A woman who 'won' her husband in an internet competition has defended their relationship after being hit with criticism from both family and strangers.
With countless dating apps each promising to find you the love of your life, it's far from unusual these days to hear stories about couples who have met through the internet.
But husband and wife Gunnar and Danielle, from Pennsylvania, have a slightly different tale. They didn't swipe right on one another, but it was an app that brought them together.
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In an interview for Truly's 'Love Don't Judge' series, Danielle explained that she 'won' her husband in a competition after he posted a video declaring he wanted to 'marry someone from TikTok'.
While it might seem like a wild proposal, Gunnar revealed that he actually had a 'bunch' of responses, one of which was from Danielle.
Danielle responded with a video of her own in which she said she 'knew' she had to be the one to take on the 'crazy adventure' after wanting to get married in a 'crazy, stupid way'.
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Her response caught Gunnar's attention and the pair started talking online, and when they finally met in person Gunnar wasted no time in popping the question.
As the couple's story caught attention online, Gunnar and Danielle received support from a chapel who offered to marry them, and a baker who made their wedding cake.
Not everyone was so supportive, however, with the couple receiving a lot of criticism online for their whirlwind romance.
One person went as far as to warn Gunnar that Danielle was going to try and 'steal his kidneys' after she suggested they go on a road trip together in her converted ambulance, while others warned the couple that meetings like theirs was how people 'die'.
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"I'm sorry but I would never get married to a random guy for fame," one critical commenter wrote.
Gunnar even admitted his parents had their reservations, claiming Danielle was going to 'steal all [his] stuff', while Danielle said her dad 'came upstairs with a shotgun' when he was set to meet Gunnar for the first time.
The pair revealed they were expecting to divorce almost immediately, but they ended up sticking it out after learning how much money it can cost to get a divorce, alongside some other logistics.
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Then, after realizing how much fun they had together, the couple decided not to go through with the divorce at all, and have since defended the actions that led to them meeting in the first place.
"We never thought that we would fall in love," Danielle said.
She continued: "I think that this relationship worked for a couple of reasons. We expected to get divorced after a week [...] having no pressure to make it work, helped make it work."
Topics: Sex and Relationships, Social Media, TikTok
Emily Brown