Diff'rent strokes, indeed: Gary Coleman marries a woman half his age... and twice his height

Is this what Willis was talkin' about? Gary Coleman has revealed he married Shannon Price in August last year

Coleman revealed his relationship with Shannon Price was not only his first marriage - but also the first time he had been intimate with a woman.

Coleman, who rose to fame as Arnold Jackson in the US sitcom Diff'rent Strokes, met Price while he was filming 2006 movie Church Ball in Utah.

It was 22-year-old Price who proposed, but Coleman then surprised her on her birthday by whisking her to a hilltop in the Valley of Fire State Park to exchange vows.

Coleman told a US television show: "Nobody was around but the minister, preacher, the videographers, the photographer, the helicopter pilot and us."

While Price is just 22 and 5ft 7in, the actor is 40 and 4ft 8in.

He told Inside Edition: "In the middle of the night, I'm wondering: 'Gee, what made me get married to this woman?' And I just say love."

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"I wasn't saving myself. She just happened to be the one."

The couple played down their differences in height and age and said they did not see that as important.

"I don't have issues with age, I have issues with intelligence," Coleman said.

"She's more intelligent than I am and that's what matters to me."

"He was 10ft tall to me because he was sweet and I really liked his personality," Price added.

Shannon said they kept their nuptials secret because she wanted to be seen as her own person.

"I just want my own identity as well because I don't want to be known as Gary Coleman's wife," Price said.

But Coleman said it was not all sweetness and roses, and admitted they have a somewhat volatile relationship.

He said: "We may go a week and not speak to each other."