John Merrill and Theresa Demaria were one of four 'Age of Attraction' couples who said yes to each other during the Commitment Ceremony
Credit: Courtesy of Netflix
NEED TO KNOW
- John Merrill and Theresa Demaria formed an immediate connection during the inaugural season of Netflix’s Age of Attraction
- Theresa overcame doubts about their 27-year age gap and said yes to John at the Commitment Ceremony after receiving a supportive letter from her three children
- However, they confirmed during the reunion that they had broken up after filming over communication issues
Despite more than a quarter-century between them, John Merrill and Theresa DeMaria were one of the strongest matches on Age of Attraction — at least at first.
The yoga teacher and the software salesman, who were 54 and 27 at the time of filming, immediately hit it off during the inaugural season of Netflix's latest dating experiment.
Though Theresa had some hesitations about how her three children would feel about their age gap, especially considering that John was two years younger than her eldest, they ultimately decided to say yes to each other during the Commitment Ceremony. A letter from her kids supporting their relationship sealed the deal.
“I did not plan on, nor would I have ever agreed to date somebody that was that young,” Theresa told Glamour in March 2026. “When I went through the multiple levels of interviews to get onto the show, I had always said the youngest I would date would be 38.”
Though they walked away from the show together, their romance ultimately didn't last. During the Age of Attraction reunion on The Viall Files, the former couple confirmed that they were no longer together.
However, Theresa maintained to Nick Viall (who hosts the podcast and the reality series with his wife, Natalie Joy) that lack of communication and distance played a bigger role in their breakup than age.
"John is an amazing guy," she said during the reunion. "I just think our communication fell apart."
So, where are John and Theresa from Age of Attraction now? Here's everything to know about what happened to their relationship after filming.
Who are John and Theresa, and how did they get together?
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John and Theresa came from very different worlds. While he's worked in software sales out of Miami, she built a storied career in fashion, even working as a junior sales executive at Calvin Klein during the same time as Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, per Glamour.
At the time of filming, the mom of three had pivoted to teaching yoga and modeling in Evanston, Ill.
The couple's chemistry was nearly instant, with John referring to their initial meeting as the "best three-minute date" he's ever had. They exchanged promise rings and revealed their ages to each other, with Theresa admitting she probably would never have dated him if she had known about their 27-year age gap.
"I was devastated, because I was like, 'How in the world am I going to navigate this? This is too young for me,' " she explained to Glamour.
Theresa continued, "My son is older than him and my daughter’s boyfriend is the same age. It was just a lot to reconcile and manage because I’m going to have a whole nother set of people judging me, and I didn’t want to put that on my kids."
Theresa's doubts continued to plague her as they progressed into the next phase of the experiment: living together and introducing friends and family to their relationship. However, she agreed to commit to John during the finale after receiving a letter of support from her kids.
Are John and Theresa still together?
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Though they left Age of Attraction as a couple, John and Theresa are no longer together. They revealed on The Viall Files that they had broken up after filming, noting that "outside influences" made Theresa feel "very uncomfortable" about her age.
"I just didn't feel like John could give me the support that I needed," the yoga instructor explained, adding that John ghosted her for weeks after an argument.
John claimed that age became an issue for Theresa after they went out in public and that she told him she felt "disgusting" being with him, which she denied.
"You deserve to be comfortable with who you're with, and I deserve the person I'm with to be comfortable with me," he told her during the reunion, adding that he ghosted her because he thought they were broken up.
John continued, "I think the beauty of a relationship is two people that pick each other every day … and I guess we got to a point where we just didn't pick each other."
John told Entertainment Weekly during press for the show that they broke up six months after filming because the age gap had worn on Theresa.
“We are not together — and age was the factor,” he said. “She just felt weird vibes when we were going out … I felt the whole time that age wasn't a big deal unless she made it a big deal. It got to us.”
Where are John and Theresa now?
Credit: Courtesy of Netflix
After filming Age of Attraction wrapped in 2025, the reality TV stars returned to their normal lives.
When asked during the reunion if there was any chance of reconciliation, Theresa said that while she "will always really care about John," she doesn't believe they're compatible. However, they've since become friends.
“John and I are in a really, really good place right now. … We did go a period of time where we didn't talk,” Theresa explained to Entertainment Weekly.
She added, “But around the holidays, we started to talk again and we're in a really great place, both very supportive of each other who knows what could happen.”
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