42-year-old dad started dating teenage Welsh girl and it caused such a stir they both quit their jobs
Mark Hillary, 45, and Ellie Liptrot, 21, are a couple making waves on TikTok with nearly 80,000 followers. Ellie, originally from Wales, and the father-of-two, have faced some criticism due to their 24-year age gap, but say they relish in the attention—especially from online trolls.
The couple, known by their username 'It's The Hillary's', started their relationship when Mark was 42 and Ellie was just 18, after years of friendship, reports the Manchester Evening News. The two are now expecting their first child together.
Mark explains, "The relationship grew naturally as we had known of each other for a while beforehand." He adds, "So people knew us as friends first before being together, so there wasn't a really shocking factor for our family and friends because they saw it happen naturally. Our friend groups have mixed for quite a while."
Their rise to social media fame was unintentional. What began as simple posts of trendy videos and vlogs soon exploded into a full-time career, allowing them to leave their regular jobs behind.
Ellie, who previously worked as a dental nurse, says, "We were just posting like everyone else, and it just blew up. We would always reply to comments with more videos, so it just kept going. It was by accident, really. What started as us posting about living our lives has turned into this."
Now, as full-time content creators, Ellie shares, "It grew so big that we were able to leave our jobs. We didn't really consider it a risk because at that point, we didn't have to worry about working because we already had that income."
Despite their online success, they've continued to deal with the occasional rude comment, but the couple insists they are unbothered. Mark says, "We're very thick-skinned. If we weren't, we would never have started this and put ourselves out there on social media.
"The rude comments don't really get to us. We have quite a laugh with it because it's usually people with #BeKind in their bio who have something hateful to write under our videos of us just being us."
Ellie added: "If anything, we like the attention. We find it funny." For the latest TV and showbiz gossip sign up to our newsletter
The dynamic duo has recently been nominated for the Best Family award at the National Influencer Awards, which will take place in Liverpool on May 16 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. The event will celebrate digital influencers making a positive impact in fields like fashion, beauty, travel, fitness, technology, and lifestyle.
Speaking to the Liverpool Echo, Ellie expressed her surprise and excitement about the nomination. "It was a surprise to be nominated, but it's exciting at the same time," she shared. "We've never done anything like this before because it's all new to us."
Looking to the future, Ellie revealed plans for the family to start producing YouTube-style vlogs, aiming to release a new episode every week after their first child arrives.
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