A SINGLE woman has fallen in love online during lockdown with a bloke who lives 10,000 MILES away – and he moves in next week.
Rosanna Wilson set up a vlog about single life in her thirties in July when she received a message from Andrew Monck, 33, who had been watching her videos from Sydney, Australia.
The 32-year-old set up an interview with Andrew for a guest appearance on her channel, but as soon as they came face-to-face on a video call, there was an immediate attraction.
After weeks of flirting, the long-distance lovers decided to make things official on August 21 and vowed to make their relationship work despite living on opposite sides of the world.
They had video dinner dates, visited the beach together by screen-sharing and binge-watched Netflix across time-zones – before announcing they would move in together.
Now, as the UK descends into another lockdown, Rosanna is preparing to meet Andrew at Heathrow Airport next Tuesday, ready to begin the rest of their lives as a couple.
Rosanna, from Torquay, Devon, said: “I never imagined I would be in a long-distance relationship. I even set my Tinder radius to 10 miles – nothing more.
“I have surprised myself with how we have made it work.
“When we first started having feelings for each other we said ‘this is ridiculous. We’re on the opposite side of the world – we’re going through a global pandemic’.
“We have both been cheated on therefore we have both found it hard to trust. However, we have built that trust over the last four months by being completely honest with each other.
“You’ve got to be creative in how you make it work.
“Usually when you’re dating you think ‘I can’t double text him, I can’t do this or that’. You think you need to be cool.
“I wasn’t. I was myself with him because I thought ‘he’s 10,000 miles away – if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work’.
“In essence, it teaches you that when you’re yourself, you find the love of your life.”
The loved-up couple had met once briefly at the house party of a mutual friend way back in 2011 but believe it ‘wasn’t their time’.
It was only in July this year when they started chatting that Rosanna realised Andrew could well be The One and began flirting with him.
Rosanna said: “My best friend used to live in Wales where Andrew lived. She moved down here [Devon] and was having a party and Andrew was there.
“We don’t remember much about meeting but we did have a picture taken together that we’ve still got.
“We didn’t really speak much. We had each other on social media and through this mutual friend we heard about each other’s lives.
“Fast forward to March. Lockdown happened, Covid-19 had hit us and Andrew’s relationship broke down in Australia. My relationship broke down in June.
“I just started posting sad stuff on social media and my friend turned to me and said ‘please stop doing that’.
“She said ‘stop it and blog about it’. I created my YouTube channel called The 30-Something Singleton.
“Andrew heard about this through our mutual friend and he started watching [my videos].
“He got in contact and said ‘if you want a thirty-something man’s perspective on this, I could help you out because I’m single now’.
“Originally, I thought he just wanted to be interviewed.
“On August 16, I had a video call with him and as soon as he came on to the screen, I hadn’t seen him in 10 years and I went ‘oh, you’ve changed’. I was flirting with him – I’m not going to lie.
“Ever since then he knew that I liked him and he started flirting back. The interview was in the bin.
“We kept talking and talking then we said ‘this is ridiculous because you’re on the other side of the world’.
“We told each other we’d stop talking for two days. I lasted 24 hours and text him.
“He said ‘I’m so glad you text me, it was really hard for me, too’.”
Since realising their attraction, the pair have worked hard to make their relationship work – getting up early and staying up late to chat every day.
I have surprised myself with how we have made it work
Rosanna Wilson
Each morning, Andrew goes to the beach and watches the sun rise with Rosanna on a video call, then he will catch up with her later in the day as Rosanna is going to bed.
Rosanna said: “We get up at 6am, I’ll talk to him until about 8am and then I’ll start work. Then I’ll go on a dog walk at 12pm for an hour and he’ll join me.
“Then he goes to sleep and wakes up at about 7pm [GMT], then we’ll talk until I go to sleep.
“Andrew is very sweet and will wake up early and take me to his favourite place at Sydney Harbour. He’s got my favourite place in Torquay tattooed on him too.
“He’d take me to Sydney Harbour [via video], we’d watch the sunrise together and I would do the same for him.
“It’s little things like sometimes you can see the moon in the morning and then we’ll both say ‘we’re watching the same moon’.
“We have dates too. I can’t cook but Andrew can and sometimes I call him too posh. I just like putting a Pot Noodle in.
“We both made a simple menu of avocado and poached egg on toast. It was 11am in the morning for me and about 8pm at night for him.
“I went upstairs to the box room, laid everything out and then we had dinner together.
“We do the old ‘3, 2, 1, go’ on Netflix and watch movies together.”
After weeks of virtual dating, Andrew and Rosanna decided to make things official on August 21 – and Andrew applied for a travel exemption from Australia to move to the UK.
Rosanna said: “We decided to be together and Andrew made the decision to get an exemption from Australia.
“We were a bit suspect about whether he’d get it but he did.
“Andrew’s going to come back to the UK, wait until Covid-19 blows over then we have some big decisions to make – whether I go over there or he stays here permanently.
“He’s getting a flight on 16 November and lands in Heathrow on 17th.
“We’ve still got our worries though. At the moment, flights are still going ahead and I’m allowed to go to Heathrow to pick him up because he’ll be part of my bubble.
“He will stay here until the Australian borders open. We’re hearing they might not be open until the end of 2021.
“Once everything has returned back to normality we’ll go to Australia for a month, he’ll show me around and, if I like it, we’ll potentially move to Australia.
“If I don’t, we’ve got a decision to make about whether he stays permanently in the UK.”
As Rosanna prepares to welcome her new boyfriend next Tuesday, Andrew has also revealed his secret to long-distance success.
Andrew, who currently lives in Sydney, Australia, said: “Communicating properly with each other is so important.
“You gauge somebody’s emotions and feelings physically and when you don’t have that, it’s so much more important just to keep talking to each other.
“It sounds so weird to be with someone when you haven’t even held their hand, but there are days where Rosanna calls to say ‘I’ve missed you so much today’ and I feel the same.
“It’s just about talking to each other.”
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