It can seem difficult to find the perfect match these days – with internet dating and apps making living as a singleton harder than ever.
But a number of people have taken their search for love to new extremes and found romance in the most unlikely of places.
In fact, it seems that even marriage – one of the oldest and most sacred traditions known to man – does not necessarily have to be between two living people.
This may reassure some bachelors, but the stories of a woman who found love on a Boeing 737 plane and someone who married the Eiffel Tower can be quite shocking.
Here, FEMAIL reveals the strangest things people have fallen in love with…
I married a rag doll – now I’m pregnant
Meirivone Rocha Moraes, from Brazil, was delighted to announce that she is expecting another baby with her rag doll husband
Meirivone Rocha Moraes, from Brazil, has gone viral several times in recent years after sharing her whirlwind romance with an inanimate object – a rag doll.
Just this week, the 37-year-old was overjoyed to announce she’s expecting another baby with her rag doll husband – showing a pregnancy test on TikTok that appears to be positive.
The clip has been viewed more than 369,000 times, with the couple saying they are “so happy” and hoping for a girl this time.
In the video, Meirivone said, “I’m very happy because I’m pregnant again with Marcelo,” Meirivone said. This time we’re having a girl.
“We really wanted to get pregnant again, Marcelo kept asking when we were going to have another baby, and I said one day.
“There were a few times when I was nauseous, so I took a test, but it was negative.
‘However, I recently started feeling nauseous again, so I bought a test from the local pharmacy and it was positive!
We are so happy. We would really like to have a little princess.
“We already have a boy, but if the baby turns out to be one, we’ll love them anyway.”
The couple already has a son they welcomed last year after getting married because they didn’t want to have the baby out of wedlock.
Their wedding ceremony was attended by 250 guests.
I have a relationship with a Boeing 737
Sarah Rodo, from Dortmund, Germany, who has a sexual relationship with an airplane, has revealed that she has traveled abroad 30 times in the past year to spend quality time with her lover
A woman who has a sexual relationship with an airplane recently revealed that she has traveled abroad 30 times in the past year to spend quality time with her lover.
Sarah Rodo, from Dortmund, Germany, found love on her first flight on a Boeing 737 – after an unfulfilled attempt to date people.
Since then, the 23-year-old has also “encountered” 60 figurines and three taller models whom she considers part of a “collective being” she’s dating, which is why she often calls her lovers that.
Maintaining a relationship with an object requires real commitment.
The avid jet-setter is so well-loved that she’s booked 30 mini-vacations over the past 12 months to be close to her original beau, the Boeing 737.
I am ‘objectum sexual’ and suggested a collection of balloons
Aakash Majumdar (above), from Mumbai, India, shares a bed and has a physical bond with his inflatable partners
Aakash Majumdar, from Mumbai, India shares a bed and has a physical bond with his inflatable partners.
The 28-year-old identifies himself as ‘objectum sexual’, meaning he is sexually attracted to inanimate things.
Mr. Majumdar’s bond with his balloons started as a friendship, but has since grown into something deeper and more affectionate.
He said: ‘I love their presence and warmth, sharing intimate feelings with my balloons and vice versa.
‘I kiss with my balloons. When you’re in love, you spend a lot of time together and accept all sorts of flaws.
“Every morning I wake up by saying good morning and kissing my balloons sleeping next to me, and vice versa.”
Two years ago, Mr. Majumdar got down on one knee and proposed to the balloons.
I like objects that are misunderstood – I married the Eiffel Tower in 2007
Perhaps the most notable example of people falling in love with inanimate objects, Erika Lebrie legally changed her last name to Eiffel after “marrying” the Paris landmark
Perhaps the most notable example of people falling for inanimate objects, Erika Lebrie legally changed her last name to Eiffel after “marrying” the Paris landmark.
She even had a documentary made about her relationship and her sexuality.
