When mum-of-two Julie is out with her fella, people assume he’s her son…until they lock lips
My hand flew to my mouth as I struggled to contain the yawn escaping my lips.
‘Gosh, I’m so sorry,’ I said to my date. ‘It’s been a really long week.’
Truthfully, I was bored.
It had been two years since my husband of 20 years had passed away, and I finally felt ready to jump back in the saddle.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t having much luck. Men my age were either beaten down by life or didn’t want to commit.
If they did, it was only with younger women.
I was on the brink of giving up.
Then one night, I was lying in bed flicking through Bumble, when I decided something.
I would lower the age range of potential dates to include younger men.
No harm in looking, I told myself.
Besides, with my glam appearance, people often mistook me for being in my 30s, even though I was 44.
'It's been a really long week'
I had no intention of landing myself a toyboy, but as I slid the bar down, my eyes lit up at all the handsome, wrinkle-free fellas appearing on my screen.
Unlike most blokes my age, they all had hair and their bellies were chiselled, not chunky.
Suddenly, one man’s picture stopped me in my tracks.
His name was Zach, he was smoking hot and he was 28 — a whopping 16 years younger than me.
I gulped.
I was actually old enough to be his mum!
Still, I was curious to see if he liked me, so I swiped right.
When the word ‘match’ flashed up on the screen, a huge grin spread across my face.
On Bumble, the rules were the woman had to message first, however, I hesitated.
Surely he’s too young for me?
I fretted.
But, thinking back to my recent dating disasters, I decided it was time to throw caution to the wind.
It wasn’t as if 28 was a teenager.
I wrote a simple ‘Hi’ and pressed send.
To my surprise, he replied almost instantly.
The conversation quickly flowed, and it became apparent we had a lot of things in common.
Only, Zach had a confession to make.
I’ve seen you before, he told me. You’re a member of the gym I work in.
I was delighted I’d managed to make an impression.
I’ve never had a stalker before, I teased.
We exchanged numbers and social media pages, but before I sent mine, I felt the need to warn him about my job.
I make content for the website OnlyFans, I told him. And I promote it on other forms of social media.
I knew some men would have a problem with it, as the pictures and videos could be quite raunchy.
But I was proud of what I did.
I’d been a professional photographer and owned my own studio, but when Covid hit, the jobs stopped coming in.
With two kids and bills to pay, I sought out other opportunities.
I’d read about people making money on OnlyFans and thought I’d give it a go.
Thankfully, when I told Zach, he didn’t bat an eyelid.
If it pays the bills… he wrote.
I was thrilled.
A couple of days later, we arranged to go out for sushi.
As soon as I clapped eyes on him, I swooned.
He was just as gorgeous in the flesh as he was in his pictures.
I couldn’t believe my luck.
We sat down for dinner and didn’t stop nattering away.
I didn’t want the night to end.
We met up again only a few days later and soon, I was smitten.
Within two months, Zach had moved in with me.
Thankfully, my 18-year-old daughter and my 21-year-old son were happy to have him around, but saw him more as a friend than a father figure.
Once he was settled in, we sat down to talk about rent and other payments.
‘You won’t need to pay for much,’ I said.
‘Why’s that?’ he asked.
'My very own sugar mama'
‘I earn around £30k a month,’ I told him.
His jaw hit the floor.
It had taken a while to build a following online, but once I had, the money had piled in.
‘My very own sugar mama,’ Zach winked.
And I certainly lived up to the name.
Every day, I loved to spoil Zach.
I kitted him out with the latest designer gear and bought him a brand-new sports car.
I also paid for us to go on holiday — 10 times in one year. Some of the breaks cost around £10k.
But Zach repaid me in other ways…
When we were home, he did most of the cooking and cleaning. He also gave me sensational massages and as for the bedroom, I had no complaints there.
Just gazing at his taut six-pack and rippling biceps whipped me into a frenzy.
He was making his own money through the gym, so it wasn’t as if he was sponging off me.
Then one day, Zach came to see me.
‘I’d like to start making content too,’ he said. ‘Would you be willing to mentor me?’
‘Of course,’ I replied.
Then I had an idea.
‘What if we do it together?’ I suggested.
When we’d first met, I’d posted a TikTok video about being a cougar — a woman who dates younger men — and it had gone viral.
We decided that would be our theme.
Through videos and pictures, we gave people an insight into our lives. Most of the videos were truthful, but in some others we poked fun.
One time, I told my 600,000 followers that I gave Zach an £11,000 allowance each month, which I cut once because he failed to clean the pool.
I was shocked by how many people believed me!
Although I could actually afford to do it, it wasn’t something I would ever have done.
After the post, messages piled in from men begging me to dump Zach for them.
Men were in awe of our set-up and were dying for a piece of the cake.
One fan had typed: 11k? Madam, I am 31 and gay, but by thunder, I would be willing to try.
Another user commented: Damn, 11k a month? I’ll clean the pool with no hands.
But along with the funny and positive comments came a flood of negativity.
Some said I was disgusting and should be ashamed of myself because of the age gap, while others said Zach was using me, calling me ‘ugly’ and ‘morbidly obese’.
I had thick skin, but the jibes stung.
Deep down, though, I knew they were just jealous.
What older woman wouldn’t want a gorgeous, energetic young man who would treat her like a goddess in bed?
Besides, I didn’t think I looked particularly old, so I reckoned we were well suited. He kept me young and vibrant, while I grounded him.
There were times I was mistaken for being Zach’s mum, but I laughed it off.
We are happy and that’s all that matters.
Now, I can see a future with my stud muffin — his birth certificate doesn’t matter.
Neither of us want to marry and Zach doesn’t want kids, which is great as we’re both on the same page.
I know people will judge, but you should do what makes you happy.
I’m fine being the breadwinner and spoiling Zach with lavish trips, while my nurturing guy is content to do the housework, brush my hair and cook.
People might be shocked by our unusual arrangement, but it suits us perfectly. I’d even encourage other men to snag themselves a sexy sugar mama.
Trust me, they won’t regret it.
Julie Ross, 44