A woman who sat outside her ex's flat on Bumble until she matched him has revealed the pair are now set to get married.
Sarah Young, 24, from Texas, US was determined to get back with her ex when she changed her Bumble settings to "matches within one mile" as she swiped for 45 minutes until she found her former boyfriend, Nathan Lopez, 26.
The unusual approach paid off for Sarah as Nathan, a software salesperson, popped the question in April 2022 while in a garden in downtown Austin.
However, Nathan revealed he thought the pair matching was 'fate' but only found out four months later from his girlfriend it was actually planned.
He said: "My reaction was 'wow, this is fate'. I was happy - we took out time to grow and it is time to try this again and now we're engaged."
Sarah, who also works in software sales, said: "Having the time apart is the best thing that could have happened - we were able to grow as people and focus on what we want out of life and I guess that was each other
"After being invited around to spend some time as friends, I drove an hour and parked outside his apartment.
"I put my Bumble mileage on one and was swiping for 45 minutes until I found him and then waited until we matched.
"I said it was fate and now we've been together for four years and our wedding is in July 2023."
Nathan added: "I feel like we're different people we have grown so much - as individuals but together.
"I am the happiest guy in the world to be able to have that chance to grow and come back together as stronger individuals and a stronger couple - I'm glad it worked out the way it did."
Sarah met Nathan while they were both studying at Stephen F Austin State University, Nacogdoches, Texas.
The pair hit it off after meeting in September 2018 - just six months before they were due to graduate.
They dated for six months - and then for a year long-distance with Sarah in Nacogdoches, Texas, US, studying at college and Nathan 231 miles away in Austin, Texas US - before they wanted to explore life separately.
A few months later, single Sarah was due to meet her ex as a friend when she browsed the dating app Bumble and found him.
She swiped right and the pair 'matched' before striking up the conversation again. Sarah texted him and said 'found you'.
After eight months, Sarah and Nathan rekindled their romance before he popped the question in April 2022 whilst in a garden in downtown Austin, Texas, US.
The lovebirds are due to tie the knot in July 2023 and say they believe getting back together was "fate" and they are "meant to be".
Sarah said: "When we finished college, we didn't know where we would end up or where we would both go.
"I got a job in retail in Austin the day before graduating, so I moved there. Nathan was already in Austin working in software sales.
"We had been dating for a year and a half at that point.
"But, once you're in the same city, after doing distance for so long, you have to take a step back and wonder 'what do I want?'.
"We decided that we loved each other so much but we had a lot of growing to do.
"It wasn't weird when we got back together. It felt surprisingly good, I expected there to be a lot more drama but I wasn't expecting it to be so easy when we got back together."
Nathan added: "It was a mutual agreement - we both felt like we wanted to grow as individuals but we didn't know where that road would lead us but now we're engaged and stronger people - were a stronger couple because of that.
Sarah said it was "hard" to make time to see each other as she would work weekends and lived in the north of Austin and Nathan would have weekends off work and lived in the south of Austin - 35 miles apart.
Sarah said their love for each other never went away, but they both needed to grow individually.
The couple broke up for four months and remained friends but both knew that they had dating apps and were open to meeting new people.
After ending the relationship, Sarah and Nathan continued messaging and would talk most days and Nathan invited her over one night "to chill".
Sarah said: "We wanted to grow as people, we were fully aware both of us had Bumble.
"After being invited around, I drove an hour and parked outside his apartment.
"I put my Bumble mileage on one and was swiping for 45 minutes until I found him and then waited until we matched.
"I said it was fate and now we've been together for four years and our wedding is in July 2023."
Sarah said that everything "worked out for the best" and that Nathan is "the most amazing person on this earth".
She said: "The way we met was fate in itself, I've always known he was the one for me.
"Nathan has been an absolute dream, he has taken it upon himself to be everything I need him to be.
"He originally wanted the wedding sooner, but we only got engaged in April 2022, I said we need more time to plan."
