After being inspired by The Holiday’s 2006 romantic comedy, an American influencer will be moving in with a Brit to start the New Year.
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.
Grace uploaded a video this month in which she asked: “Anyone want to swap places for the holiday?” My studio apartment is located on Boston’s waterfront.
It was captioned with “Serious inquires only” – a reference to Jude Law’s role in the Christmas movie.
Grace agreed to trade with Florence Patterson (22), from Bath, Somerset, after she had compared the offers.
Single Grace will be flying to the UK from December 29th for a 2-week West Country adventure.
Florence will travel to Grace’s Boston home from Grace on the 2nd of January. She is also searching for love.
After being inspired by The Holiday’s 2006 romantic comedy, an American celebrity is planning to move in with a Brit. Grace Gagnon (left), a 25-year-old woman from Boston posted a TikTok viral earlier in the month asking for anyone who would be interested to trade homes. The response was overwhelming. Grace decided to swap houses with Florence Patterson (right), 22-year-old from Bath, Somerset.
Nancy Meyers’ Christmas movie shows that Iris (a Surrey-based journalist) and Amanda (a Hollywood movie producer), have their hearts broken. Iris falls in love with Graham (Jude Law), her brother as book editor. Iris, on the other hand, meets Miles (played surprisingly by Jack Black) who she then dates.
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.
Iris falls in love with Graham (Jude Law) while Amanda meets Miles (played brilliantly by Jack Black), and they begin to date.
Grace stated, “For the first few weeks, I couldn’t stop shaking from excitement. This is the coolest thing to have ever happened.” Although I love living my life to the fullest, I feel like I’ve been trapped in a routine lately.
I believe it’s serendipitous timing since I haven’t been spontaneously active since before the pandemic began. This is the exact experience that I was looking for.
“My trip is not about falling in love. It’s just me having an adventure.
“If I have the chance to meet someone along my journey, that’ll only make it even better!”
Florence stated: “It’s been wonderful, she is absolutely hilarious, and she has the British sarcasm!”
Single Grace will be flying to the UK from December 29th for a 2-week West Country adventure.
Florence, left with her mom and Florence right together will fly to Grace’s Boston waterfront home on the 2nd of January
“We truly get on, which is a positive thing for the entire situation.”
Florence, who’s also single, wants to be able to explore a new place, but she isn’t ruling out romance.
She replied, “We’ll watch, but I believe in this age, I don’t have any plans for that. But Kate Winslet didn’t,” she said.
“You can never predict the future!”
Grace shared a TikTok asking for anyone in England to swap places during the festive exchange. The studio I own is on Boston’s Water-front.
It was captioned with “Serious inquires only” and added: “Bonus points if your brother is a hot single man.”
Grace (pictured) shared a TikTok requesting that anyone living in England swap their holiday places. I own a studio apartment near Boston’s Water-front.
Grace is a product marketing manager. She said, “I just saw The Holiday on Turkey with my mom.
“I didn’t expect the video would explode, but after seeing all of the wonderful messages I received the next day, I realized this was the ideal opportunity to spontaneously act.”
Grace’s video became viral in just a few days. It had over 3,000,000 views and was soon flooded with invites from around the globe.
The questionnaire was sent out to interested people and FaceTime sessions were set up for potential home swappers.
Grace saw Grace’s post on Florence For You Page, and immediately messaged Grace on Instagram.
She replied, “I was willing to help. If it did start I didn’t want her go to somewhere else.”
Grace’s video went viral quickly, amassing more than three million views in just a few days. Grace was also flooded with invites from around the world. A questionnaire was created for interested parties and FaceTime meetings were set up with potential house 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 was not sure if I would ever receive a reply, but thankfully I received one.”
Flo stated that she received invitations from London, Glasgow and Northern Ireland. She also said they were interested in Canada, Australia, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Canada and other countries.
“But, once Flo invited me to Bath, I felt it was a natural decision.
“Now it just feels that I am exchanging homes with good friends.
Within a matter of hours, she received a reply and they quickly became close friends.
Florence, who is a freelance virtual assistant said that everything happened so slowly and yet so fast at the same.
“Then, it was suddenly clear that we must plan this!”
“But they really got on. I read things about her’swapping wit a stranger’, and I must think, “Oh! I’m that stranger!”
Florence stated that it would be an ideal getaway, but still close enough to Bath to allow for walking, and offer a panoramic view over the entire city.
Grace intends to see the Roman Baths, go shopping and watch rugby, but Grace, who is self-described as a ‘hopeless romantic,’ believes that this trip could lead to a new relationship.
“I have had my heart broken a few times too often, so I now treat it with more care,” she stated.
“I want that fairytale romance. But I’m cautious about whom I would like to have it.
“Hopefully this will enable me to be open to love and romance as I was once.”
Florence will be provided with a list and recommendations of the best bars and activities, as well as introducing her to friends to make sure she is not alone on holiday.
Grace has an older brother. However, Grace is currently in a relationship with him.
Florence stated, “I have never done something like this before. I was very spontaneous as a young girl. But post-COVID I’ve got to take life by the balls.
“If anybody else is interested in doing something similar, why not?”
HomeExchange.com is sponsoring their trip, as well as sustainable luggage brand Solgaard.