A recently re-surfaced interview between Nintendo and their very own Shigeru Miyamoto (via Ars Technica) has revealed quite possibly the biggest scandal of 2016: Mario’s real age.

According to his creator, Mario is only twenty four or twenty five years old. “I think it was fortuitous that we didn’t put any restrictions on Mario as a character,” Miyamoto said.

“Normally when you create a character and present him to the world, all the details get filed in: what’s his favorite colour? what kind of food does he like to eat?” Now here comes the shocker:

“But aside from the fact that he’s about 24-25 years old, we didn’t define anything else,” Miyamoto explained. “When we make a game we take care not to add incongruence to that game’s world. With that caveat, I’d like to keep using Mario in future games.”

Mario first appeared in the original Donkey Kong, back in 1981. Since then, he has appeared in over 200 properties, and his games have sold over half a billion copies worldwide.

How do you guys feel about Mario not being a middle-aged man? Sound off in the comments below!