Relationships5 min(s) read
Published 11:48 10 May 2026 GMT
A South Carolina couple with a 34-year age gap has divided online users after revealing the strict "non-negotiables" they follow in their marriage.
Gracen Greagen, 26, met her now-husband, Kevin Greagen, 60, four and a half years ago at a steakhouse in Greenville.
They pair tied the knot in November 2025 and have since built a social media following by sharing details about their relationship.
Last month, the couple posted a TikTok explaining the rules they follow in their marriage.
"I’m 26, and I’m 60, and these are non-negotiables in our age-gap relationship," the pair said at the start of the clip while sitting together outside their lake house.
The couple explained the first rule in their relationship, which is praying together every night before bed.
"Something we’ve implemented in our marriage is that we pray together every single night," they shared.
"Regardless of your faith, the intentionality that goes into expressing gratitude… It’s a great way to center ourselves together and individually."
Their second non-negotiable, which quickly became the most controversial online, is that they do not drink alcohol unless they are together.
"There’s a vulnerability in drinking and being intoxicated, and that’s not something I wanna be without my partner present," Gracen explained.
Her husband added: "This was a decision we each made individually. We didn’t impose it on one another… Rather than looking at [it] as limiting or controlling, we look at it as uniquely special and uniquely committed to one another."
Kevin also explained why the boundary matters to him personally. "You can’t have two or three or four or five drinks unless you have one drink. And I just choose not to do that when I’m out alone," he added.
Another one of their relationship rules is continuing to care for each other even during arguments.
"It’s easy to serve somebody when it’s 70 and sunny, but when a thunderstorm rolls through… it becomes a little more difficult," Kevin said.
"The disagreement can stand on its own… It’s not going to affect our kindness and courtesy toward one another."
He then quipped: "If you get a head massage from somebody that’s pissed off at you, you know you’re loved."
"[My father] said that a lot of couples, their goal is to each give 50 percent… he said that’s a terrible goal in a marriage. It should be 100 percent each,” Kevin explained. "You both give your all, and that’s how you can make it work."
“The worst thing you can do...is keep a list, or even take notes on their phone of the ways they’ve been slighted - don’t do that. Don’t keep it in your heart or mind, release it," he added.
The TikTok amassed 13.7 million views and quickly sparked backlash online, with many viewers taking issue with the couple’s alcohol rule.
"If you don’t ‘allow’ one another to consume alcohol without your significant other, this only proves your lack of self-control. Whether the lack of self-control stems from an internal source or external, this only proves irresponsibility,” one person commented.
Others slammed the couple’s age gap, lifestyle, and even body language. "This is how bad I want a lake house," one person joked, while another said: "Same age gap as me and my grandparents btw."
"The way [he's] holding her hand tells me everything I need to know about this relationship," a third added.
Some users accused the 26-year-old of being with her husband for money. "I also hate working," someone quipped.
"YOU GO GIRL! prayer$ are $uper important in a relationship as well as choice$," another added.
Relationship coach Beck Thompson said she doesn’t see an issue with the couple’s boundaries, though she believes the wording may be contributing to the backlash.
"Praying together, not keeping score, showing up with kindness even when you’re in conflict - these are things I encourage in my own clients," the head coach at the Relationship Circle said, per The New York Post.
"The issue isn’t the rules themselves, it’s the language around them. The moment you call something a 'non-negotiable rule' in a relationship, it shifts the tone from connection to compliance. Healthy couples tend to arrive at these things naturally, not announce them like a contract."
She also admitted that one rule stood out more than the others.
"On the surface, choosing not to drink alone sounds like a boundaries conversation. But when you’re pre-emptively defending it to the internet before anyone’s even asked, that’s worth paying attention to," Thompson said. "Defensiveness is usually a signal that, on some level, you already know something looks off."
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