When you win a competition jackpot, it’s usually a huge sum of money, a holiday or even a car – but one woman won a husband, and couldn’t be happier with her winnings.
The unconventional way of meeting happened when Danielle came across her now-husband Gunnar’s mission to marry a stranger on social media and now the couple are “happier than ever”. Gunnar took to TikTok to say he wanted to marry a stranger, and people were able to submit their applications to compete to become his spouse, including Danielle.
When she realised she’d won, she revealed she was excited to tie the knot. But despite being the happy winner, Danielle faced harsh comments from trolls, with some thinking the brunette beauty was going to steal Gunnar’s kidneys. When Danielle saw the advert for the competition, she submitted a video application and within a few weeks, the pair got married.
Speaking to Truly, on an episode of Love Don’t Judge, Gunnar explained: “I really enjoyed connecting with people and having fun, unique experiences. So I kind of combined these two things of having fun and trying to get attention, and that led to me wanting to marry a stranger.
“I posted a video saying I wanted to marry a complete stranger. A bunch of people responded and Danielle just happened to be the one,” to which his wife said: “I won my husband in a competition. This was made for me because I never wanted to get married in a traditional way.”
The pair exchanged vows in Las Vegas, and had planned to get divorced just a week later – but encountered an unexpected problem. Gunnar explained: “After more research we discovered we had to be in our home state together. And it cost more money than we expected. We decided not to go through with the divorce because we were having so much fun together.”
Danielle added: “We never thought that we would fall in love.” They fell for each other and now the pair live in Danielle’s converted ambulance she bought from Facebook Marketplace for $6,400 [£5,140].
Despite being in love as an official couple, it’s not been easy for the pair to get others on board, and they have experienced a huge wave of judgement, with the most difficult being Danielle’s parents. She recalled: “Funny enough, when Gunnar was coming to meet them for the first time, my dad came upstairs with a shotgun.”
She said her mum was also convinced she was going to be “murdered” by her stranger husband. Her mum was also afraid Gunnar would take Danielle’s money and ambulance van. Trolls have told the pair they have only done this for fame, while others told Gunnar not to go ahead as Danielle was going to “steal your kidneys”. But to this, Gunnar admitted: “When we do get hate, it doesn’t rub us the wrong way. We’re so secure in what we’re doing.”
People were quick to comment on the episode, with many backing the couple’s unusual love story. One fan wrote: “Spontaneous unplanned meetups like this is precisely how you find yer true soulmate!! Well done!” While another chimed: “What a lovely, joyful, relaxed, in-sync couple. I’m so glad you really fell in love. I wish you both the best of everything.”
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