Influencer, 22, Married To Her Former High School Teacher, 60, Responds To Backlash Over Their Relationship

A young woman who married her former high school teacher has spoken publicly after sharing posts about their relationship sparked strong reactions online.

Twenty-two-year-old influencer Minea Pagni opened up about her 38-year age gap with her husband, who she refers to as “Massimo,” through a series of Instagram posts shared over recent months.

While some followers expressed support, many others reacted with disbelief or accused her of being motivated by money, a claim she strongly rejected.

Responding to those accusations in an interview with the New York Post last week, Pagni said: "Reducing a woman's choices to money is one of the oldest and most unfair stereotypes. I have my own goals, my own work, and my own independence. I married him for who he is — his mind, his values, and the way he loves."

Pagni explained that she first met Massimo when she was 17 years old and he was her philosophy teacher at school.

She said their relationship did not begin at that time and only developed several years later, after she was no longer his student.

According to Pagni, they reconnected by chance when she was 21 after running into him at a bookstore, where she finally admitted she once had a schoolgirl crush.

About a year after that meeting, the pair got married, despite the significant difference in their ages and life experiences.

To put that gap into perspective, Pagni noted that when Massimo was roughly her age in 1989, the Berlin Wall was falling, and she would not be born until many years later.

She said she chose to share their story to push back against what she sees as unfair assumptions and deep-rooted prejudice toward large age-gap relationships.

Pagni met her husband when she was his student Instagram/diaryofminea

When she first publicly revealed her relationship in November 2025, Pagni reflected on her early memories by saying: "Many years ago, in the school of my small hometown, something happened, something that happens to many students."

She went on to describe the teacher who left a lasting impression on her, explaining: "I found myself fascinated by a teacher: a man whose age didn't match the brilliance of his mind; curious, passionate, alive. A teacher who knew how to light a spark inside people."

Looking back on her time as a student, she recalled: "With him, I discovered the desire to learn, to grow, to become someone. And alongside all of that, a small crush bloomed."

Pagni said that years later, after leaving her phone number with him at a bookstore and hearing nothing, she began attending his public lectures.

She described doing so out of “nostalgia, curiosity, or maybe hope,” before eventually working up the courage to ask him out for a coffee.

From that moment on, their relationship developed naturally, leading to marriage several years later.

Summing up their connection, Pagni said: "Today, a year later, we still look at each other with surprise - astonished by how deeply we connect, despite the age gap, despite our very different lives."

Despite her positive view of their relationship, not everyone online shared her perspective.

One Instagram user commented: "Listen its not the age difference that bothers me the most, what bothers me the most is that he saw you GROW UP. Its weird."

Another critic wrote: "As someone who has worked as a teacher and taught kids, this is incredibly disturbing."

Pagni acknowledged that she expected some backlash but admitted she was surprised by how strong some of the reactions were.

Reflecting on the response, she told the New York Post: "I knew not everyone would understand, but I wasn't fully prepared for how intense some reactions could be."

She added: "Still, I've learned that criticism often says more about society's fears than about our love."