14 DAY TRIAL // Richard Lugner is an eccentric billionaire from Germany who loves nothing more than a spot of attention from the media. Each year, he pays Hollywood celebrities a lot of money for one night of their time, to accompany him as his date to the Vienna Opera Ball.
So far, he can boast of having Pamela Anderson, Lindsay Lohan and Kim Kardashian on his arm at the prestigious event, so yes, the man clearly loves attention. His new wife is now helping him get a lot of it.
A 57-year gap
In February last year, Lugner started dating TV personality and former Playboy Bunny Cathy Schmitz, who, at 25, is his junior by 57 years. They became engaged in August and were married a short month later, but to all those people out there thinking she’s only after money, they have this to say: this is true love.
Richard and Cathy will be shown on Channel 5’s reality show Age Gap Love, and they promoted their appearance the other day with an interview on ITV’s This Morning.
A snippet from the sit-down is available in the video below, with additional quotes provided by the Daily Mail.
Cathy says that, at the time she met Richard, she knew how wealthy he was but that didn’t mean anything to her. Since he’s famous in their home country, she wasn’t starstruck or impressed by the fact that he had billions in the bank, but after their second date, she discovered she really fell for the man.
Moreover, she stresses, she actually made a very painful choice between career and love, because she gave the former up to pursue the latter.
Love conquers all, but money’s welcome too
Of course, Cathy isn’t that much of a hypocrite to claim that she doesn’t like Richard’s money at all: in the same interview, she admits that she loves the perks that come with having such a rich husband, because he buys her all this amazing and expensive stuff.
But that’s not the reason she married him, she adds. She loves him, and even though their marriage requires a bit more work than they were prepared for, it’s worth it: they will make it.
“I have a good teacher as he has been married four times before,” she says. “I dated a lot of young boys – they are only looking out for themselves. They like football and many women. I have a lot of fun with him (but also)I have a six-year-old daughter to look after – I need a man.”
