Celebrity

Man Fakes Own Death to Get Out of Marrying Long-Distance Girlfriend

This takes "it's not you, it's me" to a whole 'nother level

Published on August 20, 2014 11:55 AM

This takes “it’s not you, it’s me” to a whole ‘nother level: Rather than break up with his girlfriend of two years, a Connecticut man decided it would be easier to fake his own death.

Tucker Blandford had gotten engaged to girlfriend Alex Lanchester last year, shortly before she moved back to her native Britain. The pair had met as students at the University of Connecticut, where Lanchester was studying abroad.

In the year since Blandford’s proposal, Lanchester spent thousands of pounds planning the wedding and paying for his plane ticket to England for the ceremony.

All the while, Blandford was secretly overwhelmed by his impending nuptials and the stress of the long-distance relationship. Rather than break things off, he did the next obvious thing: Concoct an elaborate plot to make Lanchester think he had died.

His plan was almost foolproof. Pretending to be his own father, Blandford called Lanchester and told her that her boyfriend had jumped in front of a car and would be unable to marry her … because he was dead.

Unfortunately, Blandford had neglected to include his parents in on the scheme; when Lanchester called back to offer her condolences, they spilled the truth – her beloved was alive and well, in Connecticut.

Just as bad: Their son hadn’t even told them he was engaged in the first place.

In a way, though, the plan worked just as Blandford intended. His girlfriend broke up with him after learning the truth.

“All I ever did was love him,” the former bride-to-be told The Mirror. “After this I’m not sure I can trust a man ever again.”

As for her wedding date, Aug. 15, Lanchester spent it on vacation in the States.

“I’m going to be making my own memories,” she told the paper. “Without him.”