An Ocean Apart: How Two Strangers Fell in Love Through Live Streams on LiveMe

Broadcasters Michelle and Andy met on LiveMe.

When Michelle (MichelleOsorio👸) and Andy (SM ⚡ SparkleFlash👸) met on LiveMe, they were both single. Despite a 5,000-mile distance, the pair had a connection they couldn’t deny, and after months of just being friends, Michelle and Andy decided to make their relationship official. Now, over a year later, they’re happily engaged and planning the next step in their lives: a dream wedding.

In our inaugural LiveMe Spotlight interview, Michelle and Andy talk their love story, how LiveMe helped them develop a real, honest relationship, and their plans to live stream their upcoming nuptials.

Their Lives Before LiveMe

It’s hard to believe Michelle, a singer and filmmaker, was never not in the spotlight. A California native, she is a self-described “tech geek” and worked in video production for a tech startup for the first few years of her career. In her spare time, she started a YouTube channel where she posted software tutorials. Though she had attended a musical theater academy, Michelle didn’t have the confidence to appear on camera and chose instead to stay behind the scenes. It wasn’t until Michelle started broadcasting on LiveMe that she felt confident enough to share her musical and other artistic talents with the rest of the world.

Andy, who has a background in law enforcement, lives in England. He remembers being a quiet kid and getting bullied often. As a result, he grew up self-conscious, and it wasn’t until he started martial arts as an adult — and later on, LiveMe — that Andy discovered an outlet where he could rebuild his confidence.

How They Met

A mutual friend and fellow broadcaster invited Michelle and Andy to sing in a charity live stream. After discovering Michelle’s channel, Andy followed her, watched one of her live streams, and was immediately impressed and intrigued.

“She was lying on her bed just belting out these songs and she had like the biggest brown eyes. I was just like, ‘Wow’ straight away,” Andy told Elite Daily.

During the same broadcast, Michelle jokingly pretended to be sad and encouraged her fans to send her funny things to cheer her up. Andy sent a virtual wedding gift.

Andy sends Michelle a virtual “wedding gift” during one of her broadcasts.

That was the moment when Michelle and Andy started watching each other’s broadcasts and talking to each other on a daily basis.

“I was so comfortable. It was like we knew each other before we met,” Andy says.

Despite their mutual attraction, however, neither Andy or Michelle was interested in rushing into a new relationship. Michelle’s New Year’s resolution was to stay single and “focus on her craft” while Andy wasn’t looking to date anyone either.

Making it “Official”

A few months into their friendship, Michelle traveled to Europe to meet up with some fellow LiveMe broadcasters and other friends. While she was there, she met up with Andy and the pair recorded a broadcast together. A fan even commented “couple goals.” But both Michelle and Andy were still reluctant to pursue a romantic relationship. In fact, when Michelle returned home, they both started dating other people. But Andy still couldn’t shake the feelings he had for Michelle. In December, he decided to take “the leap of faith” and tell Michelle how he felt.

“I just kind of said, ‘I feel a lot for you and I’d be willing to move to America to make it work for the future.”

Michelle, though taken by surprise, but impressed by his seriousness. Within a few weeks, the couple was saying “I love you” to each other over Skype.

The Proposal

A few months into dating, Andy traveled to California to the West Coast to visit Michelle. The two visited Disneyland, one of Michelle’s favorite places. What she didn’t know, however, was that Andy planned on proposing, exactly one year to the day they met on LiveMe.

As the two posed for pictures in front of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle, Andy got down on one knee and popped the question. Michelle, who started crying with joy immediately, said yes.

Andy proposes to Michelle in front of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle at Disneyland.

The Wedding

While the couple is still undecided on a few details, they plan on getting married in May, having the wedding in England or California, and live streaming the entire thing if possible.

“I think we would probably assign somebody to be the wedding videographer basically but a separate person to just be doing the live streaming and reading the chat and like [being] interactive because people could say, ‘Oh, I want to see the cake,’ and the person could go show them the thing that they want to see,” Michelle says.

Andy and Michelle celebrate their engagement at Disneyland.

Why LiveMe?

Both Andy and Michelle believe that LiveMe gave them a platform where they could truly be themselves and form an authentic relationship.

“I could just listen to him while I was working, while I was driving… Even if I wasn’t chatting, I felt like he was around,” Michelle says about getting to know Andy on LiveMe. “You get to know someone better by seeing how they interact with other people. You learn a lot from someone’s live stream.”

Andy agrees, adding that he was able to see the “real Michelle” through LiveMe. The pair credit both LiveMe and Skype for helping them bridge the gap in their long-distance relationship.

For Michelle, who is a part of the Broadcaster Developer Program and has over 130,000 fans on the platform, LiveMe is also an important platform for showcasing her songs, directorial skills, and other artistic talents. A full-time “digital nomad,” she started Dare to Dreamer, a music channel featuring Disney-inspired songs and music videos and Dare to Dreamer School, where she teaches others how to grow an online presence.

Have a favorite LiveMe broadcaster you’d like to see featured in LiveMe Spotlight? Comment below or tweet us @streamliveme.