A 21-year-old British influencer has defended having a relationship with a 16-year-old amid huge backlash.
Natasha Newcombe has amassed a huge following on social media in recent years, meaning her 270,000 followers are usually pretty interested in her dating life.
Natasha, 21, has recently gone public with her new boyfriend on social media., who is 16 years old.
But with a five-year age gap and him not yet being an adult, the influencer has received a lot of criticism. It's important to note that the age of consent in the UK is 16.
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The pair have since appeared on The Blue Tick Show to defend their relationship after many dubbed it 'wrong'.
Natasha began: "I am in a relationship with someone who’s five years younger than me and I know a lot of people are gonna have their opinions on that and quite rightly so, you’re allowed to have your opinions, that’s your free will."
She added: "Although my relationship is very new, I just have to say that this boy is genuinely the most mature, kind, loving person I’ve ever been in a relationship with.
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"I will not stand for hate, directed at me, my friends or family."
The influencer went on to explain she didn't initially see it as potential romantic relationship when she started speaking to him online.
"I’d told [him] I’d go out for food with him, I didn’t see it as a date or anything," she said.
"I was also unsure of meeting him because I’ve actually never dated someone younger than me in my life.
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“I didn’t know what kind of challenges that was gonna bring forward for me but regardless, I’m in a relationship with him now.
“It’s my life, I’m going to live my life how I want to live my life. If I decide I want to be in a relationship with him, I can because it is legal. Whether you think it’s morally right or not, it is legal.”
Natasha has previously spoken about her beau in a video posted to TikTok.
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"It's very new but I have to say that this boy is the most mature, kindest, and loving person that I've ever been in a relationship with," she said.
"I completely understand that people are going to have a opinion on my relationship, you're quite right to, but what you're not right to is direct hate at me, my friends and my family. That I won't f**kng stand for."
The reaction online has been mixed, but the recent backlash is seemingly loud enough for Natasha to defend herself in a recent podcast.
Topics: Sex and Relationships, UK News, Social Media, News
Callum Jones