Monday 19 September 2022 12:53 PM Strangers who captured hearts of a nation with 'romance' in Queen queue BOTH ... trends now
As strangers who met in the queue to pay respect to the The Queen, Zoe George and Jack Ciuro's budding romance captured the hearts of the nation.
With the British public desperate for some heart-warming news during a period of mourning, a Channel 4 News video of the pair speaking about one another while standing in line for 14 hours on Friday night went viral over the weekend, and was watched more than 2 million times - with some suggesting it could be the plot to the latest Richard Curtis movie.
Now can reveal the pair DID meet up for a second date today to watch the State funeral together. However, Zoe, 33, and Jack, 23, revealed they were 'just friends' as they actually both have long-term partners.
But they insisted they had found 'mates for life'. Not only that, but Zoe, who's getting married next year, has even invited Jack to her wedding!
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline in Hyde Park as they watched Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth laid to rest on a big screen, Zoe, 33, said: 'I can't believe that the fun little video we did got so much attention - our phones haven't stopped buzzing with messages from people we know.
'Hopefully it made a few people smile at a difficult moment for the nation, even if I am sorry to tell people that there's not going to be any kind of long-term romance between us, let alone a new Richard Curtis plot.
'Jack is a great guy, we get on brilliantly, but we both have long-term partners - in fact, I am getting married next year. Not only that, but there's also a 10-year age gap between Jack and I!
Zoe George, 33, and Jack Ciuro, 23, have quashed claims that there was a budding romance brewing during their 14-hour wait in the Queen's lying-in-state queue - by exclusively revealing to MailOnline that they are both in long-term relationships
The pair (who went to watch the Queen's State Funeral in Hyde Park today, pictured) insisted they had found 'mates for life'. Not only that, but Zoe, who's getting married next year, has even invited Jack to her wedding
'But it's been fantastic to meet someone so lovely and who I got on so well with to share this historic few days.'
She added: 'Me and Jack will stay friends for life, I'm sure of it. Waiting in that queue for so long felt like a lifetime - and so it is lovely to feel we have made friends for life. I've already invited Jack to my wedding and I do hope he comes along.'
Explaining how they came to be filmed together in the first place, Jack said: 'When we saw the camera we suggested they film us because we'd met in the queue and got on so well that we thought it would make nice content.
'There was a cheeky suggestion made by the reporter that there might be romance between us, and we were happy to have some fun and go along with it - and then it just blew up and took on a life of its own, which was very amusing.
'It is nice to think we may have cheered people up during a period of mourning, but I am sorry for anyone who hoped that we might get together to say that it is purely platonic between us.'
So how did their partners feel about them being romantically linked so publicly? Zoe said of her fiancé, a fellow musical theatre performer whom she met
