A social media influencer has defended her decision to have a romantic relationship with a 16-year-old boy after people called her “crazy.”
Tasha Newcombe, 21, from Kent, recently became romantically involved with Marko Vituk, 16, from Maidstone, and the new couple shared the news on their social media accounts.
However, since the couple made their relationship official, they have received a number of backlashes from viewers who think their relationship is “crazy” due to the five-year age gap between them.
In response to the ongoing controversy, the 21-year-old recently took to TikTok to provide more details of the relationship, insisting that she was initially unsure about pursuing Mark, who is of GCSE age, but that they had a “healthy, happy and loving relationship”.
Tasha, who works as a party manager, says she has “been working in social media for six years” and now has 263.3k followers on TikTok and 10 million likes on her glamorous party-oriented videos.
Pictured: Tasha Newcombe, 21, from Kent, recently began a relationship with Marko Vituk, 16, from Maidstone, and the two took to their social media accounts to share the news of the controversial romance.
Tasha is pictured alongside her boyfriend, Marko Vituk (left), and a friend. The pair appeared together on The Bro’Cast Podcast, where Tasha said she never expected “the level” of backlash the two have received.
She described her three-month relationship with Marko as “legal” despite many viewers being against it.
Although she is 16 years old and still of school age and legally cannot drink or drive, she has also made a name for herself as an online influencer.
In addition to his school commitments, Marko also practices boxing and recently started a podcast on YouTube called Empowerred, which describes itself as “A podcast that is taking the internet by storm.”
In a five-minute video that already has nearly two million views, Tasha took to the app to explain her side of the story and told her “haters” that she would not “tolerate” them trolling her.
She began the video by saying, ‘The reason I’m making this video today is obviously to talk about my relationship.
‘I’m in a relationship with someone five years younger than me and I know a lot of people will have their opinions about it and rightly so, you’re entitled to your opinions, it’s your free will.
‘I’ve seen a lot of comments and videos from stalkers saying “you know what you’re doing is wrong” and “that’s why you said you wouldn’t meet up with him.”‘
The pair had initially been “talking” to each other online before deciding to meet up. However, Tasha revealed that she hesitated before meeting Marko in person because she was worried about causing a “negative reaction.”
Tasha is pictured alongside her boyfriend Marko, 16. She said: “Even though my relationship is very new, I just have to say that this guy is truly the most mature, kind and loving person I have ever been in a relationship with.”
Tasha is 21 years old and works as a party manager. She has been in a relationship with her 16-year-old boyfriend for almost three months.
Marko, pictured posing for a social media post, Tasha said she had no idea what “challenges” their romance would bring with the age gap
Tasha and Marko are shown hugging each other. She described her relationship with Marko as “legal” despite many viewers being opposed to the romance.
Tasha and Marko pose together for a photo shoot. She said that the romance “has nothing to do with what is right or wrong,” but with people’s opinions.
‘The reason I was so insecure about meeting my boyfriend or trying to do something with him was because of the backlash I was going to face and frankly, that’s just a matter of opinion.
“Nothing more, opinion, that’s all. It has nothing to do with what is right or wrong, just opinion,” he insisted in the video.
‘I wasn’t sure I knew him either because I’ve never actually dated anyone younger than me in my life.
‘I didn’t know what kind of challenges this would bring me, but despite that, I am now in a relationship with him.
“It’s my life, I’m going to live my life the way I want to live it. If I decide I want to have a relationship with him, I can do that because it’s legal. Regardless of whether you think it’s morally right or not, it’s legal.
‘Even though my relationship is very new, I just have to say that this guy is genuinely the most mature, kind and loving person I have ever been in a relationship with.’
Once again insisting that the reaction is caused by “opinion,” he begs viewers not to “direct hate towards me, my friends and my family.”
“I won’t fucking tolerate that.”
The couple has received a lot of comments on their videos and almost all of them are in response to the five-year age difference.
One commenter wrote: “Wait, is this legal?” while another jokingly asked: “Are you going to results day?”
Another commenter joked: “So you signed his farewell shirt?” while a third said he looked like Tasha’s younger brother.
A fifth said: “I’m worried because it’s actually quite unpleasant.”
The couple has received a lot of comments on their videos, with almost all of them responding to the five-year age difference.
The couple is pictured dressed in all white and holding hands. She said the couple has “a very beautiful, loving, happy and healthy relationship” despite the online accusations.
Marko is shown sitting in a car. At 16, he is currently not allowed to drive or buy alcohol, unlike his girlfriend, who is 21.
Marko was photographed drinking a glass of water while enjoying dinner with his 21-year-old girlfriend. Tasha shared a video where she described how she received “princess treatment” from her young boyfriend.
At the end of the video, Tasha made her feelings about her critics clear.
“Frankly, I don’t give a shit about 12-year-old boys making comments about me and my family and stuff like that, it’s grown women directing hate towards my family,” she said.
She even said that among the critical comments she has received “threatening” messages encouraging her to harm herself.
“What I can’t understand is that if you don’t like something, a creator or a relationship, there’s a block button,” she said, referring to her trolls as “keyboard warriors.”
“Does this affect your life? No. My boyfriend and I have a very beautiful, loving, happy, healthy relationship, and the fact that people are sitting there, worried, and throwing such serious accusations at me, is sick and twisted.”
Tasha said she had to start filtering comments and deleting comments for her own “peace of mind.”
Since uploading the video, the pair appeared together on The Bro’Cast Podcast, where Tasha said she never expected “the level” of reaction the two received.
Appearing on the YouTube podcast Hand in Hand, the 21-year-old said the impact of the online controversy was taking a toll on her mental health but she was doing her best to distract herself from the comments.
Tasha said she had muted several words on her account, meaning comments containing specific phrases were for her “own sanity.”
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