Michelle Collins hates being called cougar

British actress Michelle Collins, 56, says she hates being labelled a "cougar" over her relationship with Mike Davison, who is 22 years her junior and is tagged her "toyboy".

Collins has been dating Davison, 34, for over five years.

She expressed his angst to Daily Star about it, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

She said: "Mike is 22 years younger than me and I'm regarded as a predator. It drives me mad. People call him my toyboy beau. He's nearly 35, for God's sake. He turned to me the other day and said, 'Surely I'm not still your toyboy, am I?'

"I laugh about it now but it is annoying. And I hate that word cougar. I can't stand it. I find it so demeaning. A cougar is a predator going around looking for young flesh. I'm certainly not like that. But then, women are judged far more harshly than men. And, funnily enough, often by other women.

"If people think I look old enough to be his mum then let them! There's nothing I can do about it. It's one of the downsides, I suppose, of being in the public eye."

Collins also questioned the double standards when it comes to age-gap relationships, saying that no one questions when the man is older than the woman.

--IANS

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