I flew to Italy for a first date with a girl I met on TikTok - my mother thought I was being catfished but it was the best decision of my life
When Jessica Smith, 29, posted about the Italian version of Big Brother, the long-running UK series, on her TikTok account, she had no idea it would lead to her meeting her now-girlfriend, India, 24.
They struck up a conversation about the show online and spent a week FaceTiming before Jessica decided to fly to Milan to meet India - despite her mother being 'worried sick' she was being targeted by catfishers.
However, the coffee shop manager said she and India 'clicked straight away' when they met on May 15 and proceeded to spend the next four days together - visiting sushi restaurants, vintage markets, museums, and cocktail bars.
They even went to a rave and took a two-hour road trip to a stunning lake for a picnic.
By the end of the trip, they knew it was something special and decided to keep dating long-distance. Two months later, India - who is from Verbania but lives in Milan, flew to Manchester - where Jessica asked her to be her girlfriend.
'I think there's always a risk in flying elsewhere to meet someone, but there's a risk of meeting a stranger anywhere,' Jessica reflected on her decision to fly to Italy for a date.
'I would say don't do it unless you've FaceTimed, et cetera. Obviously, we've all seen the show Catfish,' she continued. 'The trip did lead to something more, and I am so grateful. She is now my girlfriend.'
Explaining how their paths crossed, 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.'
While the trip to Italy initially came up as a joke, Jessica decided to take the plunge and book her tickets one month after they first spoke.
'Some of my friends thought I was mad to go for that long when we were meeting for the first time,' she recalled how those close to her reacted.
Jessica's mother, she added, was terrified when she found out her daughter was staying at a stranger's house abroad.
'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,' Jessica continued.'I had to FaceTime her when I arrived to show her it wasn't a 60-year-old man.'
She added that her friends were all 'happy for me' and had even spoken to India over FaceTime before the trip, 'but some did think the length of time was crazy'.
Their fears turned out to be unfounded because not only was India who she claimed to be, their first date felt easy and natural because 'we FaceTimed so much beforehand'.
Jessica knew the trip was 'so worth it' after their first night together, as she said: 'That spark was there the moment we met in person. It was just incredible.'
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.
'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.'
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Still, even as trends and styles shift and previously taboo toppings become de rigueur, Di Porzio and the AVPN believe it's important to maintain traditional cooking methods too. "I always say, pizza napoletana is not necessarily the best, but the pizza that has its strongest roots in the culture," says Di Porzio. "So it's a skill that we need to teach and preserve." -- For more Travel stories from the BBC, follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
