Age of Attraction Star Had Falling Out With Kid Over Age-Gap Romance

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'Age of Attraction' Finale: Find Out Which Age-Gap Couples Broke Up and Who Got Engaged

For many stars on Age of Attraction, age is just a number—but that belief wasn’t held by every person in their lives.

In fact, one cast member’s kids were so opposed to the age-gap relationships that they cut off contact with their parent following filming, according to season one star Theresa DeMaria.

Fortunately, the mom of three clarified that she didn’t have that problem while moving forward with partner John Merrill—who is 27 years her junior.

“Aside from the BS that either the public is giving us, or some friends on the periphery,” Theresa told Glamour in an interview published on March 26, “No one was like, ‘Oh my God, I’m never talking to you again.’”

However, she then added, “One of the other cast members’ daughters did do that, but I’m not going to say who.”

Though Theresa did not specify which cast member faced backlash from their kid, Andrew Wheeler and Jorge Sanchez were the only other people prominently featured on season one that had daughters.

Andrew, 38, had paired up with Libby Vodicka on the show, despite the fact she was 16 years younger. And though he had concerns that he was stopping Libby from living it up in her 20s, they ultimately decided to continue their relationship when the Commitment Ceremony rolled around.

But it appears Andrew’s choice not to introduce his daughters to Libby, 22, may have become a point of contention after the show. In a teaser for the reunion—which comes out on The Viall Files' YouTube channel on April 1—co-host Natalie Joy asked Libby if she ever met Andrew’s daughters and she coldly responded, “I have not.”

Jorge, 60, also did not introduce his daughters to his partner, Vanelle Fenmou, on the show but that’s because the two broke up before they could reach that point in their relationship.

With the biggest age gap of the cast—Jorge is 33 years older than 27-year-old Vanelle—the pair disagreed about Vanelle's celibacy and Jorge's confrontation with a stranger on the street. However, Vanelle was adamant that it didn’t have “anything to do with his age.”

Theresa was the only other star from season one who had a daughter, though she made it clear that all of her three kids—Richard, Lauren and Michael DeMaria—were fully onboard with her relationship.

“My oldest, Richard, is super poised and has always sort of been the rock for our family. As expected, he just kind of goes with the flow,” the 54-year-old told Glamour of her son, who is two years older than John. “He doesn’t really have a whole lot to say. He understands why it happened the way it did and has the same mentality as I do, that John reads a lot older, and he understands why we went through the entire experience together. So he’s solid.”

“It’s the same thing with my daughter,” she continued, before noting that Michael had the toughest time of the three. “My youngest son doesn’t really care, except for he’s getting a lot of flack from his friends right now. My kids are super supportive. They want me to be happy. They wanted me to find somebody.”

And while John, 27, may not have “fit the age range that we had all kind of hoped,” Theresa said she’s happy to encourage conversations about age-gap relationships.

“If I were to put a percentage on it, I would say 95 percent of the people out there are totally in support of me, cheerleading me, and really want us to be together,” she explained. “That is very heartwarming. It just means that our world is not as dysfunctional as I anticipated it’d be and that women’s empowerment is building.”

“That makes me happy to spark that conversation a little bit—and I would be happy to continue to be in that conversation because I think it’s really important,” she added, “not just for women’s empowerment but equality on all levels.”

To see what happened with the other couples from Age of Attraction, keep reading…

Derrick Fleming & Pfeifer Hill: Dating

Despite their 20-year age gap, Pfeifer ultimately decided to "sacrifice" and move from Seattle to Dallas to try to make it work with the dad-of-two.

"I'm the luckiest girl in the whole world to have found you here. Many people spend their whole lives looking for what we found here," she told him at the Commitment Ceremony. "If I were to leave here without you, I may regret it for the rest of my life."

Theresa Demaria & John Merrill: Dating

After reading a letter of approval from her three adult kids, Theresa felt it was worth it to battle any judgement that would come from her being double his age (54 to his 27) at the Commitment Ceremony, and they decided to give their love a shot.

"It makes me feel a lot more confident and happy to know that they wrote that to you. I had no idea what it said. And so, I don't want to walk away," she told him, adding in a confessional, "It's the connection that counts—not the candles on the cake."

Vanessa Drozda & Logan Goodrid: Engaged

Though Vanessa was all-in, saying she wanted to bring him "into my world," Logan was hesitant about dating someone 20 years older, expressing, "maybe I'm not the man for you."

Explaining that he was questioning whether their romance was "toxic" or "healthy," he told her on Commitment Day, "I need the promise ring back."

But after they shed the rings, Logan ultimately was ready to commit to her and shockingly got down on one knee.

"It's been a crazy roller coaster of a ride, but I'm not getting off anytime soon. I love the s--t out of you," he said. "You're someone who deserves everything, and someone who deserves the Kobe ring."

He presented her with an engagement ring and asked, "Do you want to continue this journey and do life together?" to which she said yes, marking her fifth time being engaged.

Leah Woolfolk & Chris Dahlan: Broke Up

Chris—who is 15 years younger than Leah—decided to walk away after feeling suffocated by her always wanting to spend time with him.

"We've talked about our differences, and we laid out what we want out of a partner from day one. I think we both want to have a family. I think we both want to settle down. I think maybe we want it at different paces," he explained. "I do think that the age difference did cause an unnecessary pressure on both of us and put us in a situation where I, for the first time in my life, I felt like it was hard for me to be myself."

As he put it, "That's why ultimately, I feel that this partnership is not right."

So, how did Leah react to the breakup?

"I've always want to be chosen, but I wasn't going to beg someone to choose me. I also can't turn a boy into a man either," she said in a confessional. "I was hoping to find my love here at the retreat, but I didn't. Overall, I think I've just learned who I am, and I'm a very strong, intelligent, beautiful woman and my future partner will be happy to be with me."

Libby Vodicka & Andrew Wheeler: Dating

Though he expressed concerns that he was stopping Libby from living it up in her 20s, she told Andrew, who is 16 years her senior, "I really feel like you'd only be an addition to my life."

"I feel like it's finally my turn, like this might actually be my rom com happy ending," the dad-of-two told her. "I know, I'm so cheesy. I've been thinking a lot about what happens after this. And I don't know what your generation calls it these days—hard launch, soft launch, probably something way cooler than what I'm about to say—but I would really love to leave here with you as my girlfriend."

Libby agreed, with the pair making plans for her to go to Baltimore to meet his daughters.

Jorge Sanchez & Vanelle Fenmou: Broke Up

The couple—who had the biggest age gap of the cast, with him being 33 years older—didn't make it to Commitment Day, splitting up while living together over disagreements about Vanelle's celibacy and Jorge's confrontation with a stranger on the street.

However, she noted, “I don’t necessarily think it has anything to do with his age.”

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