Modern day dating can be like tip-toeing through a field littered with landmines.
Dating apps allow someone to create an entirely fraudulent online personality, and with - as Barbie's Ken would say - 'long-term long-distance low-commitment casual' relationships seemingly on the rise, it's no wonder that people are turning to alternative dating techniques when looking for love.
According to one self-professed romantic, however - who 'won' her husband in a TikTok competition - there are some unconventional and somewhat controversial dating hacks that can sort the loyal lovers from the red-flag f**k-boys.
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Danielle Gross was scrolling through the video-sharing social media app one day back in 2021 when she came across content creator Gunnar Michels asking for women to apply to marry him in an 'silly' experiment that he'd fully fund.
TikTok star Gunnar's entire online presence was based on the idea of refusing to take life too seriously, and having gone through her fair share of serious relationships, Danielle took a punt and applied to be Gunnar's pretend wife.
After sifting through hundreds of applicants, he eventually settled on Danielle after her profile impressed him and within two weeks, the pair had met up and taken a roadtrip to Las Vegas.
Seeing that she lived up to her online application, Gunnar bought Danielle a bunch of red roses before getting down on one knee to ask her officially.
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After agreeing they'd eventually divorce following the social media stunt, Danielle and Gunnar tied the knot on Valentine's in a romantic Vegas ceremony.
It wasn't until they'd officially exchanged vows, however, that the couple realised they'd started to develop real feelings for each other.
And three years later, despite initially planning on going their separate ways, the couple are more still together and more loved-up now than ever.
"Our relationship isn't perfect, but we got married as strangers, and here is some reasons why that worked for us," Danielle told their followers this week.
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"We went into this relationship with no expectations."
She went on to claim that the reason they're relationship went from strength to strength after saying 'I do' was because they didn't put any pressure on things.
"We had no outside influence from our friends and family, meaning there was nobody there to plant seeds of doubt about the other person," Danielle continued.
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She added that she and Gunnar would likely have never have connected on dating apps due to their previous height and age preferences.
But she insists that proves these characteristics don't matter too much when it comes to falling in love.
"The experience allowed us to open our minds up to people outside of our typical dating pool," she said.
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"Neither of us would have went for each other at 1bar or on dating apps."
So, there really is hope, single readers - you might just be looking for love in all the wrong places!
Featured Image Credit: @danielleandgunnar/InstagramTopics: Sex and Relationships, TikTok