People shocked at Christine Baranski’s age as ‘new lesbian age gap’ photo breaks the internet

People have been left well and truly shocked upon discovering Christine Baranski’s age after a 'new lesbian age gap' photo broke the internet.

One Reddit user shared a snap of the Mamma Mia actress posing alongside her Nine Perfect Strangers co-star, King Princess, at the gala re-opening night of Mamma Mia on Broadway at the Winter Garden Theatre in New York on Monday (18 August).

They captioned the snap: "A new lesbian age gap relationship? Are King Princess and Christine Baranski dating?"

Despite the theories of the alleged 'new lesbian age gap relationship' - with the very clear reference to Sarah Paulson and Holland Taylor's own 48-year gap - many social media users seemed to be more interested in Baranski's age more than anything, given that the Redditor user popped both stars' ages in brackets in the post.

"Baranski is 73???" quipped a second Reddit user, while a third chimed in: "The real news like DAMN lady!"

A fourth piped up: "I had the same thought! She is gorgeous!"

"The it-girl of our lifetime," gushed another and a fifth fan echoed: "Wait.. Baranski is 73? That is unbelievable."

Others came forward to shed some truth on the speculation, namely pointing out that the pair are just mates and enjoy trolling fans online.

"They're friends and joke about how people will think they're a couple in this article and say stuff to fuel potential rumours," explained one fan, referencing this article in which King is quoted as saying: "People will talk."

"Let's give them something to talk about," Baranski reportedly responded.

A second reiterated: "King Princess likes to troll. It’s hard to take anything she says or does seriously."

While a third added: "Using my brain they are certainly just friends. Inter-generational friendships are great!!"

And a final Redditor beamed: "Fun single elderly ladies are like bestie catnip for lesbians lol, I love intergenerational friendships."

King even took to Instagram yesterday (20 August) to repost the photos to her 755k followers, which sent the internet into a frenzy with the hilariously baity caption: "#loveislove."

"My fave thing about this id idk if this is real or not," wrote one fan.

A second commented: "Omg hi Sarah Paulson and Holland Taylor xx."

"I don’t know if this is a joke but I love it either way," praised a third while a fourth joked: "Please be real."

And a final Instagram user rounded off: "Obsessed with whatever is going on here."

Us too.