Karoline Leavitt is sticking up for her 32-year age-gap romance with husband Nicholas Riccio.

The former White House press secretary, 29, praised her marriage to Riccio, 61, after she was asked by one of her Instagram followers to share advice for women in “age-gap relationships” during a Q&A on Wednesday.

“Forget the haters and follow your heart!” she wrote in a since-expired Instagram story alongside a picture of her and Riccio, according to multiple outlets. “Marrying this man was the best decision I ever made.”

“He’s the absolutely best husband and dad in the world,” Leavitt added. “Everyone gets why we are together when they actually meet him and see us together.”

Leavitt and Riccio, a real estate developer, first met in 2022 after being introduced by a mutual friend during her congressional campaign in New Hampshire. The couple, who share two children, got engaged in 2023 and tied the knot in 2025.

Leavitt, the youngest person to serve as White House press secretary, announced her resignation from her position in August. She cited needing to spend more time with her family after giving birth to her second child.

“Serving as the White House Press Secretary over the past year and a half has been the honor and adventure of a lifetime,” she wrote in an Aug. 12 X post.

“The truth is since returning to the White House after the birth of my daughter, I have felt in my heart that I cannot be the best mom my two young children deserve while devoting the constant time, energy, and attention required of the White House Press Secretary — and that is why I have ultimately made the bittersweet decision to depart the White House and embark on a new chapter in my life,” she added.

Leavitt was replaced by former Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Katie Zacharia. Leavitt is gearing up to begin a new role as an on-air contributor for Fox News starting Nov. 1.

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