The moment I knew: It felt like the end of the world – then he smiled at me on the dancefloor

Comedian Tom Ballard, right, and Harley Mann at Lake Louise in the Rocky Mountains, Canada, last year Photograph: Supplied

I met Harley at the Adelaide Fringe festival in 2020. We were sharing a venue in the Garden of Unearthly Delights; I was doing my standup show, he was performing in a group circus show. I was all set to move to the UK later that year to become a West End star (or something), so I wasn’t looking for a relationship.

One night I sat in on the circus show and, when I saw Harley in action, I was smitten. About halfway in, he performed this stunning rope routine, and there was something fundamentally sexy about him rolling around in the air, shirtless and sweaty, coiling and unfurling that rope around him. Obviously, I thought it was really cool art etc, but also, you know – hot.