YouTube Couple Challenges Stereotypes With 36-Year Age Difference: 'We've Had Some Hate, but Mostly Love'

With matching pink hair and flowing white gowns, Julia Zelg and Eileen De Freest pledged to love each other forever. 

The couple tied the knot on June 8 in London surrounded by the people who love them, and they shared the video with their legions of YouTube fans.

The YouTubers regularly document their life as a couple on social media alongside Zelg's music videos and De Freest's political content. They met on Tinder last summer and instantly fell in love. 

But 25-year-old Zelg and 61-year-old De Freest have faced their fair share of curiosity — and, occasionally, criticism — because of the age difference between them. 

For example, Zelg said people sometimes ask her if De Freest is her mother. 

"Sometimes, we see people looking and trying to figure it out," Zelg told InsideEdition.com. "Sometimes, people do — before we get a chance to introduce ourselves — think Eileen is my mom." 

But the couple say they use those moments as an opportunity to educate others that love is love.  

"When we go out, we make no apology for who we are. You can see people are a bit surprised, then they accept it and then they're curious. I've found the most enormously gratifying thing is that we're kind of educating people," De Freest told InsideEdition.com. "Just by being who we are, we are showing something they've never seen before." 

Some of the criticism stems from people's preconceived notions about older women, Zelg said. 

"People have a problem with women's sexuality and especially older women's sexuality," she explained. "They see an older woman and they think the only thing she can be is maternal. People don't automatically think she's also a sexual being." 

"It's a perfect storm of prejudices we don't even know we have," De Freest added. 

But many others have reached out to thank them for being open in sharing their story and inspiring others to take a risk on loving who they are and being with who makes them happy.

"It doesn't matter if you're older or younger, gay or straight, you have the same right as everybody else to find love and happiness with yourself or with a partner," Zelg said. 

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