Meet the gamers who fell in love after meeting on Fortnite - despite living in different countries 1,000 miles apart.

Carla Valle Cazorla, 22, from Terrassa, Catalonia, Spain, met Niels van de Kolk, 22, from Amsterdam, Netherlands, in 2019 when she was playing Fortnite on her computer.

After joining a randomly-selected group, Carla and Niels started speaking to each other in English on the game through their microphones.

They hit it off - bonding over the game - and decided to play another game together.

The pair soon formed a solid friendship, swapping numbers, and would chat on the phone every day.

Carla and Niels eventually decided to meet for the first time in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in February 2020, just before the pandemic.

They met as friends because Carla was in a relationship.

Lockdowns kept the pals apart, but they stayed in touch online and met up three more times when restrictions were lifted.

Carla broke up with her partner in June 2021 and she and Niels remained "close friends" - even having "what if" conversations about getting together, before deciding they wouldn't be able to cope with the long distance."

But in December 2021, Carla travelled to Amsterdam to stay with Niels and his family and they "couldn't suppress their feelings any longer" and made their relationship official. "

Niels will complete his next university semester as part of the Erasmus programme in

Girona, Catalonia, Spain - close to Carla - and she plans to move with him to the Netherlands once she has gained her degree.

Carla, a dentistry student, said: "We were such good friends before and we didn't rush into things."

"I believe if it's meant to be it will be - I feel so safe around him and I can trust him with my life."

Niels, an applied psychology student, said: "It came out of the blue. We met through Fortnite and became friends instantly. "

"From that point on, it kept evolving."

Speaking on their first encounter, Carla said: "We were playing with random people and I asked if anyone had a mic."

"Niels joined and said he had a mic - so we started playing and chatting. "

"He asked if I wanted another game and we added each other."

The pair then added each other on Snapchat - just to ask if the other was playing the game.



In June 2019, they exchanged numbers and started talking more on WhatsApp and had long calls on Discord - a video game streaming platform.

When she was 19, Carla travelled to meet Niels for the first time with her mum, Silvia, 50, in tow.

She said: "I went to Amsterdam with my mum as she didn't want me to travel alone."

"We stayed for three days and I spent one day with Niels."

"At least three random people asked if were a couple - I had just gotten into a relationship that same month."

"We were totally friendly with each other."

In 2021, lockdown restrictions had finally lifted and they arranged to see each other again.

Niels travelled to Barcelona in August 2021 and spent five days with Carla - travelling into the city via train.

She said: "It always felt as if we had known each other forever. "

"There was no awkwardness."

Niels added: "The second time there was more tension and it was always in the back of my mind but I didn't want to do long distance and hurt her or myself."

Niels went back to the Netherlands but saw Carla again in December 2021 when he was visiting friends.

She said: "It was awesome but that's when I felt confused."

"I thought: 'Oh, he's coming back for me or does he do this for other friends?'"

"We spent three days together and had lots of fun."

In August 2022, the duo holidayed in Lloret de Mar, Catalonia, Spain.

"We had so much fun in the sun, the beaches were beautiful and we enjoyed each other's company," Carla said. "

"We celebrated my sister's birthday at my place and my family always joked that Niels looked at me in a certain way. "

"We both knew there was something there but we didn't want to say anything."

In October 2022, the pair met up again in Barcelona when Niels was visiting mates.

"I thought: 'OK, this time we won't see each other much' - as I didn't want to bother him with his friends," Carla said. "

"He included me in everything and when he asked me to come to dinner, I jumped in the shower for five minutes and ran onto the train to Barcelona."

Carla explained they both were "confused" as they had developed feelings but didn't want to ruin their friendship or enter into a long distance relationship."

"One night on Discord we had a call discussing what if it was something else, we made a pros and cons list," Carla said. "

"We decided we would be really good together but the distance was stopping us."

Carla went back to Amsterdam to visit Niels in December 2022.

"We were on the train on the way back to Utrecht and there was an amazing worker who was friendly and talking to everyone," she said. "

"He came to us and asked us something in Dutch - Niels replied to him to say I didn't speak Dutch. "

"He had asked if we were a couple and Niels said 'it's not official yet'. "

"I froze - I looked at him and didn't say anything."

The rest of the day Carla teased Niels about 'not being official' and she would pull away if he tried to hold her hand or flirt with her.

She said: "We went for lunch and he tried to hold my hand."

"I pulled away and joked: 'We're not official yet.'"

"Niels said: 'OK, do you want to make it official?'"

"I told him I wanted the question so he said: 'Carla Valle Cazorla, do you want to be my girlfriend?'"

The pair finally were officially dating after three years of friendship and Niels spent Christmas with Carla's family in Spain - despite not speaking a word of the language, so Carla took on the role as interpreter.

She said: "Everything is easier when he is around. "

"He has a good heart and there's no malice in him."

"I think if it's meant to be it will be, just don't worry about it or rush into things."

Niels added: "Sometimes you don't know what's right in front of you."

"I realised she's the best for me, and I'm the best for her."

"I tell her she's my favourite coincidence."