A woman who jetted off to Italy for a first date with a girl she met on TikTok says it changed her life – and now they’re planning their future together.
Jessica Smith, 29, had only been chatting to India, 24, for a week before they booked flights to meet in Milan, Italy.
What started as a random TikTok chat about Italian Big Brother quickly turned into hours of FaceTiming and joking about meeting up.
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And within weeks, Jessica was boarding a plane from her home city of Manchester to see her new crush in real life.
“Meeting for the first time was honestly incredible – and I think it was easier because we FaceTimed so much beforehand, so it felt like we already knew each other, and it was so natural,” Jessica told Need To Know.
“When I got off the plane, I was so nervous but so, so excited.
“I clicked on her Instagram story when I landed, and she’d posted a mirror picture.
“She looked insane, which made me even more nervous. I was in my comfies and had just stepped off a plane.
“As cliché as it sounds, that first night when we went on our date, I knew it was so worth it. We clicked straight away.
“That spark was there the moment we met in person. It was just incredible.”
The pair met on 15 May and crammed in four days of non-stop dates, from sushi nights and cocktails to vintage markets and museums.
They even went to a rave and took a two-hour road trip to a stunning lake for a picnic.
But Jessica’s mum was terrified when she found out her daughter was staying at a stranger’s house abroad.
Coffee shop manager Jessica said: “We met on TikTok – welcome to 2025, I guess!
“I was posting on there about Italian Big Brother – a random hyperfixation I had – and my videos came up on her For You page.
“She followed me, I followed her back, and we started talking almost immediately.
“We were only speaking for just over a week before the flights were booked.
“It sounds a bit mental, but we were FaceTiming a lot and thought, why not do it? Better to do it sooner than wait.
“It was a little bit spontaneous in a way, but we had jokingly spoken about it from the get-go.
“I think from the first day, I’d joked and said maybe I’d visit Milan if she knew a good tour guide.
“Then after a week or so, I asked if she was free during a few days I could get off work, and she was, so the flights were booked – just a month after we first spoke.
“Some of my friends thought I was mad to go for that long when we were meeting for the first time.
“My mum was obviously worried sick and wasn’t impressed when she found out I was going.
“She asked me for the address where I was staying, etc.
“I had to FaceTime her when I arrived to show her it wasn’t a 60-year-old man.
“And my friends were all happy for me – they’d spoken to her on FaceTime, but some did think the length of time was crazy.”
By the end of the trip, they knew it was something special.
And two months later, India, who is from Verbania but lives in Milan, flew to Manchester, where Jessica asked her to be her girlfriend.
Now they’re travelling back and forth between the UK and Italy, making scrapbooks of their memories and planning more adventures together.
Jessica said: “My favourite memory was definitely the day we spent at the lake.
“We took a picnic, wine and her dog, made canvases for each of us and played a card game to get to know each other more.
“I definitely felt so much more connected after that.
“I think the experience has definitely changed the way I feel about taking risks.
“I’m usually a bit of a risk-taker anyway, but I’d never travelled to another country for a date, so that was a little wild for me – but I am so, so glad I did it.
“I think there’s always a risk in flying elsewhere to meet someone, but there’s a risk of meeting a stranger anywhere.
“I would say don’t do it unless you’ve FaceTimed, etc. Obviously, we’ve all seen the show Catfish.
“The trip did lead to something more, and I am so grateful. She is now my girlfriend.
“The goodbyes are heartbreaking, but we know we’ll have another trip soon.”
Jessica is now studying for a teaching abroad course so she can work anywhere and be with India even more.
She said, “We went to Pride together and had some very wholesome days.
“We’ll see each other again in just under three weeks.
“Future plans aren’t set yet, but I’m going to start my TEFL course in the next few months so I can teach English abroad.
“She’s just finished university, so once she knows what she wants to do, we’ll figure it out from there – but I’m so excited for what the future holds.”
