They Met at a Local Pub and Later Set a Guinness World Record Together

James and Chloe Lusted’s story began with an introduction from friends and a romance that stretched across Wales

James Lusted had recently carried the Olympic torch through his hometown when friends introduced him to Chloe at a local pub in 2012. She was studying in Cardiff, and the distance would become one of the first practical challenges of their relationship. A few years later, they were married and raising a daughter. Then Guinness World Records took an interest in something strangers tended to notice right away: their height difference.

In June 2021, Guinness measured James at 109.3 centimeters and Chloe at 166.1 centimeters. The difference, 56.8 centimeters, or about 1 foot 10 inches, set a record at the time for a married couple in the category where the woman is taller. The recognition brought their story to an international audience nearly five years after their wedding.

From a hometown introduction to a long-distance relationship

James and Chloe came from the same hometown, but with Chloe studying in Cardiff, getting to know each other meant spending stretches of time apart. They became a couple toward the end of 2013, more than a year after they first met.

When they later spoke to Guinness World Records, both were candid about their early doubts. James, who was born with diastrophic dysplasia, a rare form of dwarfism, had wondered whether he would ever marry. Chloe had usually imagined herself with a taller man and said she worried about how other people might react to their relationship. Getting to know James gave her a different picture of the person she wanted to share her life with.

A ring tucked into a jacket pocket

About seven months after they became a couple, James and Chloe took a trip to a lake in North Wales. James had slipped an engagement ring into the top pocket of his jacket. By the water, he got down on one knee and asked Chloe to marry him. He had always wanted to propose that way, and she said yes.

They married in 2016 and later welcomed their daughter, Olivia. By the time Guinness interviewed the couple in 2021, Olivia was two. James was working as an actor and presenter, and Chloe was a teacher. The record came after years of shared milestones, from keeping a relationship going while they lived apart to becoming parents.

The story behind the measurement

Guinness verified the couple’s height difference in Rhyl, Wales, on June 2, 2021. The number gave readers a quick way into the story, but the details James and Chloe shared were more personal. Chloe remembered what it felt like to reconsider the kind of person she had expected to fall for. James remembered the proposal he had pictured long before he knew who would be standing beside him.

When the couple recalled how they met, Guinness noted that both smiled. Before the measurements and the record, there had been a local pub, a few mutual friends, and an introduction that gave them a reason to see each other again.