Caroline Stanbury: What’s the Secret to Age Gap Relationships?

Age is nothing but a number—especially in true love. Former Real Housewives of Dubai star Caroline Stanbury knows this firsthand. She has found love, lost it, and found it again. After divorcing Cem Habib in December 2020 after 15 years of marriage, she’s now living life unapologetically on her terms.

In 2021, Stanbury remarried the love of her life, Sergio Carrallo. Despite the 19-year age gap, Stanbury is says that their differences help their marriage thrive. Their secret? Working together instead of against each other.

“A lot of couples work against each other. They don’t want to open up their address book or their bank accounts. They’re always thinking, ‘What if it doesn’t work out?’ But sometimes in life, you have to think, ‘What if it does?’” Stanbury explains.

On Uncut and Uncensored, Stanbury and Carrallo share the secret sauce to their marriage. They also open up about their different upbringings, generational perspectives, how contrast breeds connection, and how they learn each other daily. When honesty, respect, laughter, and love are the foundation of a relationship, it flourishes. 

Humor (with a hint of sarcasm) makes a relationship last

Stanbury is proof that there’s life after divorce. Seven years into her marriage with Carrallo, she has learned to embrace their differences. Internet trolls love to speculate, often commenting that “she looks like she hates him,” “she is bored of him,” or “they’re going to be broken up in six months.”

Don’t be fooled. Stanbury loves her husband—she says they still holds hands and get butterflies. She’s just not going to pretend to be anything other than her authentic self—sarcastic, sassy, and a little biting. 

“That’s just me. If I’m not rolling my eyes and looking like you are going to bore me to tears, who would I be?” she says. “When you are comfortable enough to poke somebody and make fun of somebody and they don’t get offended, that’s when you really love somebody. Be careful: If I am really nice and smiling through gritted teeth, that’s when you should worry.”

Carrallo agrees that this is what makes their partnership and friendship strong. “That’s what keeps us going. We are always back and forth with each other. We are always laughing in our relationship,” he says. “It’s something very interesting when you find someone and you have the fire between you, you can just look into each other’s eyes and there’s something there.” 

A little appreciation goes a long way in love 

Early in their relationship, Carrallo would drive cross-country just to take her to dinner. Stanbury praises her husband for still “dating” her in their marriage. “That man has never forgotten to open the car door for me,” she says. “If I’m walking with my handbag, he carries it. In the middle of the night, he’ll ask, ‘Are you okay?’ He checks on me all the time. I would miss it if he didn’t do it.”

Every day, Carrallo tries to prioritize caring for his wife: “The easy thing for me would be to go through the day to not even say I love you, open the door, carry your things, and simply care for you… The beauty in a relationship is to preserve what made it. Never take for granted what brought you together in the beginning.”

How a guy treats his mother matters

Stanbury admits that she has never fully understood Carrallo’s relationship with his mom—and she still doesn’t. Carrallo is known for caring for and taking care of his mom. So much so that Stanbury jokes, “Between me and your mom, your day is gone.” 

But Carrallo says being a “momma’s boy” is a good thing: “They always find a man who treats his mom the same way you want him to look after you… That’s the biggest reason you chose me. I prioritize family before anything, and I care for the people around me.”

When Stanbury has an upcoming work trip, Carrallo is going on a trip with his mother and sister while she is away. “Any other man will try to go and escape with friends on a trip. I go and escape with my mother and sister. They’re really looking forward to that,” Carrallo says. 

Caroline Stanbury and Sergio Carrallo have embraced their differences

What internet trolls think will end Stanbury and Carrallo’s relationship actually unites them, though they do have their differences. Future children remain one area of debate. Stanbury has three children from her previous marriage, and she and Carrallo have been exploring the possibility of having a baby via surrogate. 

Stanbury admits that it’s the one big problem in their marriage. Carrallo wants two or three kids of his own. He says, “I come from a big family. I have 41 cousins from my dad’s side… We love our life now. We have all this freedom, and your kids are going to be gone in three or four years. What’s going to happen to us? Are we going to have a baby?”

Stanbury doesn’t know the answer and says that one of them might ultimately be unhappy with the resolution. Other than that, the age gap is a huge plus. “You have a respect level that you might not have with a counterpart who is the same age. That can breed a different type of contempt,” Stanbury says.

Another difference they frequently get asked about is earning power. Stanbury explains, “A lot of people won’t have an age gap relationship because of fear about financial earning differences. They think the richer one pays for the younger person. That’s completely not how it works… It’s not about the money in their account. You cannot expect more of someone else when you’re 20 years down the road. If somebody is willing to work and has grit and grind, that’s what matters.”

Even with their differences, Stanbury says nothing has faded: “Do I get irritated with him? Yes. Has he pushed more buttons in me than my children and ex-husband put together? One hundred percent yes. But that is what makes our relationship so fiery. We never get bored,” Stanbury says.

For more about their fiery and romantic dynamic and relationship advice, tune into Uncut and Uncensored.