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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Emmie Norton & Amy Walters & Danielle Kate Wroe

'I married Mexican stranger I met online at 16 and friends think he's using me for visa'

When you know, you know - and one British woman just knew her Mexican lover was the one for her when she began speaking to him online.

Holly Hernandez, 19, began speaking to her now husband when she was just 16 years old, but some trolls haven't been too kind about their partnership.

Holly and Diego Hernandez tied the knot earlier in 2022, and he is currently living in the UK on a fiancé visa.

Diego, who is originally from Mexico, first spoke to future wife in 2018 after he liked one of her videos online and sparked her interest.

The couple became exclusive soon after in February 2019, despite having only 'met' virtually.

The couple just knew it was love, despite the fact they met virtually first (Jam Press/Holly Hernández)

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But Holly's parents had their concerns - and the 16-year-old had to convince them that their love was the real deal.

A few months after the couple made things official, Holly and her dad flew over to Mexico together so she could meet her partner and his parents for the first time.

Holly said: "I was so nervous when I went to meet Diego for the first time. I actually ended up catching a stomach bug and getting hospital treatment in Mexico on the first day.

"After I was feeling better, Diego came to my Airbnb with his dad to make sure I wasn’t a 69-year-old man.

"He picked me up, gave me a huge hug and then handed me a little gift bag with some chocolates. Diego then took me to the fun fair on our first date, it was amazing."

Holly's mother, Marie Thompson, 43, did originally have worries over her teenage daughter talking to a stranger online.

The pair went to the fun fair on their first date and had a great time (Jam Press/Holly Hernández)

"As a mother of course I had concerns that my daughter was talking to a stranger online. However I 100% trusted Holly’s judgment and after FaceTiming Diego and his family for the first time, all of my worries and concern flew out of the window."

Holly said: "If my mum had said no to me and Diego, to something that has turned into my absolute future and my whole entire life, she would have potentially lost me as a daughter.

"So she would rather support me in whatever I choose to do and be there by my side in case it goes wrong than say no and lose me."

However, there have been many who haven't been supportive of her relationship, with some cruel trolls, and even her friends, taking issue with the marriage.

Holly said: "When I first told my friends at school, they were absolutely not on board.

"They made fun of me, they were telling me lots of bad things were going to happen to me, they were not supportive in the slightest and kind of took it as a joke.

"They saw it as something that wasn’t going to last, as something that I am absolutely weird for pursuing."

Some trolls have been cruel... (Jam Press Vid/Holly Hernández)
...but some TikTok and Instagram users have been really supportive! (Jam Press Vid/Holly Hernández)

But the couple's love has stood the test of time.

After meeting in Mexico, Diego flew to the UK for the first time in December 2019 and popped the question on Christmas morning.

Although Holly's mum was "a little surprised" at the engagement, she was "very excited" for the pair.

Holly said: "A lot of people expected my parents to be mad about the engagement but they were actually really on board with it.

"Diego asked for my mum's permission on Christmas Day and of course she said yes, she even filmed it.

"It was funny when I got engaged because even people I used to be friends with at school were messaging me.

"They were all congratulating us and wanting to be our friends again.

"In my eyes you forgive but you don’t forget, and you keep people at arm's length who have been like that."

The pair are really happy together (Jam Press/Holly Hernández)

When the couple were engaged they decided to move in together, but issues began to arise.

Diego was meant to visit for six months in April 2020 but the pandemic stopped the plans in their tracks.

He finally made it to the UK in July 2020 and stayed with Holly and her mum at their home in Leicester.

Marie said: "I didn’t have any strict rules for the pair when Diego stayed with us apart from the basic house rules such as picking up after yourself!

"I did allow them to sleep in the same bed together as at that point they were old enough to make their own decisions and I trusted that they would be safe."

After realising they loved living together, the couple took the next step and applied for a fiancé visa so Diego could live in the UK.

The couple document their relationship to help others (Jam Press Vid/Holly Hernández)
Holly and her mum on her wedding day (Jam Press/Holly Hernández)

Holly said: "Because we knew we were going to be getting married, we decided to apply for a fiancé visa so Diego could stay with me.

"We applied for the visa in September 2021 as I was finally earning the required amount of money with my job in the NHS.

"We had an excruciating wait to see if it got accepted or not, but in January 2022, it finally got accepted.

"People are very racist online, especially about Diego, they say that he is illegal and they make comments about him just being with me for the visa.

"They are very hurtful and at the beginning I found the hate comments very difficult to deal with."

According to Gov.UK, if someone with a fiancé visa gets married within the first six months of being in the UK, they’re eligible to extend their residency by two and a half years.

In June 2022, the pair decided to tie the knot in a "magical" ceremony and the pair are very happy together.

Despite the negativity, the pair have become internet sensations with 134,000 followers in total across Instagram and TikTok.

Diego has since been able to apply for a spouse visa, which will allow him the right to work in the UK for the foreseeable future.

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