A WOMAN who towers over her boyfriend by six inches says people who judge their height difference are hindering their chances of finding love.
Samantha ‘Sam’ Espinal, 24, and Stephen Di Fede, 32, are constantly “stopped in the street” due to their contrasting sizes.
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But they barely get a second glance when they sit down together – until the leggy 5ft 9ins brunette stands up.
She claims they are bombarded with remarks and stared at in public because she dwarfs her 5ft 3ins fella.
Strangers even interrupt the New York-based couple’s date nights to congratulate Stephen for bagging a tall woman.
Despite them struggling to get used to their height difference at the start of their relationship in 2017, the pair have proved that love conquers all.
They say they were initially wary of dating due to the social expectation for men to be taller than women.
But now, Sam and Stephen barely even notice their varying statures – unless they are trying to reach the top shelf.
The pair want other people to challenge the stigma surrounding height – as they may let their true love slip away.
Sam warned: “Turning people down because of their height can result in missing out on someone who might be your dream partner.
“I always thought I could never date someone shorter than me. The height difference did bother me a bit in the beginning. I couldn’t see myself being OK with it.
“People would stop us in the street to congratulate Stephen for dating a taller woman – it felt a bit weird.
“But as I fell in love, it just went away. I just stopped thinking about it,” she explained.
“Now I can see people one thousand per cent miss out on relationships because they rule people out based on their height.”
She urged those looking for love to “put their guard down and let themselves be attracted to someone they think they might like.”
“It would be so much easier to find love,” she said.
“The way you connect with someone is so important – personality is what matters most.”
Looking at their catalogue of loved-up snaps, the only noticeable aspect of the pic is how smitten they are.
Stephen echoed his partner’s comments, insisting their height difference actually connects the couple in a comedic sense.
The dancer said: “I always expected to have to date people taller than me – if I only stuck with shorter women, I would have a very small group to choose from.
“In a funny way, it brings the humor to our relationship – like when I literally can’t reach something high up.
“Other than poking fun and having a laugh on social media, we don’t really think about it.
“You need physical attraction to someone but if you like everything except their height and you rule them out, you’re potentially missing something great.
“If you’re automatically disqualifying people, you are limiting your potential.”
The cute couple first met in October 2016 when Sam completed an internship at a school where Stephen was working as a teacher.
They soon grew closer and started dating properly in February 2017, before becoming official the following September.
Sam admitted “it took a while to adjust” to her unique relationship, before she fell head over heels for Stephen.
She said: “I was insecure wearing heels around Stephen because I didn’t want to appear even taller than him.
“I started adjusting fairly quickly the more I started falling in love. It stopped bothering me and I stopped thinking about it.”
Whereas Stephen thought their six-inch height difference “wasn’t a big deal” from the get-go.
He continued: “I’ve been short my whole life, so most women are taller than me. I came to terms with it a long time ago.”
The dancer proposed to Sam in November 2022 and they are now set to get hitched later this year.
But the blushing bride won’t be wearing heels for her big day – although the shoe choice isn’t because of her height.
She added: “I always wanted to be barefoot at my wedding, even before I met Stephen.”
Her hubby will be happy either way if she changes her mind – as he said he “loves it” when his fiancé wears stilettos.
Stephen swooned: “I’m like: ‘Wow, damn, that’s a lot of beautiful woman!'”
The pair decided to embark on a mission to normalise couples of any size and created a TikTok account to share clips poking fun at themselves.
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