When Cheryl McCain and her husband Quran walk down the street hand in hand, people stare and whisper – and when they post videos and photos online, they get trolled about their 37-year age gap.
Yet Cheryl, 61, and Quran, 24, shrug it off and say all they care about is each other – and now they want to start a family together.
Cheryl, who already has seven children, ranging in age from 41 to 29, says, “We’re in love – he has the most amazing heart and we have a connection like no other I’ve experienced. And the sex is incredible. We make love most nights –sometimes twice a night! We have compassion and respect for each other, and we can talk about everything.
“Now we want to have a family together. He’s always wanted children and I want to be the mother to his child. Of course, because of my age, we’ll have to get a surrogate or adopt, which we’re looking into.
“We have our own page on TikTok where we upload videos of us doing silly dances and talking about our lives together, and we’ve built up a big following. When we’ve talked about wanting a baby, we’ve had hundreds of people offering to be a surrogate so we’re just working our way through the offers to see who might be suitable.
“People say I’m selfish and too old to be a mum now, but I don’t worry about not being here to look after the child – you never know what might happen to anyone at any time. And I know that Quran will be an amazing father and he will have lots of support from family and friends.”
Cheryl and Quran, who’s a caretaker, first met when he was 15 and working in a fast-food restaurant managed by Cheryl’s son Chris, now 32. But they barely spoke and there was nothing romantic between them at that time.
But in November 2020 the couple met each other again when Quran went into the shop where Cheryl works as a cashier and they got chatting. She had been divorced for 10 years and had just come out of a long-term relationship.
From there a friendship grew and then in March 2021 Quran told her that he was falling in love with her.
Cheryl says, “I wasn’t looking for love and I was worried because we had such a good friendship and I didn’t want to ruin that. I’d dated a mate before and when it didn’t work out, the friendship was over, which was really sad.
“But I wasn’t remotely worried about the age gap – age is just a number, it’s how you feel about each other. I’d dated older men before, but I’d also been out with a guy who was 22 years younger than me, and we ended up staying together for seven years.
“I love being with a younger man, they have so much more energy, whereas older men never want to do anything other than sit indoors and watch TV.”
One evening, Quran told Cheryl he had feelings for her – and admitting she felt the same, the couple decided to start seeing each other romantically.
Cheryl says, “It was just amazing. Quran was a real gentleman and made me feel so special.
“I knew my children wouldn’t like it, but it wasn’t going to stop me. I’d spent years raising my kids and looking after them. Now it was time for me, and Quran made me so happy.”
The pair saw each other every day – meeting after work to sit in the park and talk.
Cheryl says, “It was important we got to know each other really well and we connected on a very deep level, but we were also both shy. I wasn’t the type to jump into bed with someone straight away and I also had insecurities about my body as I was so much older. We took our time building trust before we had sex after a month of being together. It was amazing and afterwards Quran told me he was a virgin. Although I was shocked, it made me realise that we had something really special.”
{#h-}
Just a few months later, in July 2021, Quran proposed to Cheryl in a restaurant where they lived in Georgia, USA.
Cheryl says, “I could tell he was nervous, but I had no idea why. Then he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I was so embarrassed that I was hiding my face, but of course I said yes.
“It didn’t feel like it was going too fast, I knew I didn’t want to be with anyone else – he’d stolen my heart completely. We just get along so well, we laugh and have such a good time and the sex is way beyond anything I’ve experienced before – I’m very lucky!”
Unfortunately, not everyone was thrilled and Cheryl’s children even thought she was joking. But now four of the seven are supportive – including Chris who worked with Quran. And Quran’s family are all supportive and Cheryl has even got his mum who, at 46, is 15 years younger than Cheryl, doing TikTok videos with her.
In September the couple eloped to Tennessee and got married while overlooking the river with just two friends.
Cheryl says, “We eloped because we just didn’t want the pressure or any fuss. But this year we plan to renew our vows and we’ll invite all our close family and friends.
“We get a lot of hate – people leave comments on the videos calling me a corpse and say I look like the walking dead.
“People wonder why Quran is with me and think it’s because of money, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. I’m certainly not rich!
“But we also get a lot of support. Making videos is our hobby, we have so much fun doing them, everything from dancing to talking about our life together. We have nothing to be ashamed of and people can think what they like – we’ve got each other and that’s all we care about.”
And now the couple are hoping to have a baby. “We’re so excited to be having a family,” says Cheryl. “I’ve been through the menopause so can’t carry a baby myself, but I have so much energy that I’m not worried about being too old or tired to be a mum again. I only ever get about four hours’ sleep a night anyway and feel as energetic as I did in my 20s.
“I’ve got 17 grandchildren, ranging in age from 17 to two, and they’re always around here, so the baby will have plenty of company – I say the more the merrier.
“I’m sure we will get more hate comments when we have a baby, but it’ll be surrounded by our love and that’s all that matters.”
Quran says, “I can’t really remember Cheryl from when I worked with her son. But when I met her again, I found her amazing. Her energy is radiant, she is very outgoing and spontaneous and just the most amazing woman. I don’t worry about the age gap at all, I don’t even think about it.
“When I told my mum about our relationship she thought I was joking at first but she said she would support me regardless and now she fully accepts us as a couple.
“I’ve always loved children and I’m at a point in my life where I’ve got a wife and I want to build a family with her.
“People have a lot of hate for us, but we are no different from any other couple, love is love.
“It’s offensive when people think we’re together because I am after her for money – I have my own! We’re happy and no matter what anyone says, that won’t change.”