A 74-YEAR-OLD grandmother has celebrated her fourth wedding anniversary with her 34-year-old Tunisian husband.
The couple defied critics who claimed the younger man is only “in it for the money”.
A British grandmother shared an insight into her marriage to a man younger than her children[/caption]
Christine Haycox met her now-husband Hamza Dridi online in 2018 while teaching him English as a second language.
A whirlwind romance saw Christine fly to Hammamet, Tunisia, to visit him just six weeks later and she’s never left.
They tied the knot in December 2020, at their Tunisian home, and have lived in Tunisia for seven years – with Christine converting to Islam in 2021.
And while her children have always accepted him, she says friends were initially sceptical he was only doing it for a visa.
“I haven’t got a single regret,” said Christine, who works as an author.
“We are both just sorry we didn’t meet sooner so that we could have our own children but we share a dog together instead.”
Originally from Leeds, Yorkshire, the older wan describes meeting her husband as “love at first sight”.
“Christine is a lovely wife. She is my queen, I love her personality and her intelligence,” Hamza said.
Christine was married for over 30 years, before divorcing in April 2003.
She has a 44-year-old son and 39-year old daughter, and two grandchildren – aged 18 and 18 months.
Christine met Hamza after posting an ad on Facebook offering to teach English as a foreign language.
Hamza contacted Christine – who is also fluent in French – and signed up to her online lessons.
“There was an instant spark between us,” she recalled.
Three months later, Christine booked a two-week holiday to Tunisia to meet Hamza in person.
“We went for walks along the beach and he took me out for lovely dinners,” Christine said.
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“He even took me to a discotheque, and we went dancing.”
Her son, who is four years older than her spouse, even travelled to Tunisia in 2020 to spend four days with the happy couple.
They marked the one year anniversary of their wedding, a small ceremony which took place on December 31, 2020, in Hamza’s family home in Manouba, Tunisia.
Christine wore a traditional Tunisian dress, and Hamza’s second cousin, Miriam, 17, did her hair, manicure and pedicure for her big day.
They “never bothered with getting engaged” they just decided to get married.
“We took so long to marry because it took two years to get all of the paperwork from England,” Christine said.
Apart from two short trips back to England alone, Christine has spent the last seven years living in Tunisia.
She said despite the large age gap – as well as being from different parts of the world – her family have been supportive.
“They can see how happy I am,” she explained.
“My friends have been amazing. Hamza speaks to my friends all the time, so they can see how good we are together.
“Hamza and I have our own home together and I’ve never been happier.”
Christine said they have an active sex life and Hamza takes care of her – doing most of the cooking and cleaning.
“He’s a hot-blooded Tunisian – we have sex more than most,” she said.
I need a replacement hip, but other than that my age doesn’t hold me back in the bedroom.
Christine Haycox
“I need a replacement hip, but other than that my age doesn’t hold me back in the bedroom.”
But their relationship has faced significant backlash from strangers online after they shared it on Facebook.
“We’ve had some horrible emails and Facebook messages,” Christine said.
“People say ‘he wants your money’ but I don’t have lots of money because I am just an ordinary teacher.
“Or that ‘he wants a visa’ – but he is so family-orientated, he would never have moved away from them.”
One lady even tracked down Christine’s son’s contact details to tell him that the marriage wouldn’t last.
She said it’s mainly people in the UK who have objected to the relationship.
“People in Tunisia are so wonderful to me. I love the family culture, the helpfulness and the friendliness of the people,” she explained.
But in Tunisia, once a restaurant owner rudely questioned Hamza, saying: “How do you have sex with that old woman?”.
Christine said the incident left Hamza “mortified” but the next day the gentleman apologised and took the couple out for dinner and drinks.
The couple are hoping to obtain a visa for Hamza to visit the UK and meet the rest of Christine’s family.
Their long-term plan is to move back to the UK because Christine needs medical treatments she can’t easily get in Tunisia.
Christine has been living in Tunisia for seven years but plans to return to the UK for a medical procedure[/caption]
