5 Seconds of Summer’s Michael Clifford, 29, defends wife, 36, over ‘vile’ age conspiracy
Fans think she's lying about her age.
Michael Clifford has defended his wife Crystal Leigh after ‘vile’ accusations that she is lying about her real age resurfaced online.
The 5 Seconds of Summer guitarist, 29, tied the knot with Crystal, 36, at a secret ceremony in 2021 after five years together.
In December 2023, the couple — who live together in Los Angeles — proudly announced the birth of their first child, a little girl named Lua.
Their age gap has always been a sore spot for some fans as Michael was 19 when they began dating in 2016, while his now-wife was 26.
Conspiracy followed the romance as it was then claimed that Crystal had lied about her age and was actually born in 1984, making her 41 now.
Recently, this rumour was reignited by a TikToker claiming she was in her 30s when they met, prompting a rare statement from Michael.
Michael hit out at the TikTok account that was questioning his family (Picture: X/Tha5SOSFamily)In a now-viral video by Paigel Paterson, she wrote: ‘You’re so funny. Thanks, my brother’s gf of 4yrs cheated on with a member of this band when she was 34 and he was 19.
‘Now they’re married with a baby and she is still lying about her real age. But I’ll just sit here sipping my tea.’
It was quickly unearthed that these allegations were about Michael and Crystal, especially when he decided to hit back in the comments.
The Teeth hitmaker said: ‘Imagine bringing out literal child into a shade post it’s honestly disgusting. Ur story isn’t accurate and our age gap (even tho ur math is wrong) is our business.’
Michael is thought to have met Crystal because she was friends with model Bryana Holly, who previously dated 5SOS bandmate, Ashton Irwin.
The couple welcomed daughter Lua last September (Picture: @michaelclifford)The couple have always maintained that the age gap is seven years between them, with Michael adding: ‘Clout chase somewhere else u ????.’
After reportedly leaving his comment several times, he then posted a screenshot on an Instagram Story to vent about the ‘dumbass’ deleting his response.
On a fan community discussion, the Australian musician then reportedly hit out at the ‘parasocial delusional stories’.
Shared by X fan account Tha5SOSFamily, he said: ‘I don’t want to bring any more attention to this whole thing but these parasocial delusional stories about my personal life have gotta stop. Drama culture is just f***king pitiful.
They’ve been together for almost a decade now (Picture: Mariano Regidor/Redferns)‘The audacity to spew vile remarks towards a new mom and mob mentality has everyone jumping in is disgraceful man. Hope people can learn one day to not be so evil.’
He wished ‘those of you who deserve it’ a good day and said ‘f**k y’all’ to those who were questioning his relationship.
5SOS, consisting of Michael, Luke Hemmings, Calum Hood, and Ashton, rose to fame in the early 2010s through YouTube.
They hit the big time after touring with One Direction and finding chart success with She Looks So Perfect, Youngblood, and Don’t Stop.
They’ve gone on to sell over 10million albums worldwide and have over 7billion listens across streaming platforms.
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