TV HOST Alison Hammond met her 6ft 10in Russian boyfriend when she booked him for a £150 massage.
Alison, 49, was a client of professional masseur David Putman, 26, and the pair hit it off during rub-down sessions in central London.
She would regularly book the trained body therapist and model in between her busy filming schedule before their friendship turned romantic at the end of last year.
It is understood the couple have become extremely close having known each other for over a year.
And a pal said David would not be concerned by the 23-year age gap between him and the This Morning presenter.
They said: “David is a very quiet, unassuming and thoughtful person who likes to play the guitar.
“He’s the strong, silent type, not a pushover, but not chatty like Alison.
“In that sense they’re perfect for each other and to David age is just a number.
“He’s not bothered by fame, he probably didn’t even know who Alison was when they first met.
“David is very personable and genuine and with his baby-faced good looks he’s never really had trouble finding women.”
Pals of David, who is from Krasnodar, say he decided to leave Russia for the UK in December 2022.
His family wanted him to escape the front line following President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russia has a conscription army and in September 2022 declared a partial mobilisation of military reservists.
Hundreds of thousands of young men have since been called up for military service.
David was able to avoid the draft by moving permanently to the UK using his British citizenship through his English dad, also called David.
David Sr is a retired welder and panel beater in his 70s originally from Slough, Berks.
He met Russian architect Olga Kovalenko after divorcing his first wife.
They had three boys, twins Apollo and Sviatoslov, who are three years older than David and who were born in England.
The family moved to Russia in the late 1990s, where David was born.
A friend of the family said: “When David was a kid his dad would spend half the year in Russia and half in England so David always had a connection to this country and wanted to get to know his family.
“When the war in Ukraine began David’s mother Olga began to worry.
“She didn’t want her boys dragged into it. She wanted them safe like any mother would.”
David now lives with his uncle Nigel Putman, 71, in Slough but spends a lot of time in London for work.
The Sun spoke to David today and asked if had left Russia to avoid the military draft.
He said: “I will speak later, when I will be ready.”
David was also coy when asked about his relationship with Alison.
