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A couple who got engaged at 18 and 19 have said they have ‘no regrets’ about tying the knot so young, saying the criticism Millie Bobby Brown has received for her engagement is ‘ridiculous’.
The Stranger Things actor, 19, announced she's engaged to boyfriend Jake Bongiovi, 20, earlier this week, having been together for two-and-a-half-years.
After dropping the news to fans, she’s been met with divided reaction – with some offering nothing but congratulations to the happy couple, while others are saying they feel she’s getting married too young.
But a couple who were in a similar boat a few years back say married life has been ‘blissful’, and that they don’t understand the backlash Brown has had.
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Saffie Michaelis, now 24, met her husband, Zac, at a friend's 18th birthday party in February 2017.
By December that year, they announced their engagement after a 10-month whirlwind romance.
At first, some close friends were sceptical, but they were soon proven wrong when the relationship went from strength to strength, with the pair eventually tying the knot in September 2021.
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Saffie, who works in sales, said: “Of course, as a 19-year-old boy you don't just go around proposing to people. We did discuss it first.
"We started discussing it because we were both looking at university options. We were on a gap year that year but the year after we were both looking to go to uni.
"Our thinking was that when couples go to uni they either break up before, or try to make it work but break up, or you come out the other end and generally end up staying together long term.
"We wanted to go into uni knowing no fight would be our last fight and that we would learn to fit and grow together rather than quit.”
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She continued: “When we first got engaged my close friends weren't 100 per cent convinced it was legitimate.
"We have a running joke that my very closest friends didn't bother writing a congratulations card because they didn't think it would end up in marriage.
"But once we put an announcement out in the newspaper and some time passed they got on board.”
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Zac, also 24, asked Saffie’s father for his blessing, and then officially proposed to her at home.
Both sets of parents approved, but only on the condition that the duo waited until after they finished their studies to get married, with Saffie heading off to the University of Nottingham to study English, while Zac stayed in London and attended UCL.
After Covid disrupted their university experiences, Saffie ended up moving back home to West London in 2021 to complete her studies.
They officially married on 13 September 2021 in a ceremony in Chelsea with all of their family and friends – a milestone Saffie said was ‘categorically the most incredible day’ of their lives.
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The couple are now living in West London, near their families, but are working towards buying their first home together.
"Life is blissful now,” Saffie said. "Talking to my friends, so many people seem to have existential angst living in their early 20s.
"I'm so lucky we're building a home together and building everything I ever wanted."
Saffie said she thinks the hate on Brown is ‘ridiculous’, saying ‘every 18 or 19-year-old is going to be very different’.
"She's grown up in the public eye probably had to grow up really fast, so is probably an older soul,” she added.
"For me, I grew up really fast living in London, so whilst 18 sounds really young we were old souls and also marriage doesn't stop you from going out or living your life, you just do it with another person.
"So long as you've both got your heads screwed on, why not give it a go? There's no harm in waiting either, but I don't think you should judge anyone else.
"For me, married life is blissful. We have no regrets getting engaged so young and it's one of the best decisions I've ever made."
Topics: Sex and Relationships, Millie Bobby Brown, UK News
Jess Hardiman