Like Aakash, Labrie – or Eiffel – identifies as Objectum Sexual. This essentially means that she forms romantic attractions and relationships with inanimate objects.
She told the New Zealand Herald: ‘I find that my type is an object that is misunderstood by the world.
“The Eiffel Tower is surrounded by millions of tourists who are in love with each other, not with her.”
She insisted that “everyone has a type” – this is just hers.
I fell in love with the ghost of a 300 year old pirate
Amanda Sparrow Large, 46, was married to the ghost of a 300-year-old Haitian pirate, but the couple recently split
Amanda Sparrow Large, 46, met 300-year-old Haitian pirate ghost Jack Teague and within two years had sailed to international waters to marry him at sea with the help of a spiritual medium.
Amanda “met” love Jack in 2014 when his apparition appeared next to her in bed. She was immediately taken with the specter, who she claims resembles Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean, played by Johnny Depp.
Jack, a 1700s Haitian pirate who was executed for being a thief on the high seas, then started making regular appearances, with Amanda feeling his energy around her.
It wasn’t long before she realized she liked him and said they started having sex. After two years of dating, Amanda told him she wanted a commitment and he agreed to marry her.
In 2016, Amanda hired a clerk and sailed to international waters so she could legally marry him – using a spiritual medium to empower him to say “yes” during the ceremony.
However, after two years of marriage, Amanda developed health problems and developed recurring abscesses.
After three weeks, the sores got so bad that Amanda was rushed to the hospital for surgery.
In May 2018, she developed sepsis.
She said, “I almost died and I was in the hospital for a week.”
She claims this was the main reason she ended the relationship after being told to cut the energy connection between them.
Amanda also claimed that her creepy partner tried to kill her when she ended their relationship and that she underwent an exorcism in December 2018 after Jack possessed her.
I found love with a duvet – and my boyfriend is not jealous
Pascale Sellick, 49, from Devon, planned a ‘lavish’ wedding with her duvet before finding love with a fellow man – and says her boyfriend isn’t jealous at all
Pascale Sellick, 49, from Devon, planned a ‘lavish’ wedding with her duvet before finding love with a fellow human – and has insisted her boyfriend isn’t jealous at all.
She previously claimed that her relationship with the quilt was the “most intimate and trusting relationship” she had ever been involved in.
“That’s because it’s always been there for me and gives me great hugs,” she said.
Ms Sellick – who now has a boyfriend, Jonny – said he understood why the 2019 wedding took place on Valentine’s Day.
“He understands that I’m marrying the duvet for the art and to get a message across: We really do have a loving relationship,” she said.
“He’s not jealous of my duvet, in fact, he’s very proud of me.”
I broke it off with the Statue of Liberty – and suggested a chandelier
Amanda Liberty, 35, from Leeds, is what’s known as an ‘objectophile’ and has fallen in love with a 100-year-old lamp that she admits is ‘too big to take to bed’
Amanda Liberty, 35, from Leeds, is what’s known as an ‘objectophile’ and has fallen in love with a 100-year-old lamp that she says is ‘too big to take to bed’.
She began dating 28-inch Lumière in 2017 after several in-depth encounters with inanimate objects — and the woman and her chandelier are now “engaged.”
“I didn’t just decide, ‘Oh, I’m going to fall in love with a chandelier today,'” she explained on Facebook. ‘No. It just happened. It was all guided by my heart.’
Ms. Liberty’s latest romance began with the live-action version of Beauty and the Beast, starring Emma Watson in 2017.
Ms. Liberty has since filled her home with 25 pendant lights and is said to have an open relationship with the light fixtures — and her fiancé Lumière.
Her journey began with a drum kit when she was 14 and by her late twenties she had changed her name to match America’s most famous statue.
She pledged herself to the building and had an American flag tattooed on her right arm to commemorate her relationship with “Libby.”
But the union collapsed in 2016 when the avid Disney fan thought they would be better as friends due to the difficulties of their long-distance arrangement.