A Romanian widower who was married to an 81-year-old Britsh vicar says he was chased by gold-diggers after his husband left him £250,000 in his will.
Florin Marin, 28, wants to splash out on a new house and car after selling the flat left by his late husband Philip Clements.
Mr Clements, who moved to Bucharest to be with Marin, died on May 31, 2020, and left all of his fortune to his toyboy.
Florin Marin (pictured holding his late husband’s ashes) says he was chased by gold-diggers after Philip Clements died
Marin, 28, wants to splash out on a new house and car after the selling the flat left by his late husband Philip Clements (pictured)
But Florin said he has now been the target of gold-diggers attempting to start a relationship with him only for his newfound wealth.
He said: ‘After Philip passed away a lot of people were interested in having a relationship with me.
‘I know why. Because of all the money left to me. I know that from beginning the money will be coming up with a lot of people, but I’m not stupid.’
The 28-year-old model, who dramatically banned Philip’s family from his wedding after they branded him a ‘leech’, said he wants to spend his money after selling the luxury flat left by his husband.
He said: ‘I want to be more relaxed after all of this year. I decided to sell the flat that Philip bought for me.
‘I know a lot of people are thinking oh florin is coming up poor. No darling – I sell it because I wanted to make a change in my life not because I need money.
Mr Clements, who moved to Bucharest to be with Marin, died on May 31, 2020, and left all of his fortune to his toyboy
Mr Clements had only recently moved to Romania last year before he fell ill in May and was taken to a hospital in Bucharest
‘I sell it because I want to be more relaxed and close this story. It doesn’t mean that I don’t want to think about my ex-husband.
‘But I just want to start a fresh year, a fresh life and a fresh house. Because I have a lot of memories here with Philip and I want to keep it in my heart and in my mind but not in the same place where I lived with him.’
Florin says he has tried to honour Philip’s wishes and find love again but he has been unable to because of his heartbreak.
He said: ‘I tried to start a new relationship because Philip was saying all the time, “When I die don’t stop here just carry on and look for someone else, it won’t be a problem”.
Florin says he has tried to honour Philip’s wishes and find love again but he has been unable to because of his heartbreak (pictured together)
Florin said he has now been the target of gold-diggers attempting to start a relationship with him only for his newfound wealth
‘I started to try some relationships with some people, but it doesn’t work because all the time I think about him.
‘All the time, because I like to speak with the people who I met about my past, about Philip.
‘I start to be a little bit sad and then I think like, no I don’t want this man for any relationship, so I reject them. But hopefully this is a new, fresh era.’
Mr Clements had only recently moved to Romania last year before he fell ill in May and was taken to a hospital in Bucharest after running out of medication during the coronavirus lockdown.
While he tested negative for Covid-19, he passed away overnight on May 31 in a room unable to receive visitors due to lockdown restrictions.
The couple met on the online dating site Grindr and got married three years ago in Kent (pictured outside Philip’s Kent home)
Florin then banned Philip’s family from attending his funeral and now only speaks to one of his brothers.
The couple met on the online dating site Grindr and got married three years ago in Kent – but their relationship hadn’t been plain sailing.
They experienced turbulence early on when Mr Clements tried living in Bucharest.
Rows over Mr Marin’s clubbing into the early hours and an alleged affair with a Spaniard named Jesús saw the former vicar move back to England after just a few months, despite having sold his home to live in the Romanian capital.
They even appeared on the Jeremy Kyle show together.
The couple rekindled their relationship, and Mr Clements sold his house in the UK and moved out to Romania where the pair lived off his teaching and church pension.
Prior to his death, Mr Clements had said of Marin: ‘I love him to bits, if we were permanently separated, I would be the most unhappy person in the world.’
The furious relatives of Mr Clements have been quite adamant in their belief that Marin had ulterior motives.
Brother Anthony said: ‘I told my brother this many times. Florin is nothing but a gold digger who set out to rob my brother from the moment they met. And now he has got what he wanted.
‘The man is a disgrace. I made my feelings clear many times. What has happened speaks for itself. Florin has cashed in and has done very well out of my brother.’
Florin banned Philip’s family from attending his funeral and now only speaks to one of his brothers
The furious relatives of Mr Clements have been quite adamant in their belief that Marin had ulterior motives
The retired postman added: ‘The whole family feels the same way. I’ve spoken to my other brother Brian about it too and he’s not happy either about the way Florin has taken advantage of Phillip.
‘We were supposed to inherit Philip’s estate but now it’s all gone to Florin. But it’s not about the money because I would rather have my brother alive. What angers us is the way he’s been treated by his husband.’
He claims the pair were ‘always fighting and breaking up. On one occasion about four years ago I went to console Philip because he was in bits. I supported him through it, but I also told him that Florin was no good for him.’
He described his his late brother as ‘a very intelligent man but not very street wise and it was easy to pull the wool over his eyes and take advantage of him. I could see what was going on but sadly, he couldn’t.’
In an exclusive interview with MailOnline after Mr Clements’ death, Mr Marin said: ‘People will think that I am a widow with a black hat who is crying, and I did cry, but two days is enough.
‘Philip didn’t want me to cry, he wanted people to be happy whatever happened.
‘I don’t want to show people my feelings because my husband died, because some people take advantage of that and there are people who are happy because of your sadness,’ he added. ‘I am 27 years old and I’m not challenged.’