I’m getting married again at the age of 80 and picked out a show-stopping bridal gown

An 80-year-old grandmother has strutted her stuff in a bandeau-style wedding gown with a mermaid silhouette as she prepares to get married.

Janet Merryman, from Maryland in the US, was widowed when she was in her 60s after her first husband sadly took his own life.

However, after falling in love for the second time with a man 20 years her junior, Janet decided to make the most of her big day.

A video posted on TikTok by Janet’s granddaughter Danielle shows the glamorous grandmother doing a catwalk strut in the bridal shop after trying on one of three gowns. 

Speaking on Good Morning America after the video went viral, Janet encouraged other women approaching their older years not to give up on love.

‘Take a chance, that’s all I can say. That’s what I’m doing,’ Janet said. ‘I don’t have that many more years left and I’m happy now.’

Janet revealed she met her fiancé when he was her next-door neighbour, but for the first seven years they lived on the same street, he was married with children.

When his marriage ended, Janet began inviting her beau over for lunch and the pair fell in love.

Preparing for her big day, Janet went to the wedding dress shop with Danielle and picked out three dresses to try on.

Janet, 80, is preparing to wed her 60-year-old fiancé after her first husband sadly took his own life 16 years ago

After putting on the bandeau lace gown, she recalled thinking: ‘Wow, this thing looks really good on.’

Danielle revealed that Janet was the star of the store as all eyes were on her while she tried on the gowns.

‘There are all these other brides who are trying on dresses who are stopping they were doing to look at her,’ she said.

As Janet prepares to walk down the aisle for the second time, she revealed her own health battles which changed her perspective on life.

The grandmother said she had been diagnosed with colon cancer but recovered. However, she then found out she had a blood clot on her lung.

‘I honestly didn’t think I would be sitting here today,’ she said.

After partially raising Danielle, Janet revealed how she felt ‘lonelier and lonelier’ after her granddaughter moved out. 

However after meeting her fiancé, she found happiness and companionship.

She said: ‘Everybody used to say to me, ‘Why don’t you smile more?’ I smile a lot more now.’ 

A video posted on Danielle’s TikTok channel yesterday revealed Janet had married in the show-stopping dress, which she’d had altered to add straps.