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I married a total stranger!

Paula Nicholl couldn’t find her soulmate the traditional way, she went to extreme lengths to meet ‘the one’…

Curled up on the sofa, I laughed when the radio DJ announced their latest competition. ‘Would you marry a stranger?’ he said. It was August 1999 and the station was offering an all-expenses paid wedding, complete with honeymoon in Venice. The catch was that you had to marry someone you’d never met.

‘Who would be desperate enough to try that?’ I joked with my flatmate.

Even though I was 28 and keen to settle down – like most of my friends had – marrying a stranger sounded like madness.

I forgot all about it until a few days later, on my way to work, when the radio station introduced five potential grooms.

One, Zane, really made me laugh. He sounded like a bit of a lad but sweet with it. ‘If he’s chosen, I’m actually going to apply,’ I told a mate. And to my surprise, it wasn’t long before Zane was announced as the winning groom.

‘You have to go for it now,’ my friend insisted. She helped me fill in the brides’ application form. I knew it was crazy, and I didn’t even know what he looked like, but I didn’t really take it seriously – until a month later when I got the call.

‘Congratulations, Paula,’ they said. ‘You’ve been chosen as one of the ten brides.’ I couldn’t believe it and nor could my family when I admitted what I’d done.

The station explained that each ‘bride’ would chat briefly to Zane live on air and I’d be the first. ‘Being first is the worst,’ I thought. ‘He’ll have forgotten me by the end.’

When the day of the call came I was so nervous. ‘Hi,’ I said self-consciously, terrified of what he’d ask me.

‘What do you think we will get up to in Venice?’ Zane asked playfully. He was so friendly and warm that I felt myself relax, and there was an instant attraction. ‘What would you like to do?’ I’d asked. ‘We’ll definitely take a gondola ride,’ he told me.

It was a quick chat, but in the next round, each ‘bride’ had a face-toface meeting with Zane’s friends and family – who would be making the choice for him! As I waited in a hotel conference room with the other nine brides, my stomach churned. They were all gorgeous. ‘There’s no way his family will pick me,’ I told myself.

When it was my turn, I was taken into a side room with Zane’s parents and his three best mates. Luckily, they were lovely and we all got along. ‘Can you cook?’ his dad asked.

‘Yes, but I’m rubbish,’ I laughed. ‘You should know what Zane’s getting himself into.