AS Gareth Gates announces his engagement, so a particular set of statistics spirals ever upward.

The former Pop Idol runner-up, who proposed on New Year's Eve, started dating dancer Suzanne Mole five years ago, when he was 18 and she was 27.

But the nine-year age-gap is no big deal, according to government figures, which reveal that more than 10,000 women a year now marry men up to a decade younger than themselves.

His toyboy status is also pretty much overlooked in the gossip columns.

Instead, their focus is on the timing of the announcement - it is rumoured Gates will be among the contestants on the next series of ITV1's Dancing on Ice, and the publicity can't be doing him any harm.

Oh, how the times have changed.

Whereas only a few years ago, a woman enjoying the company of a significantly younger partner would have caused a hue and cry, today it is quite de rigeur. applauded, even.

The National Office of Statistics confirms that as many as one in 10 marriages includes a groom at least five years his wife's junior.

Dating websites also report that 10 per cent of women over the age of 45 are on the lookout for younger lovers.

Dorset's very own mother-of-two Madonna is still married to Guy Ritchie, despite their ups and downs - and a 10-year age gap.

Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher married in 2005.

At the time she was reported to be one of the "savvy female celebrities who've gone out and got themselves Hollywood's hottest new accessory - the toyboy"... (wonder how Ashton felt about being called an accessory?) Courtney Cox met David Arquette on the set of teen horror flick Scream, and despite being nine years younger, it wasn't long before the man was down on bended knee.

X-men star Hugh Jackman could have his pick of young starlets.

Instead he prefers the charms of the older woman - namely his wife Deborah Lee-Furness, who is nine years his senior.

Princess Anne is five years older than her second husband Timothy Laurence, which pales almost into insignificance when compared with Sadie Frost and her string of toyboys.

There was a seven-year difference between her and husband Jude Law.

When they split she dated Jackson Scott who was a whopping 16 years her junior.

Later she was linked to younger man Barry Smith.

And before their split this time last year, Cameron Diaz (now 35) enjoyed a long-term relationship with crooner Justin Timberlake (26).

One of the reasons for this upward trend could be the fact that people are delaying marriage until they are older.

Women are now less likely to tie the knot in their early 20s as they are in their early 30s, giving them ample time to meet a younger partner.

However, Dr Pam Spurr, psychologist and author of Sex, Guys & Chocolate, Your Essential Guide to Lust, Love & Life, warns: "Once a gap is bigger than 15 years, there's more generational specific phenomena to deal with.

"It can be the sort of thing that causes rows."

Yet she admits that attitudes are changing in cases where an older woman is involved with a younger man.

"Not only are older women more independent, both financially and personally, they are also fitter and healthier.

"A man in their age bracket may not necessarily fit in."

But how far can you push the age-gap before you become an object of ridicule?

Kate Taylor, relationship expert at Match.com, says: "The traditional advice that fathers gave their sons was don't date anyone younger than half your age minus seven years.

"That's a good guideline for everyone - a 45-year-old woman could date men approaching their 30th birthday and a 60-year-old woman could happily take a 37-year-old man out for day trips using her bus pass!"