This is definitely one for all you hopeless romantics out there.
Here’s a romantic tale for the modern era.
Boy goes viral on TikTok. Girl comments. Boy replies. They talk. Boy flies 650 miles for first date.
Here’s how it unfolded.
Our story begins with a gender reveal party. Matt Bannon went viral on TikTok after he posted a video of himself racing his brother in a swimming pool as part of a gender reveal stunt for his pregnant sister.
The video caught the attention of hundreds of women – including an Olympian – who posted admiring comments.
Taylor Bier decided to go one step further though, leaving a flirtatious comment saying: “Ooo 25, single, saw there was an Olympic athlete on board – I might not beat that.”
And the gamble paid off, with Taylor getting a reply from Matt, sparking a series of Facetime calls and messages.
So after two weeks of chatting, Matt decided to take a risk himself, booking flights from Dallas, Texas, to Omaha, Nebraska to meet Taylor. Cue a whirlwind romance that ended in the pair becoming official boyfriend and girlfriend.
Taylor described meeting Matt as “so much better than I could’ve ever expected,” whilst Matt said that it was “super crazy how things work out.”
It sounds like they’d been getting on pretty well even before they met in person though. Taylor said their messages were “super easy” and that “every conversation sparked a new conversation.”
The first time they spoke was actually over Facetime in a Target car park. The spiritual home of romance.
Taylor had arranged a call to make sure that Matt wasn’t a catfish, and pulled into the car park for what she thought would be a ten minute Facetime, but ended up lasting much longer.
“I sat in the Target parking lot for two hours and didn’t even ever go in,” she said.
“He was way more handsome than I ever thought he was going to be.
“We both half jokingly, half seriously, mentioned that after the first time we met in person, we were kind of hoping we’d feel like more friends than anything more.
“That would make everything easier, but, clearly that wasn’t the case.”
@tay.bierBut where’s the pink swim trunks @batt_mannon ?? ##brotherinpink ##CompleteMyLook♬ This is gonna be the song of the summer – S T A R G I R L
The riskiest part of Matt’s flight out to meet her though? He booked it a month in advance, hoping that the romance wouldn’t fizzle out. It ended up being a good thing though according to Taylor.
“We still had a full month to get to know each other before he actually came here for the first time,” she said.
So what were Matt’s first romantic words to her at the airport? Was it like a scene from Casablanca or Gone With The Wind?
Apparently, when Matt saw her at the airport he simply shouted: “Oh my god, you’re real and not a catfish.”
Poetic.
Taylor added: “He would pinch me and be like, ‘sorry, I never thought I would see you.’ It really didn’t feel real.”
Things don’t seem to have slowed down either, with Taylor having introduced Matt to her family despite the fact they’re only met in person on three occasions.
She said: “We are taking things one month at a time, we both know we really like each other and that we’re not interested in meeting anyone else.
“It really does not feel like it’s only been three times of seeing each other in person, just because of how often we FaceTime.
“We are away more than we are together, but we look at it as those three or four days together as so worth all the missing each other in between.”
Matt Bannon, 26, flew 650 miles to visit Taylor Bier, 25, for the first time (Credit: SWNS)But they’re set to be seeing each other more regularly soon. They’ve arranged to visit each other one weekend of every month for the remainder of the year, in different holiday spots each time.
Taylor said: “Typically, I am not the person who would comment on a strangers video, much less follow the random guy in the video for the mere chance he follows me back and messages me.
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“But in this instance, I don’t know what got into me, but I did both of those things.
“This was indeed a chance encounter, but because of the way things are panning out, I now more than ever, have full faith in the fact that everything does happen for a reason.
“I am so grateful for this darn app and for Lindsay and her sweet quarantine baby, because without any of that, Matt and I would still not know the other existed.”
A very 2021 love story.
