A singleton’s family getaway to Greece blossomed into a real-life Mamma Mia romance when she was swept off her feet by a charming Greek waiter who served shots directly into her mouth in true holiday style. Beth Winstone jetted off to Zakynthos, Greece, in August 2023 with her mum and gran, making their annual pilgrimage to a beloved traditional restaurant.
Fresh from a ‘bad’ breakup, 23-year-old Beth wasn’t on the hunt for love, but fate had other plans when she crossed paths with Gabriel Alia, a 25-year-old waiter working at his uncle’s eatery. On their third evening, Gabriel whisked Beth away for a drink, sparking an instant connection. The pair spent every day together until Beth’s departure back to the UK, but the separation lasted just two weeks before she flew back to reunite with him.
Soon after, Gabriel and Beth officially became a couple, and they’ve been inseparable ever since.
Birmingham-based Beth is smitten, declaring she’s found genuine love and announcing that Greek men are a different breed compared to British lads. Gabriel’s dance moves and support helped coax her out of her post-breakup shell, reported the Mirror.
The content creator reminisced: “In August 2023 my grandad died and my gran had already booked to go to Zante and I booked at the last minute, a month before we were meant to go. We went back to [a] restaurant [that the family liked to visit] and that’s when we met.
“I was previously in a relationship, it ended and it mentally destroyed me, it was really bad. I had absolutely no expectations in my head, I didn’t want to speak to anyone ever again and then that happened.
“When we were in the restaurant, I was just sat there oblivious because I wasn’t looking for anything. He kept trying to speak to me and asked if I ever smiled because apparently I had a moody face.
“It just went from there, he took me out on the third night of the holiday for a drink. After that, we’d see each other every day of the holiday, in the night after he finished work. When I got back home, two weeks later I flew back out on my own for five days, because he was still working.
“I came home and two days later at 2am in the morning I bought tickets for a flight from Manchester to Zante at 6am. I surprised him, he didn’t know I was going. The first time I went back after two weeks he asked me to be his girlfriend, but I was still a bit unsure because of the long distance. But I said yes, obviously.”
She added: “It’s the way he was with me, he’d made me laugh and stuff and take me out, not what most men do nowadays. He wanted to get to know me and meet my family and stuff, they loved him. It was meant to be.
“Greek men are different from English men, let me tell you that. I definitely had a Mamma Mia story, that’s what all my friends said. The relationship is getting better and better, we haven’t been apart a day since we met. He is the love of my life.”
After a period of splitting their time between Zakynthos and Birmingham, Beth and Gabriel have settled in the UK, with Gabriel joining her father’s scaffolding firm.
Beth recounted: “I went back to Greece in October with my mum and nan, I quit my job as a waitress and then moved there for a whole week.
“Once summer season finished in Greece he flew back to England with me to meet my dad. We moved back to Greece in November, we got a house in Zante, and then after Christmas we decided to move back to the UK because it was really hard for me to find a job there in the winter.
“We tried both and we decided we like it here more. I moved over there just after two months of meeting him but I knew it was something, and it was.
“I absolutely didn’t expect to be with a Greek man at all, I was just going on holiday with my mum and gran and my cousin, it all just happened so fast.”
Beth has been a regular visitor to Zante since 2012 and had previously encountered Gabriel when she was younger, though she hadn’t recognised him then. She shared their whirlwind romance online, captivating over half a million viewers with their story.
One enthusiastic fan exclaimed: “Greek men are built different, you’ll be together forever.”
Another shared their advice, saying: “Marry him and move back to Greece.”
A third summed up the situation perfectly: “I witnessed a true love story.”