Woman Says Her Family Are 'Thrilled' She's Marrying Her Stepbrother Even After Getting Backlash On Social Media
Keep the family close.
TikTok Matilda Eriksson, a 23-year-old woman from Finland, has gone viral for sharing her love story with none other than her own stepbrother.
Eriksson recently did an interview with Yahoo News Australia where she talked about how she met her husband and how their marriage came to be.
She met 27-year-old Samuli through her stepfather, and although their relationship was a bit awkward and rocky at first, the pair ended up getting married and had the full support of their family behind them.
That’s because their family was their parents, and Matilda and Samuli we step siblings.
Matilda went viral on TikTok after revealing she married her stepbrother.
Matilda posted a TikTok on October 29, 2022, that was captioned “True story, bro” with a pun intended for the fact that she married her stepbrother, Samuli.
In the video, text across the screen reads “meeting my new stepbrother” as Matilda reenacts the moment she met him — starting out with all smiles and then quickly turning pensive as she realized she might have felt an attraction toward him.
After the re-enactment, photos of their wedding ceremony appear in a montage and show a happy pairing of Matilda, Samuli, and even their parents as they wed.
Comments under the video were immediately skeptical, even jokey, like saying “sweet home Alabama” or comparing it to the TV show “Gossip Girl” which includes a similar storyline to Matilda’s.
However, the jokes left Matilda completely unfazed as she even joked alongside them.
She admitted to Yahoo that she had never thought about marriage before Samuli and that all of that changed, along with their 3-year friendship, when her stepbrother went in for a kiss in 2021.
"I responded right away with passion," she said. "It took us two weeks to start dating after that and he basically moved in with me right away. It felt good and natural immediately."
Soon after, the reality of the situation dawned on her and she grew concerned with what other people would think — unsure of how she even felt.
"I was confused and in love at the same time and honestly I really didn't know what to do. Thinking about the fact that he still is my step-brother and also I thought about other people's opinions," she said.
Fortunately, their parents were supportive from the beginning.
Matilda admits that she thinks her stepfather might’ve even wanted something like this to happen.
When they told their friends, they were skeptical at first.
Ultimately, her mother was able to steer her in the right direction and quell her thoughts.
"She told me to do whatever I felt was the most right in that moment, putting everything else aside and to follow my heart, and that led me to marry Samuli," Matilda explained. "We both have been in a few long relationships before but never felt like this with anyone."
After that, it was a matter of finding out whether or not the two could legally wed.
They found some untrue, outdated, and false information that downed their spirits, but then a friend of hers who studied law told them it wouldn’t be a problem for them to get married.
Although there’s no shortage of hate from people online, many others have actually jumped in to support the couple and defend them — explaining that they’re not blood-related, they’re full adults, and they don’t live with their parents.
Isaac Serna-Diez is an Assistant Editor who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics. Keep up with his rants about current events on his Twitter.