The man who won a Trade Me auction to attend Ed Sheeran's Auckland concert as part of a blind date is a 35-year-old father of one.
Nicki Morrison, 46, made headlines this week after offering to sell a ticket to next Sunday's concert to someone keen to tag along as her date.
The Omaha Beach woman, who has been single for 12 years, accepted a friend's challenge to turn an outing to see Sheeran into a chance to find true love.
After 17 bids and 33,722 views, the ticket/date sold last night for $205.
Karl Willetts, a North Shore man who works in putting up edge protection on building sites and has a 6-year-old daughter, was the winner.
A fan of Sheeran, he'd planned to buy two tickets to the concert and find a date to go with.
Now he didn't need to do that, Willetts said.
He admitted to a few nerves.
"But no more nervous than I would be if I'd had to find some other random person to go with."
Willetts didn't want to share a photo with the Herald, but said he had sent one to Morrison.
The pair had also exchanged a couple of emails and planned to meet in the hours before the concert, he said.
Morrison said this week she hoped the winner of the auction was "someone who was actually just really nice" and "genuine".
Willetts said he didn't think of the outing as a date, but then he never did the first time he spent time with someone new.
"I've met some people over the years and if it didn't progress to anything then it's ok ... whatever happens happens."