People say love should not be defined by physical attributes, but what about someone’s age? Couples with large age gaps often face negativity and have to defend their relationship to their family and friends. One couple who faced this challenge is Quran McCain, 26, and Cheryl McCain, 63. These two have a 37-year age difference between them, but it doesn’t stop them from loving each other.

The pair met when Quran was working with one of Cheryl’s family members and instantly wanted to know her more. They bonded over a mutual interest in TikTok and soon started dating. Now, they have gained millions of followers on the platform, and videos of the pair cuddling and dancing together have gone viral.

Such a large amount of attention has been difficult for the couple at times. Cheryl receives a lot of hateful comments about her appearance, even though she has been very candid about having an eating disorder. Quran said people would call her a zombie or comment that he is dating his grandmother. Despite all of the negativity, the couple still stays together because they make each other happy.

Cheryl has seven children who are all older than Quran, and she says that only a couple of them support their relationship. Meanwhile, Quran’s family has been very accepting of Cheryl and respects that they are together. These two have to defend their relationship often, but for Cheryl and Quran, all of the hate doesn’t compare to the love between them. Cheryl is also the proud grandmother of 17 grandchildren, but nonetheless, she and Quran are hopeful about continuing to expand their family with children of their own.

The comments about Cheryl’s appearance have been the hardest part of making their relationship public. She shared that it hurts her self-esteem when people call her names, and Quran added they wouldn’t let the hate win. Cheryl said: “Looks have nothing to do with it, we’re given our looks, how can we help what we look like? The best thing is our heart.”

For this couple, the way they feel about each other has nothing to do with appearance or age. Cheryl continued: “Age is just a number, we can’t help who we love. It doesn’t bother us because it’s not the truth, they’re saying stupid stuff. He treats me good, I treat him good, what’s everyone concerned about?”

Bonding over a mutual love of dancing and making TikTok videos, the two focus on spreading their love and joy on the internet. “I’m not doing anything wrong, we dance, we spread positive vibes, we have a lot of good things going for us, I’m not gonna let the haters win,” Quran shared.

According to the Daily Mail, when confronted with haters who judged her outside appearance, Cheryl said:

“You don’t judge a book by its cover. People are too farfetched; they say stupid immaterial s***, but what I say back to that is, you can’t judge us.”

Cheryl explained how this wasn’t her first relationship with a significant age gap. She had a previous boyfriend who was 22 years younger than her, and they’re still good friends. According to Journal, the pair originally met through work. Quran started working at Dairy Queen, and Cheryl’s daughter was his manager.

However, the would-be couple didn’t start dating straight away. But after they reconnected sometime later, they fell in love, and the rest, as they say, is history.

During an interview on “This Morning” in March 2023, the couple opened up about the possibility of having a child together. This would be Cheryl’s eighth child. Cheryl and Quran had talked about it on social media before but received a great deal of backlash.

“They said I guess just because of my age I can’t take care of a baby, what? I have got more energy than half of these kids that are taking care of babies now and I don’t see it as a problem,” Cheryl said.

While the couple may not be able to conceive on their own, Cheryl explained how they’d explored several other options. She said:

“No I can not have a baby myself but we have done the surrogacy thing where we already had three surrogates and right now we are looking for another one and also maybe adoption.”

The McCains have continued to share their love online and have stayed hopeful about potentially expanding their family, no matter what anyone has to say on the matter. Cheryl revealed that it sometimes felt like it was “us against the world,” commenting on her relationship with Quran. He concluded:

“We are just going to keep living our lives because we are happy, we are very much happy, this is a happy, healthy marriage, we are looking to start our family, and that’s all we got.”

Do you think that Cheryl and Quran’s relationship is out of the ordinary? Would you ever date someone who was older or younger than you? Let us know, and feel free to pass this along to your friends and family.