Carnoustie dad to marry love of his life who flew over from Australia for first date

A Carnoustie dad will marry the love of his life after a whirlwind romance which saw his now-fiancée fly over from Australia for their first date.

Ian Mostyn, 50, and Denise Peddell, 48, met on a spiritualist Facebook group two years ago and have only spent a handful of days together since.

Denise flew to Scotland just five weeks after their first video call for a holiday with Ian, and the couple were engaged during her visit.

Since then, Denise, who lives in Nambour, Queensland, has visited twice more, with Ian also travelling to Australia to meet her family in February last year.

The pair have not seen each other since November 2023 but keep in touch over video calls.

They refuse to hang up – even when they’re sleeping.

‘We have video calls that we never hang up from’

Ian, who works at Pets at Home in Dundee, says they are “watching over each other” at all times of day.

When he cannot be on the phone, he leaves Denise in the company of his pet cockatiel Boop or rabbits Ben and Jess.

He contacted The Courier after reading about a Dundee woman who flew to Venice for a first date following a TikTok romance.

He said: “We met on a Facebook group that she was an admin on and she had tagged me in a post.

“I used it as an excuse to message her and we started chatting that way.

“Then five weeks later she flew to Scotland.

“We were on the RSS Discovery and I got down on one knee and asked her to marry me.

“We were just right, we fell into each other, we trusted each other, it was right.

“We have video calls that we never hang up from, when I go to sleep she is online and we are watching over each other.

“It is unconventional, people didn’t believe me at first and thought I was making it up.

“Once we get the marriage certificate she will apply to live here as I have a 12-year-old daughter, Charlie, and I wouldn’t be able to leave.

“Customers at work at Pets at Home are always asking about how we are doing, they all love hearing about it!”

Ian and Denise will get married in Nambour with the ceremony a mix of Scottish and Australian traditions.

Denise then expects to be able to move to Carnoustie next year, as her visa application could take up to three months.

Ian said: “I am so excited, we both are, we have been counting down.

“I am taking some thistles over with me.

“It will be small – around 11 people – and my best man, Hayden Schwarze, is someone I met while playing video games online, he is from Australia but has bought himself a kilt.

“It is serendipitous that he lives just a couple of hours away from Denise and we arranged to meet on my first visit to Australia.”