By Ben Barry
A British woman has married a Turkish man she met on holiday in Turkey via Grindr – despite having to use Google Translate to talk.
Shane Harding, 28, who is transgender, was in Turkey with her sister whilst she was getting surgery and downloaded the app hoping to meet someone LGBTQ+ friendly to show her around Istanbul.
The first message to come through was from Mert Isrem, 29, who said he would love to meet up and show Shane around the city.
But he couldn’t fluent English – and Shane couldn’t speak Turkish – so they spent the entire week communicating via Google Translate.
After a whirlwind week-long romance the pair were besotted, and spent a year travelling back and forth between the UK and Turkey.
They finally married in June last year. They now live in Barnstaple, Devon, and Mert is fluent in English after learning from Shane.
Shane, a content creator, from Barnstaple, Devon, said: “When we met Mert didn’t speak any English.
“We were using Google Translate, and I felt at home with him.
“We had dinner and walked around Istanbul. The first time we were up spending the night talking about loads of different things.
“By day five I knew I had fallen in love with him. We had a few drinks in our hotel and we both said we had fallen in love with each other.”
Mert, a barber, from Istanbul, Turkey, said: “I asked Shane if she wanted to meet with me and she explained how she was in Turkey looking after her sister.
“I thought she was stunning, we had a magical first five days.
“I never thought I would get married.
“Our wedding day was the best day ever, I can’t describe how I felt.
“It was a really fun day, it was an amazing time with all our family and friends.”
The pair met in June 2022, when Shane booked herself into a hotel and wanted to explore Istanbul whilst her sister was in hospital recovering.
Speaking of using Grindr, she said: “The first message to come through was from Mert. I thought he was really handsome.
“He had this charm about him but he said he was in another part of Turkey on holiday.
“Six hours later he messaged me to ask where I was staying so he knew where to come.
“He said he had a surprise for me and he had cut his holiday short.
“Usually in the UK I am really nervous and anxious when meeting up with people and you think, being in Turkey I would be scared but I was just so excited to meet this charming guy.”
Their first date went so well Shane and Mert spent the next five days together.
Shane said she knew she had fallen in love with Mert and sat him down to tell him how she felt before she flew back to the UK.
She said: “I plucked up the courage to tell him how I felt.
“I said ‘I don’t know how you feel but I have fallen in love with you’.
“He smiled, took my hand and said he had fallen in love with me too.”
Shane cried during her entire flight back home, and after nine days apart flew back to Turkey for a two week stay with Mert’s family.
She said: “I fell madly in love with him. I got to experience what it is like to be a Turkish family.”
Shane then flew back to the UK where she spent seven weeks before going back to be with Mert.
On September 23, 2022 Mert hired a private yacht and proposed to Shane.
Shane said: “The weather was so bad it was thunder and lightning and then all of a sudden the rain stopped and there was a beautiful rainbow.
“Mert turned to me and said ‘the LGBTQ+ gods are looking over us’.
“We had a lovely three-course meal and enjoyed the views.
“All of a sudden Mert pointed to the bridge and this laser projected writing on it saying ‘will you marry me’.
“I was very giggly. I was so shocked. Never in my life did I think I would find somebody or that I would be engaged.
“I said yes and then the writing changed to ‘Shane said yes’ and all the boats in the harbour were beeping their horns – it was such a magical moment.”
Shane and Mert got married on June 23, 2023, exactly one year after they met for the first time in Istanbul.
Shane said: “It was the most magical day of my life.
“It was a very special day. We got married in an old country pub surrounded by our family and friends.
“Our romance has been a dream. Every couple have their ups and downs especially when one moves to another country but I have loved every minute.
“The fact our wedding day fell on the same day we met just showed that were meant to be.
“Mert is struggling a bit with the British weather, he has found summer to be too hot and a bit too humid.
“He also hates the rain and house spiders.
“Everything else is good, we have a little cat called Lilly and have spoken about the possibility of starting a family one day.”
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