A woman who ‘married and divorced’ a ghost says the spirit is preventing her from finding love again – turning up to haunt her on dates.
Brocarde, a singer and songwriter from Oxfordshire, fell in love with Edwardo – the ghost of a Victorian soldier – in late 2021 after he appeared in her home.
But after a rocky marriage marred with cheating allegations and him often ‘ghosting’ her for days on end, the 40-year-old called it quits last summer, having an exorcism to rid herself of the spirit.
She tried to start a “ghost-free” chapter and is on the hunt for love this Valentine’s Day – but says her spirit ex won’t leave her alone, and new suitors often mock her for falling for Edwardo.
“There have been occasions where he’s made his presence very known – he’s appeared on dates, it’s like he’s taunting me and toying with me,” Brocarde told What’sTheJam.
“Edwardo has tried to fondle me during dates – it’s made me jump out of my skin, and I’ve had to style it out and act like I’m dancing to the music, because sometimes it’s difficult to explain.
“Punching the air is also difficult to explain, because it’s not exactly the slickest of dance moves.
“Sometimes he’ll stand behind my date raising his eyebrows like a cringy Casanova.
“There’s even been times he’s brushed past my date or touched them.
“Sometimes they’ll turn round and be confused as they can’t see anyone there.
“One guy who was very spiritual said he could sense a malevolent presence and smell a musty soldier’s uniform – I just told him that maybe I needed some new perfume.”
Brocarde said she feels like she “can’t escape” Edwardo – with her new suitors often asking about him and even reportedly turning up to dates dressed as spirits themselves.
She said: I feel like I broke every dating faux pas by marrying a ghost but the unconventionality continues.
“My reputation precedes me and people have so many questions – usually it would be a grey area to mention sex with your ex, but everyone wants to know about ghost orgasms.
“I had a man begging me to conjure Edwardo so we could have a threesome.
“Realistically a twosome wasn’t even on the cards as far as I was concerned, but I said I’d put in a good word for him with Edwardo – maybe they ended up hooking up!
“The classic is turning up dressed as a ghost, with a bed sheet over their head – I’ve had that a couple of times now, although one was a napkin and not a bedsheet so he didn’t even go all in!”
Not all of her dates have clocked Edwardo’s lurking, luckily.
Brocarde added: “Some people have picked up on a presence, others not so much.
“I think a lot of people are genuinely quite fascinated with the whole topic which is understandable, as I am too, but there’s just so much more to me than marrying a ghost.
“I want people to see past him, but maybe he’ll always be with me in one way or another.”
Reflecting on last Valentine’s Day, Brocarde says she knew the writing was on the wall for her marriage.
She said: “I was fantasising more about getting him exorcised than I was about getting in between the sheets with him!
“Edwardo surprised me by leaving a puddle of vinegar on the dining table, which stinks.
“Condiments weren’t exactly at the top of my wish list in terms of gifts and this really rubbed salt into the wound of our already dead relationship.
“I’d largely become immune to Edwardo’s unpredictable behaviour but this puzzled me.
“I did some research into this to see if there could be any deeper meaning or symbolism behind this, and I found out that in the Victorian era Vinegar Valentine’s were a way to insult your lover.
“Although they traditionally were delivered in the form of a mean greetings card, Edwardo delivered my Vinegar Valentine more literally – I guess cards are beyond his remit!”
But this year, the singer is focusing on the future.
She added: “I feel very liberated and fearless.
“Divorcing Edwardo was worse than divorcing a human as Edwardo simply wouldn’t stop torturing me and there was nothing I could do about it.
“Ghosts are above the law and there are no boundaries or rules of conduct.
“Now I’m embracing everything wholeheartedly and it’s nice to be able to focus on my music and career – this whole journey has provided me with so much inspiration.”
As for her plans for the big day?
She said: “I might just put on my finest lingerie and do a steak out in a graveyard, see if anything stirs.”
