It can seem hard to find the perfect match in this day and age – with internet dating and apps making life as a singleton tougher than ever.
But a number of people have taken their search for love to new extremes and found romance in the unlikeliest of places.
In fact, it seems that even marriage – one of the oldest and most sacred traditions known to man – doesn’t necessarily need to be between two living human beings.
This might be comforting to some singletons – but the stories of a woman who found love with a Boeing 737 aircraft, and one who married the Eiffel Tower could be rather shocking.
Here, FEMAIL reveals the strangest things people have fallen in love with…
I married a ragdoll – now I’m pregnant
Meirivone Rocha Moraes, from Brazil, was thrilled to announce that she is expecting another baby with her rag doll husband
Meirivone Rocha Moraes, from Brazil, has gone viral several times over the past few years after sharing her whirlwind romance with an inanimate object – a ragdoll.
Just this week, the 37-year-old was thrilled to announce that she is expecting another baby with her rag doll husband – showing off a pregnancy test on TikTok that appears to be positive.
The clip has racked up over 369,000 views with the couple saying they are ‘so happy’ and hoping for a girl this time around.
In the video, Meirivone said: ‘I’m very happy because I’m pregnant with Marcelo again,’ Meirivone said. ‘This time we’re going to have a girl.
‘We really wanted to get pregnant again, Marcelo kept asking when we’re going to get another baby, and I said one day.
‘There were a couple times I felt nauseous, so I would take a test, but they were negative.
‘However, I recently started to get nauseous again, so bought a test from the local pharmacy and it was positive!
We are so happy. We would love to have a little princess.
‘We already have a boy, but if the baby turns out to be one too, we will love them just the same.’
The couple already have a son who 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’m in a relationship with a Boeing 737
Sarah Rodo, from Dortmund, Germany, who is in a sexual relationship with an aeroplane has revealed that she travelled abroad 30 times in the last year just to spend quality time with her lover
A woman who is in a sexual relationship with an aeroplane recently revealed that she travelled abroad 30 times in the last year just to spend quality time with her lover.
Sarah Rodo, from Dortmund, Germany, found love on her first flight with a Boeing 737 – after an unfulfilling attempt to date humans.
Since then, the 23-year-old has also ‘met’ 60 figurines and three larger models who she considers part of a ‘collective being’ that she is dating, and so she often refers to her lovers as one.
Keeping up a relationship with an object requires real commitment.
The avid jet-setter is so loved up that she has booked 30 mini-breaks in the last 12 months just to be close to her original beau, the Boeing 737.
I’m ‘objectum sexual’ and proposed to 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 as ‘objectum sexual’, which means he is sexually attracted to lifeless things.
Mr Majumdar’s bond with his balloons began as a friendship but has since blossomed into something deeper and more affectionate.
He said: ‘I like their presence and warmth, and share intimate feelings with my balloons and vice versa.
‘I make out with my balloons. When you’re in love, you spend a lot of time together and accept all kinds of flaws.
‘Every morning, I wake up by saying good morning and giving a kiss to my balloons that sleep beside me, and vice versa.’
Two years ago, Mr Majumdar got down on one knee and proposed to the balloons.
I love objects which are misunderstood – I married the Eiffel Tower back in 2007
Perhaps the most notable example of people falling in love with inanimate objects, Erika Lebrie changed her surname legally to Eiffel after ‘marrying’ the Parisian landmark
Perhaps the most notable example of people falling for inanimate objects, Erika Lebrie changed her surname legally to Eiffel after ‘marrying’ the Parisian landmark.
She has even had a documentary made about her relationship and her sexuality.
Like Aakash, Labrie – or Eiffel – identifies as Objectum Sexual. This essentially means she forms romantic attractions and relationships to inanimate objects.
She told the New Zealand Herald: ‘I find my type is an object that’s 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 simply hers.
I’ve fallen out of love with the ghost of a 300-year-old pirate
Amanda Sparrow Large, 46, had been married to the ghost of a 300-year-old Haitian pirate, but the pair split recently
Amanda Sparrow Large, 46, met 300-year-old Haitian pirate ghost Jack Teague and within two years had sailed into international waters to wed him at sea using a spiritual medium.
Amanda ‘met’ love Jack in 2014 when his apparition appeared beside her in bed. She was immediately taken with the spook, who she claims looks like Pirates of the Caribbean character Jack Sparrow, played by Johnny Depp.
Jack, a Haitian pirate from the 1700s who was executed for being a thief on the high seas, then began appearing regularly, with Amanda feeling his energy around her.
Before long she realised she fancied him and said they began having sex. After two years of dating, Amanda told him she wanted commitment and he agreed to marry her.
In 2016, Amanda hired a registrar and sailed into international waters so she could legally marry him – using a spiritual medium to allow him to say ‘I do’ during the ceremony.
However, after two years of marriage Amanda started suffering from health problems and started to get recurring abscesses.
After three weeks, the sores got so bad that Amanda had to be rushed to 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 that this was the main reason she ended the relationship after being advised that they had to cut the energy link between them.
Amanda also claimed that her spooky partner tried to kill her when she ended their relationship and she underwent an exorcism in December 2018 after Jack possessed her.
I found love with a duvet – and my boyfriend isn’t jealous
Pascale Sellick, 49, from Devon, planned a ‘lavish’ wedding to her duvet before finding love with a fellow human – and says her boyfriend isn’t at all jealous
Pascale Sellick, 49, from Devon, planned a ‘lavish’ wedding to her duvet before finding love with a fellow human – and has insisted her boyfriend isn’t at all jealous.
She previously claimed her relationship with the quilt was the ‘most intimate and reliable relationship’ she had ever been involved in.
‘That’s because it has 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 wedding was taking place on Valentine’s Day in 2019.
‘He understands I’m marrying the duvet for art and to come across a message, we have a really 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 proposed to a chandelier
Amanda Liberty, 35, from Leeds, is what is known as an ‘objectophile’ and has fallen in love with a 100-year-old light fitting that she admits is ‘too big to take to bed’
Amanda Liberty, 35, from Leeds, is what is known as an ‘objectophile’ and has fallen in love with a 100-year-old light fitting that she admits is ‘too big to take to bed’.
She started dating 28-inch Lumière in 2017 following several profound trysts 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 totally led by my heart.’
Ms Liberty’s latest romance started with the live action version of Beauty and the Beast, starring Emma Watson in 2017.
Ms Liberty has since filled her home with 25 hanging lamps, and is said to be in an open relationship with the light fixtures – and her fiance Lumière.
Her journey began with a drum kit when she was 14 and by her late 20s she’d changed her name to match America’s most famous statue.
Pledging herself to the structure, she had a USA flag tattooed on her right arm to commemorate her relationship with ‘Libby’.
But the union collapsed in 2016 when the avid Disney fan felt they’d be better as friends due to the difficulties of their long-distance arrangement.
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk