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GRANDADDY-COOL
I’m ‘UK’s youngest great grandad’ at 43 – I’ve proudly got 6 grandkids and am the same age as my cougar wife’s daughter
Chris' family setup is pretty unusual too - you just need to read on
SMILING for the camera, a baby snuggled into him, proud great-grandad Chris Carchrie cannot hide his joy.
Because he’s finally a great grandfather after SIX grandchildren - but he’s just 43.
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The little boy was born in April 2023 and is Chris and his wife Jane’s first great grandchild.
While, technically he is a step-grandchild, he doesn’t feel like that as Chris has been with Jane for 20 years and married for 17 years.
Jane is 64 and the pair met in 2003 after he accompanied a friend picking up Jane’s youngest daughter Sarah, now 41, when he was 24 and they immediately hit it off.
He was the same age as her other daughter, Paula, now 43, but didn’t care.
Six months later they were a couple - and now, after Paula’s daughter had a baby, he’s a great-step-grandad at just 43.
He lives in the same four-bed terraced house in Bishopton, Scotland, with Jane, and her daughter Sarah Bayley, 41. Meanwhile, Sarah's man, chef Mikey McSorley, 25, visits regularly. Sarah’s three kids - one of whom is away at university for much of the year - also live in the multi-generational home.
According to Jane, Chris has honed his skills on helping raise the grandchildren.
“When I first met Chris I only had one grandchild,” said nan-of-six Jane. “Chris was there to welcome the other five.
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“He loves to ferry the grandkids to dance and acting classes. He picks them up from the theatre and nights out and cooks and cleans for us.
“That’s how he has proven his step-grandfather skills. It’s amazing to see him with them. The grandkids all call him Papa.
“When the great grandchild came along I knew he’d shine.”
AGE GAP LOVE
Called May to December, because of the difference in ages, age gap love has dominated the headlines for years.
Perhaps one of the most famous examples is Gary and Almeda.
The couple from Nashville, Tennessee, locked eyes at a funeral for Almeda's son. Almeda, then 71, had a date with Gary, then 17, and two weeks later they were married in a wedding costing £137.
"It was wonderful, beyond my wildest dreams," Gary said of their first time in an exclusive interview with PA.
Britain's 'most married man' Ron Shephard has dated almost exclusively younger.
The self-named 'Lord of the Wedding Rings' has been married EIGHT times - almost always to women his junior.
Meanwhile, Iris Jones and Mohamed made headlines when they revealed on This Morning they had a very saucy first night.
In an interview with Fabulous Iris, then 82, said Mohamed, then 38, 'didn't care about her dentures' but it wasn't to be with things ending very publicly and her calling him a toerag.
“It sounds crazy but I am so proud to be a step-great-grandad at 43 and live in a ‘house of cougars’,” he said.
“It’s an age when many men are having their first child but I love it. It doesn't matter that I’m in my early 40s. I’m prepared to embrace being a great step-grandad.
“Marrying Jane proved age is just a number. She’s so beautiful she looks like she’s in her 40s like me.”
He and Jane see the little boy as regularly as possible and say there should be no “hidden taboos” about age gap love.
And although he doesn’t have any biological children of his own, Chris is happy being a step-great-grandad.
Becoming Jane’s husband was the best day of my life - she looked so young I thought she was her daughter’s sister when we first met
Chris
“Becoming Jane’s husband was the best day of my life - she looked so young I thought she was her daughter’s sister when we first met,” he said. “And spending time with the little ones is the icing on the cake.
“I married Jane, who is 20 years older than me, when I was 26. Jane loves explaining how marrying her makes me one of the world’s youngest great grandfathers - even if it is a step role.”
According to his retired civil servant wife, Chris was born to be an "extra young grandfather and great grandfather".
“He stepped up and he shines in his role,” she said. “People may say he is too young to be a great grandfather at 43.
"I say he was born for it. He changed my life and showed me you can find love and happiness no matter what age or age gap is involved.”
People may say he is too young to be a great grandfather at 43. I say he was born for it
Jane
But she said she knew some people would find it “shocking.”
She said: “When you are an older woman marrying a much younger man you learn quickly people are constantly stunned and at times mean.
"They accuse me of 'stealing their men'.
“But I don’t care, in fact I tell people I was the original cougar - and my daughters have been nothing but supportive.
“I realised some people were jealous. Others were afraid to be a taboo-buster like me.
We fell in love with toyboys, it's a family affair and I couldn't be prouder or happier.
Jane
“It was Sarah who convinced me I should date him. She told me I’d never forgive myself if I didn’t. She was right.”
In fact, Sarah followed her mum’s lead and met Mikey on Tinder in 2022. He’s 16 years her junior and just five years older than her oldest daughter.
“We’re a mum-and-daughter cougar-pair,” said Jane, referring to the term for a woman who dates or marries a younger man. “We fell in love with toyboys, it's a family affair and I couldn't be prouder or happier.”
Sarah, a former theme park entertainer and mum-of-three, added: “Women tell me we are nicking all the young men and to date our age. But I have no regrets and when you find love you grab it.
“My mum gave me the courage to find happiness with the right man for me, no matter how old or young he is.
“Mum and I love telling people we’re a household of cougars. We're proof love doesn't have an age limit. We are cougars who roar with pride."
Mikey added: “Sarah is amazing. I don't see an older woman, I see a fit, loving caring girlfriend .
"It’s wonderful visiting the house and seeing how Jane and Chris made their marriage work.
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"We’re a big family. Chris and I reckon any people who think it’s ridiculous can b****r off.
"We’re two happy guys with amazing partners.”
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