By Jennifer Smith
A Tinder couple who spent three years exchanging messages and putting off meeting finally came face to face on live television.
Josh Avsec, 22, and Michelle Arendas, 21, are both students at Kent State University in Ohio.
They started speaking on Tinder in 2014 and their communication became a long-running joke as they exchanged messages once every few months for three years, without ever meeting.
That was until Josh shared their story on Twitter earlier this month, according to the Daily Mail.
His post went viral and caught the eye of Tinder staff who offered to set them up with a trip to a city of their choice in order for them to have their long overdue first date.
Nothing like coming back from vacation and hanging with my @GMA family! Congrats to the Tinder couple. Hope you enjoy your vacation in Maui! pic.twitter.com/74HPVr9j9s
— Michael Strahan (@michaelstrahan) July 25, 2017
But before jetting off to Hawaii, their chosen location, the pair appeared on Good Morning America to finally meet for the first time.
For several minutes, the pair answered questions about themselves on either side of a partition wall.
Hosts Michael Strahan and Lara Spencer seemed just as excited about the meeting, firing off a series of questions at the duo.
Eventually, it was time to meet.
Josh, who dressed up for the occasion in a shirt, jacket and pants, wasted no time and wrapped his arms around Michelle as soon as he laid eyes on her.
"It is so good to finally meet you Michelle," he said bashfully, adding: "I'm blushing like crazy!"
They were promptly whisked off for their first date - a week in Maui courtesy of Tinder.
Their modern love story went viral earlier this month after Josh shared screenshots of their humorous exchange.
Hahahaha one day I'm going to meet this girl and it's going to be epic. Look at the dates of our tinder texts. pic.twitter.com/DASQK4c5cX
— Josh Avsec (@Wes_03) July 8, 2017
It began in September 2014, with Josh making the first move.
"Hey Michelle," he wrote coolly.
Like a seasoned dater, she made him wait - a whole two months - and finally replied on November 28 with: "Sorry, my phone died!"
Her cheeky response set the tone for the next three years. Every few months, one replied to the other with a hilariously pathetic excuse for the time lapse.
In January 2015, another two months after Michelle's response, Josh quipped: "Sorry, was in the shower."
Later that year, Michelle waited until December to respond to Josh's May message.
"Hi, I really do apologize for just now getting back to you. I've had a really busy week," she kidded.
The next came the following October, then the February after that, until Josh replied on July 7 this year.
The internet was won over by their banter. Twitter users responded with pleas of "please get married!" and "can I be third wheel?"
Michelle told Good Morning America she let the joke carry on for so long out of stubbornness.
"I'm stubborn and I wasn't going to be the one to ruin a good joke like that. I'm stubborn and I'm committed to my sense of humour, that was definitely it for me.
"I didn't want to be the one to break the joke."