The 90s were a weird time. Furbies were like gold dust, the Macarena stayed in the music charts for 60 weeks and everyone was wearing their thong straps above the waistband of their low-slung jeans. All of this is second hand information for Love Island’s Gemma Owen—who was born in 2003.
As such, when Davide Sanclimenti sauntered into the villa with his Disney villain jaw line at the ripe reality star age of 27 and was given his pick of the female contestants to couple up with, many of us were surprised when he opted for Gemma. The seven (almost eight) years between isn't huge, but the maturity gap and unbalanced power dynamic seems a bit skewed.
When the self-dubbed Italian stallion selected the youngest woman in the villa to date, parts of the internet were taken aback: ‘I cannot imagine being 27 and keen to share a bed with a 19-year-old. None of this is sitting right with me,’ wrote one user. ‘Doesn’t Gemma need a permission slip before leaving the villa with Davide?’ added another. ‘Davide just picked 19-year-old Gemma at his fossil age?!’ questioned a third.
But is Davide living in blissful ignorance? Unlike during your final year of university when you demand everyone’s age the moment you meet them in a bar rather than run the risk of accidentally getting with a fresher, Gemma’s age just sort of…hasn’t come up? Not while the contestants have been on screen, anyway.
‘Gemma, confess your age we’re begging you,’ pleaded one viewer as she and Davide discussed the fact she still lived with her parents on their first date while he revealed he’d moved into his own place when he was 18— almost a decade ago.
Yet maybe it would make little difference whether Davide was aware or not: ‘These tweets saying he’ll be shocked when he finds out her age… oh my sweet summer children,’ said one viewer. ‘Have you met men before? he probably does know!!’
Large age gaps between men and women have been pretty normalised by Hollywood. Laura Dern was 23 years old when she filmed Jurassic Park while her co-star Sam Neil (who she kissed) was 43. And, as is often the way, life has imitated art with actors like Leonardo DiCaprio famously favouring younger women as romantic interests.
The principal question here, though, is does age matter? Some people assume that men take longer to ‘act their age’ and women should go for slightly older men in order to be at the same maturity level. According to a study by Newcastle University, girls generally optimise brain connections earlier than boys and mature more quickly in emotional and cognitive areas during childhood and adolescence.
Though, as many viewers have pointed out, it’s the age gap per se between Gemma and Davide that could be seen as problematic but the fact it’s a 19-year-old dating a 27-year-old opposed to, say, a 29-year-old being with a 37-year-old. The couple are at completely different stages of life. The former has been out of formal education for about two years and was 16 when the pandemic started. Meanwhile, Davide has been living independently and working on his career for more than half of the length of Gemma’s entire life.
At 19-years-old, Gemma (who calls herself ‘old fashioned) is one of the youngest Love Island contestants of all time— beaten only by Amelia Peters, who was 18 years old when she took part in the third series. In light of the age gap controversy online this season, viewers are now demanding that the dating show should have a minimum age of 21: ‘Age gaps aren’t anyone’s business when everyone’s proper adults,’ wrote one user. ‘The problem is a freshly 19-year-old kissing a 27-year-old on television.’
It's understandable that some are suspicious of men who date younger women. There are eyebrows raised over the power dynamics within the relationship. Ultimately, everyone’s asking: ‘Why isn’t this person interested in someone their own age?’
On the other hand, they're arguably both consenting adults who are entitled to overcome their potential life stage incompatibility to explore the connection they feel between them—even if other people do find it icky.