I was on Too Hot To Handle & now I’ve married a prisoner with face tattoos -trolls say I’m desperate, but it’s real love
A REALITY star has revealed that she has married a US prisoner, with a seven-year sentence.
Laura Gehrke, 27, appeared on Germany‘s version of the Netflix show Too Hot To Handle, but has now found love with a man behind bars.
The real estate agent said that before she met prisoner Joshua, she had lots of money, and was always travelling the world, but was never “satisfied”.
“That was because I needed love, and since I found him I realised that’s what I was missing”, she told Love Don’t Judge.
Laura met Joshua on a website called Write A Prisoner, which she discovered through TikTok.
She was supposed to be flying home to see her family for Christmas, but had her plans cancelled last minute, so took to the website to help with her loneliness.
“I was feeling so sad that I couldn’t spend time with my family, and I could just imagine how people in prison would feel without their families.”
Laura had initially just wanted to say Merry Christmas to a prisoner, but thinks turned out a little differently.
When Laura happened upon Joshua’s profile, she was impressed by the fact it said he write poetry.
She asked him to send her his poems and was very impressed by how emotionally intelligent his work.
The pair then started having phone calls every day, with some of their calls lasting as long as 11 hours.
They soon fell in love, and Joshua now often writes Laura love poetry.
Joshua said that he was blown away the first time he saw a picture of Laura, and couldn’t believe that someone so beautiful was interested in him.
Laura’s friends shared their concern about the relationship, but Laura insisted that her man has changed since committing his crime.
“He was so young and was influenced by so much and had the wrong role models, so he was never really able to make the right decisions”, she said.
Soon after they started chatting, Laura travelled to a completely different continent to meet her man, and was so happy when they got on like a house on fire in the visiting room.
UK Prison Brides
- Tracey Bottomley married double murderer Ernest Otto Smith in the US after meeting through a prison pen pal initiative. Tracey, from West Yorks, knew he had been given a life sentence with no possibility of parole
- Rebecca Short, from Oxfordshire, told her family she was on holiday in the US in 2022. Little did they know she was marrying double murderer Manuel Ovate Jr, who was on death row
- Paula Williamson, an actress who appeared on Hollyoaks and Emmerdale, married the infamous Charles Bronson in 2017 after they became penpals
- Karen Charves married Kenny Richey while he was on death row in 2014. He had been convicted for starting a fire in 1986 that killed his ex-girlfriend’s daughter, aged two. Karen and Kenny’s union did not last and she claimed he was abusive.
- Naomi Wise, from Essex, married Victor Oquendo, nicknamed Animal, while he was serving a 24-year prison term in a US jail. They split up in 2022 but have now rekindled their romance
The duo recently got married in prison, but Joshua still has three years of his sentence left.
“After six weeks he proposed to me because we realised that we had to be together and spent our lives together”, she said.
Laura said that she misses her husband all the time, but has a doll with his face on it, that she cuddles whilst they are on the phone.
She added that although she finds it strange that she married Joshua before having sex with him, the couple have a very emotionally intimate connection.
Laura decided to share details of her unconventional relationship online, and many of her videos have gone viral.
However, she has been hit by a barrage of hate comments from trolls.
People have called Laura “desperate” and said she is living in a “fantasy world”, but she doesn’t let the negativity get to her.
“All those people that are hating on us or judging us, I hope that you will find real love at some point.”