Yahoo Lifestyle 
Courtney Stodden reveals horrifying reality of age-gap marriage
As she prepared to turn 26, Courtney Stodden shared some insight into her marriage to actor Doug Hutchison, 60.
Courtney was just 16 when she married to The Green Mile star, who was 51-years-old at the time.
They met via email when the teenager reached out about an acting workshop the actor was putting on in Los Angeles.
They began emailing and speaking on the phone regularly over the next four months.
Speaking with ABC News, Doug said when he found out she was 16 his "whole world turned upside down".
He added, "It didn't make me want to walk away, but it definitely was a struggle inside my heart … because I had already started falling for her."
RELATED
Speaking of their four-month long distance romance, Doug said, "It was a really beautiful and unique way to get to know someone, because we didn't have the distraction of the physical…. We could only get to know each other through our words and our sentiments."
The reality star took to Instagram as she looked back on the last ten years, she wrote, "Ten years ago, I turned 16. Nothing could have prepared me for what was around the corner.
"I had a child’s mind, a teenager’s body, and I was a virgin. However, it appeared to everyone around me that I was a woman who was grown and able to make my own choices.
"According to many, I was ‘mature’ enough to date men my father’s age (or older), and eventually marry one."
"Looking back, I now see how desperately I craved my own father's attention. He didn't teach me how to drive. I didn't know how to write a check. I never went to prom. Instead, I dropped out of high school, went to Las Vegas, and with the blessing of my parents, I wed a 50-year-old man I had just met in person.
"I gave him my all – my body, my mind, my heart, my soul. No one stopped me. No one stepped in and said that this wasn't okay. Instead, after achieving a kind of fame I wasn't prepared for, the world became my jury. I hid myself beneath a blonde mask, and eventually I lost my complete identity."
Courtney's parents Krista and Alex, who is four years younger than Doug, gave her their permission for her to marry the actor in Las Vegas, Nevada.
She told ABC News at the time of their wedding, "I was a virgin... I knew that if I kept that, I would really be blessed with a beautiful gift. And God did. He blessed me with my soulmate. So I'm really thankful for that."
In March, Courtney announced she was officially divorced by sharing a photo from their wedding, she wrote, "I look back at this picture and feel absolutely taken advantage of."
Doug told Yahoo Lifestyle earlier this year that he takes ‘full responsibility’ for the relationship, though denies he treated Courtney with anything but extreme respect during the relationship.
"I take full responsibility for my actions," the actor says.
"I'm definitely not a saint. No one is... [But] I treated Courtney like a queen throughout our marriage."
Meanwhile, Courtney also told Yahoo Lifestyle that one of the most difficult parts of the marriage was the attention she received from celebrities.
Courtney says an increasingly difficult marriage was compounded by the attention from high-profile celebrities and publications.
"I feel like society should have been far enough along not to judge the child, and to judge the responsible adults around them,” she says.
"Adults with huge platforms then jumping on the bandwagon and hating the child, I just really don’t get it.
"So, that scares me," she says. "Being [trolled] by big celebrities, it’s really scarring."
Click here to sign up to our daily newsletter to get all the latest news and hacks. Or if you have a story tip, email us at lifestyle.tips@verizonmedia.com.
