Tinder couple finally meet after 3 years of messages

Anyone who’s tried dating apps knows having messages answered hours or days after the fact, if not ignored altogether, is just part of the experience 

Now, two Tinder users who turned their tardy responses into a running joke have met for the first time... after three years of chatting.

Josh Avsec and Michelle Arendas came face to face on Good Morning America ahead of a trip to Hawaii, which was organised by Tinder after their hilariously drawn-out courtship went viral.

“This is a dream come true. I can’t believe I’m seeing her right now,” 22-year-old Avsec said.

The Kent State University students first matched on the dating app in September 2014, with Avsec sending the first message: “Hey Michelle”.

The response came two months later: “Hey sorry my phone died!” 

Rather than let the conversation fizzle out, Avsec enjoyed the humour and played along. 

They’d take months at a time to respond to one another, using increasingly banal excuses like “sorry, I was in the shower” and “midterms are coming up”.

"I was committed to my joke... I just loved that we had the same sense of humour," Arendas told Good Morning America.

You can guess what happened...

The duo say they’re looking forward to their Hawaiian holiday - and sussing out whether they’ve got any potential as a couple.

“We waited three years to send each other 10 messages so I think we need more than 30 minutes to be able to answer that question effectively,” 21-year-old Arendas admitted. 

Her Tinder beau - whose sister met her fiance on the app - is confident in his judge of character.

“I can at least tell if I’m not going to enjoy being around someone, and I haven’t gotten any of that vibe yet," he said.

It's hardly a match made in heaven, but it's definitely set the bar high for matches made on Tinder.