By Canadian Press

Tessa Virtue helps lovestruck Michigan man get to N.L. to meet girlfriend

May 11, 2018 | 9:45 AM

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — Love will be in the air next week when a young Michigan man flies to meet his Newfoundland girlfriend after a successful Twitter campaign for free tickets — including a boost from Tessa Virtue.

Air Canada tweeted today to congratulate C.J. Poirier, saying the airline will fly Poirier to Newfoundland next Monday, to meet his Corner Brook girlfriend, Becca Warren.

Last week, Poirier tweeted to ask Air Canada how many retweets he would need for a free flight. Air Canada responded with 530,000 — the number of people in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Poirier was far short of his goal on Wednesday with only 30,000 retweets, when Air Canada offered to donate every retweet its account has ever received. The airline also invited Twitter users to donate screenshots of their own most-retweeted tweets, to add to the pot.

Twitter users jumped in to help, including Canada’s Olympic ice dance pair, Virtue and Scott Moir.

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Virtue tweeted Thursday at Air Canada in support of Poirier, writing “We sure do love a great love story!” She shared the 9,741 retweets from her Feb. 19 tweet after winning gold in PyeongChang.

Poirier shared Air Canada’s post on Twitter, saying “WE DID IT!!!!!!”

He thanked his online supporters, Air Canada, and the people who shared his and Becca’s story.

“To everyone who has sent their messages of support to both Becca and I, thank you. Your stories were so impactful to us and made us work harder to achieving our goal. To those who donated to the GoFundMe, thank you. Many memories will be made thanks to you,” he wrote.

Poirier also requested that people “respect our privacy” during the week-long trip, adding that he would share “as many photos as possible” for fans invested in the young lovebirds’ first meeting.

Warren and Poirier met online last year, and decided they wanted to meet — but neither 19-year-old could afford a plane ticket.

Earlier this week, Poirier expressed gratitude for the support he and Warren have received, and said he plans to cherish the visit with “the love of my life.”

“She and I connect better than anyone in each other’s lives and I want to make every moment with her the best I can make it,” he said.

In a phone interview, Warren said they were thrilled when they learned the trip was confirmed.

She says the Twitter campaign hasn’t changed the pair’s relationship, and their story’s viral success feels “kind of natural.”  

“It just feels like, I don’t know, maybe it was meant to be,” said Warren.

Holly McKenzie-Sutter, The Canadian Press