"A True Love Story..."

These guys had only been on a few dates before being forced into isolation together. Now they’re living a fairytale lockdown romance

Patrick Kelleher
April 14, 2020
PinkNews.co.uk

Aaron Hussey and Reed Badman had only been on five dates when they found themselves plunged into coronavirus lockdown together.

Three weeks later, they’re officially a couple – and they both say coronavirus lockdown has helped them get to know each other without the usual distractions.

Aaron, 34, and Reed, 25, first stumbled across each other on Instagram a few months ago. They started chatting and both realised early on that they liked each other. There was just one stumbling block: Reed lived in Cardiff and Aaron lived in London, so meeting in person wasn’t all that easy.

Despite this, they met “a couple of times” and “talked a lot”, and then Reed got offered a job in London. He moved to the capital quickly, but rented his own place as he still hardly knew Aaron. They knew they liked each other, but they were adamant that they wanted to take things slowly.

“And then the coronavirus stuff started,” Aaron says. One day, while visiting Aaron, Reed found out that his housemate had come into contact with a suspected case of COVID-19. They decided to exercise caution, and Reed spent the next few days in Aaron’s house.

“He stayed for a few days to protect himself and see how that played out,” Aaron says. “And then in the middle of that time, the lockdown was announced and it just made sense for him to stay until Boris Johnson told us otherwise.”

Aaron and Reed have loved every minute they’ve spent together in coronavirus lockdown.

Going into lockdown with someone you’ve only been on a few dates with could easily be a disaster, but it has been a huge success for Aaron and Reed. Three weeks on, they’re officially a couple and are loving every minute they spend together.

“When you’re suddenly locked in a house with someone 24/7 it definitely accelerates the ‘getting to know you’ phase,” Aaron says. “Luckily we’ve not annoyed each other too much and haven’t run out of things to say yet.”

Reed echoes this sentiment. “We’d already had some really nice moments together, but suddenly being forced into lockdown certainly accelerated things. But in the strangest way, it’s been kind of nice to get to know somebody without any distractions.”

Adapting to the “new normal” wasn’t easy for either of them. Aaron is a “planner and a worrier” and usually tries to “schedule and fix everything”, so getting used to lockdown with a new boyfriend was a challenge.

“But there’s something about a global pandemic that makes you suddenly realise that sometimes you have to just go with the flow and let things happen as they happen,” he explains.

"In the strangest way, it’s been kind of nice to get to know somebody without any distractions."

Reed adds: “In a weird way, I’m really happy that this is the way we’ve started our relationship because we have really been able to get to know other with distractions. And it’ll make for an excellent dinner party story.”

The new couple have kept busy during lockdown and have spent plenty of time cooking and baking together. They’ve also started watching Schitt’s Creek from the start and have been going out for their government-sanctioned daily run together.

“We were going to learn a language and write a book, but then Disney+ launched and that all went out of the window,” Aaron jokes.

Both men say they have learned a lot about each other in three weeks of lockdown.

“I’ve learnt that Reed is incredibly thoughtful, and funny and looks frustratingly good in all of my clothes,” Aaron says. “And we’ve both learned that patience is king and that the new Dua Lipa album can get you through anything.”

Meanwhile, Reed says Aaron always “puts everybody else before himself”.

“This has been a really weird time for me as I had just moved to London and I felt really anxious in this pandemic, and he’s been really kind and supportive and calming.”

Reed has even cut his new boyfriend’s hair, showing just how much they trust each other.

Their relationship is going from strength to strength in lockdown. Yesterday, Reed met Aaron’s mum for the first time over FaceTime. Aaron also let Reed cut his hair – an experience that was admittedly a bit of a mixed bag.

“Reed cut my hair after I got stressed about what a mess I looked,” he explains. “He ended using my beard trimmer and some blunt kitchen scissors. On the first attempt he made me look like Kim Jong-un. Luckily the second attempt was a little better and now I’ve been able to take my baseball cap off on occasion. Absolutely no photographic evidence exists of the first results.”

They’ve also started to introduce each other to their friends, even if they can’t do so in person.

“We’re having to do them in Zoom parties rather than the traditional way,” Aaron says.

While it’s hard to predict the future right now, the couple are looking forward to being able to go out and do things together when the pandemic eases off.

“He makes an excellent brew, gets on really well with my housemate and turns out he can bake too,” Aaron says of his new boyfriend. “I’m looking forward to being able to take him on dates that aren’t in the living room.”