An American influencer is set to swap homes with a Brit for New Year after being inspired by the classic 2006 rom-com The Holiday.
Grace Gagnon, 25, from Boston, Massachusetts, posted a viral TikTok earlier this month seeing if anyone would be willing to trade houses, and was flooded with responses.
Earlier this month Grace posted a video asking: ‘Anyone in England want to switch places for the holiday? I have a studio apartment on Boston’s water-front.”
She captioned it with ‘Serious inquiries only, Bonus points if you have a hot, single brother’ – in reference to Jude Law’s character in the hit Christmas film.
After sifting through the thousands of offers, Grace, agreed to swap with Florence Patterson, 22, from Bath, Somerset.
Single Grace will fly to the UK on December 29 for a two-week West Country adventure, keeping her eyes peeled for romance – just like Cameron Diaz did in the Holiday.
Florence will jet off to Grace’s waterfront home in Boston on 2nd January – and is also looking to find love.
An American influencer is set to swap homes with a Brit for New Year after being inspired by the classic 2006 rom-com The Holiday. Grace Gagnon (left) , 25, from Boston, Massachusetts, posted a viral TikTok earlier this month seeing if anyone would be willing to trade houses, and was flooded with responses. After sifting through the thousands of offers, Grace, agreed to swap with Florence Patterson (right) 22, from Bath, Somerset.
In the Nancy Meyers Christmas movie, following respective heartbreaks Surrey-based journalist Iris – played by Kate Winslet – swaps homes with Amanda, a movie producer from Hollywood. While in Surrey, Amanda finds romance with Iris’s book editor brother, Graham (Jude Law), while Iris meets Miles (played by Jack Black) and dates him.
In the Nancy Meyers Christmas movie, following respective heartbreaks Surrey-based journalist Iris – played by Kate Winslet – swaps homes with Amanda, a movie producer from Hollywood.
While in Surrey, Amanda finds romance with Iris’s book editor brother, Graham (Jude Law), while Iris meets Miles (played by Jack Black) and dates him.
Grace said: ‘For the first few days, I couldn’t stop shaking with excitement – this is the coolest thing that has ever happened to me. I enjoy living life on a whim, however I have been feeling lately like my life has been stuck in a certain routine.
‘It’s serendipitous timing because I haven’t been spontaneous since before the pandemic started. This experience is exactly what I’ve been craving!
‘My trip isn’t centred around falling in love – this is more just me living out an adventure.
‘If I happen to meet someone along the way, it’ll make everything even more exciting!’
Florence said: ‘It has been lovely, she’s absolutely hilarious, she’s got the British sarcasm!
Single Grace will fly to the UK on December 29 for a two-week West Country adventure, keeping her eyes peeled for romance – just like Cameron Diaz did in the Holiday.
Florence (left, and right with her mum) will jet off to Grace’s waterfront home in Boston on 2nd January
‘We really get on which helps the whole situation.’
Florence is also single, and plans to focus her time on exploring a new city, but isn’t ruling romance out.
She said: ‘We’ll see, but I think in this day and age I don’t have plans for that, but Kate Winslet wasn’t, was she?
‘You never know what the future holds!’
The festive swap happened on December 8, Grace posted a TikTok saying ‘Anyone in England want to switch places for the holiday? I have a studio apartment on Boston’s water-front.”
She captioned it with ‘Serious inquiries only, Bonus points if you have a hot, single brother.”
The festive swap happened on December 8, Grace (pictured) posted a TikTok saying ‘Anyone in England want to switch places for the holiday? I have a studio apartment on Boston’s water-front.”
Product marketing manager Grace said: ‘I had just watched The Holiday on Thanksgiving with my mum.
‘I was not expecting the video to blow up but, once I saw all the great messages the next morning, I decided this was the perfect opportunity to be spontaneous.’
Grace’s video quickly went viral, amassing over three million views in a few days, and she was flooded with invitations from across the world.
She set up a questionnaire for those interested, and organised FaceTime calls with potential home swappers.
Not long after, Grace’s video popped up on Florence’s For You Page and she messaged her straight away on Instagram.
She said: ‘I wanted to help, if it were to kick off I didn’t want her to go somewhere not as nice.
Grace’s video quickly went viral, amassing over three million views in a few days, and she was flooded with invitations from across the world. She set up a questionnaire for those interested, and organised FaceTime calls with potential home swappers. Not long after, Grace’s video popped up on Florence’s (pictured) For You Page and she messaged her straight away on Instagram.
‘I didn’t feel like I was ever going to get a reply but thankfully I did.’
Flo said: ‘I received invitations to London, Glasgow, Northern Ireland, Mexico, Australia, Canada, and all over the US.
‘But once Flo’s invitation to Bath came in, it felt like a no-brainer.
‘Now it just feels like I’m swapping homes with a good friend.’
She got a response a few hours later and the two quickly became friends.
Florence, a freelance virtual assistant, said: ‘It was all happening so slowly but so quickly at the same time.
‘Then it suddenly sunk in that, oh my gosh, we have to plan this!
‘But we really got on, I see things written about her ‘swapping with a stranger’ and I have to think ‘Oh, I’m the stranger!”
‘It will be a quant little getaway but close enough to the city to walk in, and has a view of the whole of Bath,’ said Florence.
Grace plans to visit the Roman Baths, watch the rugby and go shopping, but the self-described ‘hopeless romantic’ hopes this trip may also lead to a new love.
‘After getting my heart broken one too many times, I treat it more delicately,’ she said.
‘I still crave that fairy tale romance, but I am cautious about who I want to experience that with.
‘Hopefully, this experience will allow me to open up to love and romance like I used to.’
She wants to provide Florence with a list of her favourite bars and things to do, and introduce her to her friends so she doesn’t have to be by herself for the holiday.
While Grace also does have an older brother, but sadly is already in a relationship.
Florence said: ‘I’ve never done anything like this before, I was really spontaneous when I was young but post-COVID you’ve just got to grab life by the balls.
‘If anyone else wants to do anything like this, then go for it – why not?’
Their trip is being sponsored by HomeExchange.com and sustainable luggage brand Solgaard.