A once in a lifetime opportunity was given to two ladies to meet the man of their dreams. Simply by entering a contest, which was put on by the dating app Thursday and the website HomeExchange, both winners reenacted the popular film The Holiday in real life. Read on to learn more about the contest and the two lucky ladies who swapped homes in hopes of finding love.
^ A screenshot of the dating app Thursday
About the Contest
The idea of The Holiday contest came from Thursday’s CEO and co-founder George Rawlings who had a “lightbulb moment” after he spent a weekend watching the Nancy Meyers rom-com film. To start, he posted on LinkedIn and Instagram (see below) “proposing a partnership with HomeExchange to recreate the beloved movie,” as stated in a press release sent to Hoboken Girl. Then, HomeExchange “immediately jumped on board with the idea and the two brands got to planning.”
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The concept was simply to send one New Yorker to London and one Londoner to New York in search of love, just like the movie. One New Yorker sought out to follow Amanda’s (Cameron Diaz’s) footsteps and one Londoner sought out to follow in Iris’ (Kate Winslet’s) footsteps.
So, how did the winners get chosen? Thursday users — singles who use the app to match, chat and meet on Thursday — and singles across the two cities signed up for HomeExchange for free through a dedicated link that automatically put them into the “Thursday Club.” The two winners were then chosen from the “Thursday Club” on HomeExchange.
The prize included roundtrip flights between NYC and London, a HomeExchange membership, and accommodations in the form of home swaps.
Meet the Winners
The winners were Lizzie Frainier, 28, from London, and Camille Wyand, 25, from New York City. Lizzie is an editor and travel writer for The Telegraph (just like Iris is a society columnist for the same newspaper), while Camille is a strategy consultant.
^ Winner Lizzie Frainier from London
(Photo Credit: @lizziefrainier)
A spokesperson for HomeExchange tells Hoboken Girl, “True to the movie, the girls, who began chatting on HomeExchange soon after the contest was announced, formed a quick virtual friendship. They planned their trips quickly and even got to meet up in London during a brief overlap to swap keys and give each other the lowdown on one another’s city.”
The two girls swapped homes the week of December 13th. In each of their new cities, both girls went on multiple dates that were coordinated by the dating app. Hoboken Girl learned that Camille went on a few dates with a male named Paddy and one special date, in particular, was a meetup at the exact pub where The Holiday was filmed. They ended up recreating the iconic pub scene.
As for Lizzie, she matched with a fellow named Evans and wrote in a text message to a friend, “Classic me don’t fancy anyone in London in literal years. Go to NYC and the second person I meet I end up really liking.”
^ Winner Camille Wyand from New York City
(Photo credit: @camillewyand)
While both girls are still in transit back home, we were told they had “the best time.” Lizzie found her Miles (played by Jack Black) and Camille found her Graham (played by Jude Law). See a TikTok video here that sums up their experience! Only time will tell what will happen as the ladies’ love journey continues across the world.
What’s Next
At the moment, there isn’t a future contest planned. The spokesperson from HomeExchange says, “This experience has been so fun, so who knows what will come next! This time of year people who may not have known about the home swapping concept are often introduced to it through The Holiday and we are excited to continue showing people that they too can live out their own version of this beloved movie.”
^ A screenshot of the HomeExchange app
HomeExchange’s mission is “to bring authentic, sustainable and affordable travel to travelers across the world. Made up of a community of warm, welcoming hosts and passionate home exchangers, HomeExchange is all about authenticity and trust – creating unbreakable bonds.” HomeExchange, known for being the global leader in home exchange vacations, is available in over 159 countries. Its annual membership fee is $150.
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As for Thursday, the app’s mission is to put an end to dating app fatigue. “Anyone who has been in the dating scene in recent years knows the old song and dance of messaging for days with no real meet-up in sight. Thursday is solving this problem by encouraging people to meet up on the same day they begin chatting,” a spokesperson tells us.
For more information on HomeExchange, check out the website found here. And for more information on Thursday, click here.
