MIND THE GAP
My husband is three years older than me but people always mistake me for being his daughter – our honeymoon was awkward
A HUSBAND and wife have admitted they are routinely mistaken for father and daughter despite being almost the same age.
Carolyn and Drew Fultz have been together for more than ten years, and have encountered the mix-up many times in their relationship, even as they jetted off on their honeymoon.
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The mother-of-three, 30, credits the confusion to her "baby face", her 33-year-old husband's baldness and to their height gap, as Drew, who is over six feet tall, towers over his 5 '4 wife.
Although she initially felt uncomfortable, Carolyn, who works in marketing, now sees the humour in the awkward predicament and takes it as a compliment that people think she looks young.
Drew, who is a general manager at a private equity fund, says that the questions don't hurt his feelings, even when children mistake him for Carolyn's father.
Since sharing a video to TikTok that poked fun at the mortifying scenario, the couple have been hit with thousands of comments, as many related to their circumstances.
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The video, which has received more than 18 million views, also saw the pair likened to the gentle giant Hodor and innocent Gilly from the hit series Game Of Thrones.
Carolyn, from Phoenix, Arizona, US, said: "This mix-up has been happening ever since we've been together. We've been together for just over ten years.
"Drew's been balding since he was in high school. A lot of people corrected me and said I shouldn't have called him 'balding' as he's already bald.
"The mix-up can happen at the most random times. It probably happens more often than we realise, but I'd say we only get directly asked about it every few months or so.
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"It doesn't happen all the time of course, but it can happen often when we meet people for the first time and they don't know the context, and they just assume that I'm his daughter instead of his wife.
"It's a mistake that has been made by people of all ages.
"Initially when it started happening, I was a little uncomfortable by the assumption. But we've been together for so long, it's become a bit of a running joke. I just see the humour in it now.
"Before, I felt like I had to prove something by being more mature. But the older I get; it becomes more and more of a compliment that people think I still look young."
Drew, like his wife, sees the humour in the mortifying mishap and admits that people often assume Carolyn is the sister to their children.
It doesn't happen all the time of course, but it can happen often when we meet people for the first time and they don't know the context, and they just assume that I'm his daughter instead of his wife.
Carolyn Fultz
Drew said: "It doesn't bruise my ego when people think I'm Carolyn's dad. I think it's kind of funny.
"I think it is a funny thing because the majority of the time when it happens, it'll be in humorous scenarios.
"I remember the first time it happened, Carolyn had come to a softball game that I was playing at.
"There was a seven-year-old girl sitting next to Carolyn who was watching her dad play.
"When I was up to bat, the girl turned to her and said 'Oh, it's your dad's turn'. Carolyn was so confused and didn't know what to say.
"When she realised, she said 'Oh, no, that's my fiance.' The little girl was like 'No it's not' and walked away.
"At the gym, there's a kid centre that we check the kids into whilst we work out. The people working there will often say to the kids 'Your sister is here' when Carolyn comes up to pick them up.
"It happens more often that people will assume she's siblings with the kids than it does that people assuming she's my daughter."
The embarrassing assumption has been made at very awkward times - even whilst the couple were flying off on their honeymoon.
Carolyn said: "The mix-up happened even when we were flying to our honeymoon. We were sitting in the exit row and the flight attendant came up to Drew and said 'Is she at least 15?'.
"You have to be 15 to sit in an exit row. Drew smiled and explained that we were on our honeymoon. I was 22, which is young, but she'd just assumed I was his daughter.
"People often think I'm younger than I am because I have a baby face.
"I think our height difference plays a huge role in the confusion as well. I'm 5'4, and he's 6'6. That, combined with the balding and me looking youthful, makes a big impact."
A video referencing their predicament, shared to TikTok on October 2, has generated a lot of confusion.
Carolyn said: "When we shared our video to TikTok, we got a wide variety of comments. We had people who related to us, as well as people who just thought it was funny.
"We also had some people being very critical. I don't think they realised we were only three years apart.
"They got so upset thinking we had a huge age gap. I think they thought it was a 60 year old with a 20-something, which of course isn't the case.
"I even said in the caption of the video that we were both adults, I didn't want to mislead people.
"We got a comment from somebody comparing us to Hodor and Gilly from Game Of Thrones. We thought that was funny - we haven't watched the show, but we looked up who the characters were."
Commenters on the video, which has more than 18 million views, were divided in their response to the couple.
One wrote: "My first thought: 'Oh cool she makes TikToks with her dad."
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Another commented: "I have a baby face and my husband is bald. We are the same age and I got mistaken for his kid", whilst a fellow user said: "My husband and I have this issue, everyone thinks he's kidnapping me."
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One baffled commenter wrote: "Ain't no way he's not 52 and you're not 14."
Another said: "He makes you look younger and you make him look older."
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