A Facebook group dedicated to images of fat cats has done more than spread joy this festive season - it's brought together two cat-lovers in what may be one of the most romantic stories of our time.
UK man Adam Lawrence and US woman Anna Hosey have a shared love of felines, but no one could have seen it culminating in Lawrence travelling over 6000km to meet Hosey after she called him "cute" in a photo.
The pair first began connecting in October through the popular Facebook group 'THIS CAT IS CHONKY', which boasts over 500,000 members. 'Chonky' is slang for 'chunky' or 'fat', in case you were confused.
Lawrence, a London-based graphic design graduate, posted some photos of himself with his very fluffy cat. Hosey, a hairstylist from Chicago, responded with the comment: "both v v cute".
It's hard to say whether she found the cat or man cuter, but it was the interaction that kicked it all off.
Hosey told Metro that Lawrence sent her a message, and the pair "immediately hit it off" over shared music tastes and interests.
They began bonding over phone calls and FaceTime, and earlier this month, Lawrence made the journey to meet Hosey and her fat cat, Kidden.
"We were wildly curious about what would happen if we saw one another in person," says Hosey.
"We both felt things had become romantic via phone and wanted to know if it would be the same.
"Meeting in real life was surreal. But also very natural, like we weren't strangers at all and there was no awkwardness involved. It was all so... simple."
The pair say they're now trying to figure out their romantic status, but Hosey plans to make the journey to see Lawrence next year.
They shared the story in the Facebook group that started it all, with Hosey writing in a post: "I really never thought I would meet a cute boy from commenting on one of his posts on This Cat is Chonky."
"But it totally happened, here we are after Adam travelled 4000 miles to the USA from London to meet Kidden and I."
