Maha and Muhammad: how love persevered in lockdown

26-year old Maha Kayrouz from Sutton Coldfield met her 31-year old boyfriend Muhammad Chilwan during lockdown.

They met online through a Muslim dating website, with Maha saying Muhammed was "the perfect match".

Then the first lockdown happened, and the couple had to get to know each other more virtually instead of in-person.

The couple finally got to meet in person for the first time on a date in London in June. They organised a boat ride, and had a takeaway in the park, as restaurants were still not open.

More dates followed and their relationship developed, only for the country to go back into lockdown again. They last saw each other in December 2020 and say they can't wait to meet up again.

Both Maha and Muhammed said the second lockdown was "really hard", and they reverted back to catching up online throughout it all.

Muhammed says meeting Maha was the "best thing to happen to him in 2020". They're now eagerly awaiting details of the government's road map out of the latest lockdown before they meet again.