaron, who is three years older than his step-granddad.

Aaron said: “I only called him Grandfather once and it was when I was drunk.

6 The happy couple are more than aware that a lot of people disagree with the nature of their relationship Credit: Barcroft Media

“In my head, I see him as a friend more than a grandfather. But you know, our grandmother is happy.”

Indiana, 17, added: “And how can you not be supportive about that?

“For me personally, whenever they first got together it was a little bit weird. But, I mean, we live in the 21st century and those things really shouldn’t matter.

“My mum on the other hand is very outspoken, because there’s an age difference between him and my mum too, so it’s a little weird to see your mother walking around with someone the same age as your own kids.”

One of Gary and Almeda’s passions is YouTube. They run their own channel, which has 49,000 subscribers, with their love being the focus of most videos.

6 Gary popped the question to Almeda just two weeks after they started dating Credit: Barcroft Media

More recently they have introduced merchandise to sell to their "fans", with pens and mugs that have their faces on.

Gary said: “We do vlogs, reaction videos and pranks. And as far as I know, we are the biggest age gap couple that are YouTubers.”

Almeda is confident that she will be with Gary for the rest of her life – while her husband wants to continue to spread the message that age is just a number.

Gary said: “What does the future hold for Gary and Almeda? I believe amazing things.

“We want to pursue our dreams on YouTube and be able to inspire more and more people every day that age is just a number – it should not matter.

6 The couple have thousands of followers on their YouTube channel Credit: Barcroft Media

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“As long as you’re in love with that person, you should follow your heart and be happy and be yourself.”

You can follow Gary and Almeda on YouTube here.

Last week we told how a mum, 27, revealed the 26-year age gap between her and her fiancé – who is older than her parents – means he’s often mistaken for her dad.

Meanwhile another couple with a 29-year age gap were forced to leave their Scottish home after strangers branded her husband a paedo.