'Modern Family' star hilariously hits back at trolls who said he is 'too old' for his fiancée

Eric Stonestreet has announced last week that he is engaged to his longtime girlfriend Lindsay Schweitzer. The Modern Family actor also posted adorable pictures of the pair while announcing his engagement. While many celebrated the 49-year-old actor and congratulated him,  a few trolls couldn't help but target Stonestreet about the age difference between the pair.  Apart from the fact that they were mature adults in a consenting relationship, there was also not really that much of an age difference between the pair, with Schweitzer being almost 42. Many had assumed she was much younger, with some even attacking the actor for dating someone 20 years younger. Stonestreet reacted by posting a digitally aged picture of his fiancée on Instagram, reported Insider. Cameron Tucker is known for his role as a gay man who is married to a lawyer Mitchell Pritchett played by Jesse Tyler Ferguson in Modern Family.

The pair had been dating since 2016 and shared the news of their engagement on Instagram, captioning it: "She said, 'She'd have her people call my people.'" Stonestreet posted three pictures showing off the ring while sitting at a table together.  Many celebrities congratulated the pair, including Michael Bublé and Shazam star Zachary Levi. Not long after posting the photos, Stonestreet was targeted by trolls over the apparent age gap. One person wrote, "I don't get it? Is his daughter getting married? What is the event?"

Some even went as far as suggesting he looks like her 'grandad.' The Emmy award-winning posted a digitally aged picture of his fiancée, hitting back at the trolls. "Apparently, a lot of people think I look too old, as a 49-year-old man, to be engaged to my almost 42-year-old fiancée," he captioned the post on Instagram. "Look, she can't help that she looks so great at 42 and I can't help that I apparently look like her grandad so, I fixed it for everyone." Some were even confused with the post, with many assuming he was gay like his character in Modern Family. One person wrote, "Wait.....so you're not gay?"

The post went viral with many of Stonestreet's colleagues from Modern Family joining him on the fun. "You always do this to both your fictional and actual spouses!" wrote Danny, the executive producer of the show. His onscreen partner, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, also commented on the issue, drawing a parallel with the 20-year-age gap between Jay (Ed O'Neill) and Gloria's (Sofia Vergara) in the show. "I assume these are the same people who love Jay & Gloria's relationship. Which is where YOU got the idea of having a younger spouse, right?" he wrote.

Eric Stonestreet and Lindsay Schweitzer had met at the Big Slick charity weekend in Kansas City in 2016, reported People. Lindsay Schweitzer is a pedatric nurse. Stonestreet opened up about his girlfriend during a 2017 appearance on Ellen DeGeneres' talk show. "Your girlfriend is lovely — I met her backstage," said DeGeneres, before adding, "She's a nurse. That's a good thing for you, because you're a hypochondriac," reported Yahoo Finance. Stonestreet replied, "I'm a big baby, too. She calms me — she calms my nerves. I'm a very high-strung person."