Two Strangers and a Wedding

"Two Strangers and a Wedding" is a controversial radio competition created and first hosted in Australia.

In order to win the competition, two contestants who have not met or made contact with each other must be chosen by the station's listeners. They then have to get married legitimately to win prizes.

Australian competitions

The first promotions were held in Adelaide and Sydney, Australia on 2Day FM and SAFM and then on several other Australian stations.Fact|date=February 2007

UK competitions

Birmingham radio station BRMB has married two sets of couples, and both of these contests have sparked a national interest. In 1999, the first couple were matched by a panel of relationship counsellors and astrologers, including astrologer Russell Grant. The groom was 28 year-old Greg Cordell, a sales manager, and his chosen bride was Carla Germaine, a 23 year-old former model.

The couple married, on air nationally and online, however they soon split after the wedding. Once the divorce was complete, the bride married Jeremy Kyle, [http://www.BRMB.co.uk/Article.asp?id=160316 - BRMB Website - Where are they Now?] who at the time was one of the radio station's DJs. They now have their own family together.

Later on in 2006, another couple were married. Again, the station received national interest. Becky, 28, and Craig, 30, were chosen for the stunt. [http://www.brmb.co.uk/Article.asp?id=171860 - BRMB Website - The Big Day] Despite protests against the wedding, the two were married. The couple flew to Bermuda the day after the wedding for their honeymoon.

Four months later on May 7 2006, the "News of the World" reported the couple had split, but not divorced. These reports were confirmed on the morning radio show, "the Big Brum Breakfast", when Becky (the bride) was interviewed.Fact|date=February 2007

New Zealand competitions

New Zealand radio station The Edge ran a similar competition where they married Zane Nichol and Paula Stockwell in 1999. To this day the couple are still together and have two boys, one of whom suffers from autism. [ http://www.radiochick.co.nz/TheEdge/2Strangers/PaulaZane.aspx - RadioChick Information on Paula and Zane winners of The Edge competition in 1999]

In 2003, The Edge also married Steve Veix and Kersha Taylor. Again, the two are also still together and have a son, Mitchell. In early 2006, it was revealed that due to Steve's long days working on the couple's farm, Kersha suffered post-natal depression which she has since beaten. Kersha is currently pregnant with their second child. [http://www.radiochick.co.nz/TheEdge/2Strangers/SteveKersha.aspx - RadioChick Information on Setve and Kerhsa winner of The Edge competition in 2003]

The Edge ran 3 Strangers and a Wedding in 2007 where the bride has to pick which man out of 2 she will marry on the actual wedding day.Chantelle Swanson picked Paul Court as her groom on the 27th of September 2007 in Auckland, New Zealand.

Other competitions

95.5 WPLJ, a New York radio station, in 2006 married a couple. They were together for six months before divorcing. [http://kipesquire.powerblogs.com/posts/1144327486.shtml - A Stitch in Haste - Two Strangers and a Divorce]

Similar contests have been run in Los Angeles, Budapest, Hungary and in Estonia.95.5 KLOS in Los Angeles also ran, a variant of the competition called "Three Strangers and a Wedding" in 2007, this time the twist was that the Bride had to choose her groom in 60 seconds based on first looks. The couple split up after 1 week. She has a nickname of the Naughty Nurse.

Most recently WTMX in Chicago ran 2 Strangers - Is Love Blind and the final couple refused to get married at the altar claiming marriage was too serious to be entered into via a radio competition!

The two most successful European 'social experiments' were held in Dublin on 98FM where the final couple are still together and have a child and in Budapest, Hungary where the couple from Danubius Radio are now media celebrities attending chat shows and film premieres.

Criticisms and controversy

* Birmingham's Churches Together accused BRMB of "reducing a sacred and momentous decision to a media event", [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/262403.stm - BBC News Article - Church condemns 'blind wedding'] before the 1999 wedding of Greg and Carla.
* On February 7 2006, the day of Becky and Craig's wedding, a vicar held a protest outside the Hotel du Vin, the location of the marriage.Fact|date=February 2007
* Many of these competitions are sponsored by a number of wedding-related services (e.g. florists, wedding planners), which can be led to people believing they are simply advertising gimmicks. [http://kipesquire.powerblogs.com/posts/1139423023.shtml - A Stitch in Haste - No Bigots and a Wedding]

References

External links

* [http://www.brmb.co.uk BRMB website]
* [http://www.2strangers.co.uk 2 Strangers website]
* [http://www.absolutedowse.com Absolute & Dowse LLC]
* [http://www.brmb.co.uk/sectional.asp?id=7218&pollid=8111&iframe= Two Strangers and a Wedding homepage]