Though Virgin River Season 5 finished last month, that hasn’t stopped

a busy discussion about the narrative and characters, with a new question

arising this week: how old is Muriel St. Claire?
One of the many relationships put to the test in Virgin River Season 5 Part 2 was that of Muriel St. Claire (Teryl Rothery) and Dr. Cameron Hayek (Mark Ghanime), whose age gap gives the former movie star pause.

In the finale, Cameron tells Muriel about his visit from his ex-fiancée, who revealed she’s six months sober and wants to start a family. Although he says he’s not interested, Muriel shares her concerns with Cameron: she doesn’t want kids but doesn’t want him to resent her if he stays.
The Virgin River doctor reassures her that she is all the family he needs, but Muriel encourages him to take time over Christmas to consider what he’s giving up. Not only does Muriel not want children, but her age may be a factor too.

How old is Muriel on Virgin River?

According to Robyn Carr, writer of the Virgin River books upon which the Netflix show is based, Muriel St. Claire is 56 years old. Meanwhile, Dr. Cameron Hayek is believed to be based on the character Cameron Michaels, who is 35 years old in the books.
However, other sites estimate Cameron’s age to be closer to 45. As for the actors who play them, Teryl Rothery is 61 years old in real life, while Mark Ghanime is 46.

Their relationship has been well-received, although some fans criticized the fact that Muriel didn’t mention her age as a factor when it came to the baby talk. In response, one Redditor wrote: “To all the people bothered that Muriel didn’t outright say she was ‘too old’ to have a baby, I think you need to reflect on your inherent ageism with women.”

Others speculated where their storyline could go next. “I think they are open to adoption, that’s how I see it,” said one, to which another responded, “There are so many directions the storyline can do. They can adopt, she could have frozen her eggs when she was younger, they could foster. It’s not outrageous.”

A third added: “That’s a plot that I want to see. Everyone was talking about Cameron changing his mind, but if Muriel changes hers? I would love to see this discussion in the show, especially about adoption of an older child, not necessarily a baby. But, I believe the adoption discussion is a Mel/Jack plot.”