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Shirley Ballas criticises 'sexist' double standards over 13-years-younger boyfriend

Shirley Ballas has faced scrutiny over her age gap with boyfriend Daniel Taylor. [Photo: Getty]
Shirley Ballas has faced scrutiny over her age gap with boyfriend Daniel Taylor. [Photo: Getty]

Shirley Ballas has criticised the media coverage of her relationship with boyfriend Daniel Taylor, who is 13 years her junior.

The ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ judge, 59, has been dating boyfriend Daniel Taylor, 46, for nine months.

The pair met while starring in pantomime ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ together in Liverpool over Christmas last year, and entered into a romantic relationship in March.

READ MORE: This is the ideal relationship age gap, according to experts

Appearing on ‘Loose Women’ with Taylor earlier today, Ballas – who is twice divorced – complained about the media’s tendency to misrepresent his age.

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - 2019/07/11: Shirley Ballas and Daniel Taylor attend the Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Press Night at the London Palladium. (Photo by Keith Mayhew/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Shirley Ballas and Daniel Taylor attend the Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Press Night at the London Palladium. [Photo: Getty]
LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 06:  Shirley Ballas and Daniel Taylor attend the Barclaycard Exclusive Area at Barclaycard Presents British Summer Time Hyde Park at Hyde Park on July 06, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images for Barclaycard Exclusive)
Shirley Ballas and Daniel Taylor attend the Barclaycard Exclusive Area at Barclaycard Presents British Summer Time Hyde Park. [Photo: Getty]

“Well, the press seem to always want to put him down as 44: he’ll be 47 on his next birthday,” she said.

“I just think it’s so sexist. It doesn’t seem to matter if an older man gets a younger woman. There’s not much chat about it. There seems to be major chat about this [relationship]. There’s 12 years, 13 maybe.”

Ballas is far from the first to complain of a prevalent double standard surrounding age-gap relationships.

Brigitte Macron, the wife of French President Emmanuel Macron, has faced a slew of criticism over the 24-year-old age gap with her husband.

Yet the pair’s age-gap is exactly the same as that of US President Donald Trump and his third wife, Melania Trump.

READ MORE: Couple with 55-year-old age gap defend 'selfish' baby plans

Other examples of older women with younger male partners include Demi Moore, who married Ashton Kutcher when she was 43 and he was 27.

PARIS, FRANCE - SEPTEMBER 30: French President Emmanuel Macron (L) and his wife Brigitte Macron (2nd L) wait to welcome foreign heads of state and government prior to a lunch at the Elysee Presidential Palace on September 30, 2019 in Paris, France. Emmanuel Macron receives at lunch the foreign heads of state and government who made the trip to France to pay tribute to the late President Jacques Chirac. The former president of the French Republic, Jacques Chirac, who died at the age of 86, is buried today at the Montparnasse cemetery in Paris. (Photo by Julien Mattia/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Brigitte Macron has faced criticism due to her age gap with husband Emmanuel. [Photo: Getty]

Director Sam Taylor-Wood married actor Aaron Johnson despite the couple’s 23-year age gap – the pair now share the double barrelled surname “Taylor-Johnson”.

More recently, Bollywood actor Priyanka Chopra has been trolled on social media for her 10-year age gap with husband Nick Jonas.