I find it very difficult to connect the prospect of a "trophy wife" and a 67 year-old woman as being one in the same.

You don't measure trophyness like that.
Benson is 25 years older than Gayle.
Maybe this shot will give you a better perspective. If you didn't know who Tom Benson was, you'd wondering why the father is pulling a Jim Marshall while presenting the bride, his daughter.