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Get ready for a heartwarming ride full of charming deceptions and unexpected love! From impulsive kisses to arranged marriages of convenience, these fake relationship movies bring on the laughs, the awkward moments, and the undeniable chemistry. Whether it’s a staged engagement or a pretend date meant to make someone jealous, these stories prove that sometimes pretending can lead to something real. Which of these screenfake romances stole your heart?
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00:00Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most irresistible big-screen romances that started
00:06with a little pretending.
00:08It's a baby fern.
00:09Really? Oh yeah?
00:10Just like our relationship. A helpless little baby in need of tender loving care.
00:16Number 20. The Love Hypothesis.
00:18Can you smile, please?
00:20Yes, I can smile.
00:23What are they doing?
00:24I have no idea.
00:28One impulsive kiss turns Olive's academic life into a romantic experiment she definitely did not plan.
00:34The PhD candidate tries to convince her best friend that an old crush is firmly in the past,
00:39and tries to prove it by kissing notoriously intimidating professor Adam Carlson.
00:43You kissed me.
00:44No, I didn't mean to do that. That was an emergency. I was being followed by a very stubborn Filipino
00:49woman who's gone now.
00:51Okay, what exactly is going on here?
00:53The stunt becomes a mutually beneficial fake relationship with rules and boundaries.
00:58Why don't you just get a real girlfriend?
01:00I suppose the same reason you don't get a real boyfriend.
01:02Relationships are time-
01:03Confusing.
01:05Right, I also don't have time for a boyfriend. That's the main reason.
01:08Lily Reinhart and Tom Bateman bring appealing push-pull energy to Olive and Adam,
01:13especially as their practical arrangement starts feeling increasingly personal.
01:17Based on Allie Hazelwood's best-selling novel, the adaptation leans straight into the delicious question at the heart of the
01:24trope.
01:25When does pretending stop being pretend?
01:28Number 19. The Wedding Date.
01:30Can you believe Pat actually gets to shag this guy?
01:32No, really. You should send God a bottle of wine or a quiche or something.
01:37Kat Ellis solves an awkward reunion with her ex by hiring a stranger to play the perfect boyfriend.
01:42Debra Messing's cat recruits escort Nick Mercer, played by Dermot Mulroney,
01:46to accompany her to her sister's wedding and make her ex jealous.
01:50And who might this be?
01:52Hi, I'm the new guy. It's great to meet you.
01:54Lovely.
01:55Naturally, the performance starts becoming real,
01:58with Mulroney's confidence bouncing off Messing's anxious comic energy.
02:02The setup is gloriously contrived, but that's the appeal.
02:05They sell romance to everyone around them while slowly buying into it themselves.
02:10Do me a favor. Quit apologizing.
02:12If you look at this for what it is, a simple business transaction,
02:15maybe you won't feel so compelled to keep saying, I'm sorry.
02:18I'm sorry.
02:19Based on Elizabeth Young's asking for trouble,
02:22this is fake dating in its most literal form.
02:25You don't need to hire a date to keep you company.
02:28Ms. Mojo's 24-7 live stream is always available.
02:31Scan the QR code on screen to join us live for non-stop pop culture fun.
02:41Number 18. Overboard.
02:44Dean Profitt takes fake romance to an ethically questionable extreme
02:48after wealthy Joanna Staton develops amnesia.
02:51Miss, do you know your name?
02:53Of course I know my name.
02:57It's...
02:57Oh, this is absurd.
03:01I know it.
03:03No, get that thing out of my face.
03:06Still angry that she refused to pay him for carpentry work,
03:09the widowed father claims Joanna is his wife
03:11and brings her home to his four sons.
03:13The deception is wildly uncomfortable,
03:16but Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell's comic chemistry
03:19keeps the screwball premise buoyant.
03:21Oh, they're great boys, aren't they?
03:23There's so many of them.
03:26You've always had your heart set on six,
03:28so we just keep on trying.
03:30As Joanna gradually bonds with the boys and falls for Dean,
03:34the sham household becomes emotionally real.
03:36It is messy, manipulative,
03:39and somehow still capable of landing a warm romantic payoff.
03:42I love you.
03:44I'll never leave you again.
03:46I'll never let you go.
03:47You're my auntie, and you always will be.
03:51Cassie and Luke begin with practically everything working against them,
03:55including each other.
03:57She is a struggling singer-songwriter with type 1 diabetes.
04:00He is a marine preparing for deployment,
04:02and both are carrying serious debt.
04:05Their solution is a temporary marriage
04:07that gives Cassie health coverage and Luke extra pay.
04:10By the power vested in me by the great state of California,
04:13I now pronounce you husband and wife.
04:20You may kiss the bride.
04:27Congratulations.
04:28Sophia Carson and Nicholas Galatine make the friction seem essential,
04:32because the romance only works if these opposites
04:34can believably soften toward one another.
04:37Once Luke is injured and sent home,
04:39pretending gets harder to separate from the feelings they've developed.
04:42What are you saving the bet tonight?
04:48Number 16.
04:50She's all that.
04:51Zach Seiler's confidence lands him in trouble
04:53when he boasts he can turn any girl at school into prom queen.
04:56What do you say, Zach?
04:58A bet?
04:59Huh.
05:00Unless, of course, you're too heartbroken.
05:04Just name the terms.
05:05His friend, Dean Sampson Jr.,
05:07chooses artsy outsider Lainey Boggs,
05:09and Zach courts her without revealing that she is the subject of a bet.
05:13The leads give the deception enough sweetness
05:15to make the eventual betrayal sting.
05:17Is that true?
05:22Am I a bet?
05:23Am I a bet?
05:24Am I a f***ing bet?
05:26Naturally.
05:27Zach develops real feelings for Lainey long before she learns the truth.
05:31The makeover may be iconic,
05:33but the movie works because his staged romance
05:35ultimately becomes the one thing he cannot fake.
05:38I feel just like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman.
05:42You know, except for that whole hooker thing.
05:44Number 15.
05:45While you were sleeping.
05:47Well, we've never actually spoken,
05:49but I know someday we will.
05:51I know it.
05:52I just know it.
05:54One hospital misunderstanding turns Lucy Mauderat's secret crush
05:58into an engagement where nobody actually proposed.
06:01After saving Peter Callahan from an oncoming train,
06:04Lucy is mistaken for his fiancée while he lies in a coma,
06:07and his family embraces her.
06:09She cannot bring herself to correct them.
06:11Who's she?
06:13She's his fiancée.
06:14His fiancée?
06:15Yeah.
06:16Peter's fiancée?
06:17Peter's engaged?
06:18Yeah.
06:18I thought...
06:19No, no, wait.
06:20But when Peter's brother Jack,
06:22played by Bill Pullman,
06:23enters the picture,
06:24his chemistry with Sandra Bullock's Lucy
06:26gives the complicated lie its real romantic spark.
06:29By the time Lucy falls for Jack,
06:32the accidental charade has become
06:33one of the genre's sweetest detours.
06:35I need to ask you a question.
06:38Get down on your knee.
06:40It's more romantic.
06:42He's proposing let him do it.
06:44I am letting him do it.
06:47Number 14.
06:48Anyone But You
06:49Bee and Ben go from dream first date
06:51to mutual irritation fast.
06:54Reunited at a Sydney wedding,
06:56the enemies agree to pose as a couple.
06:58Okay.
06:59We just suck face in front of everybody.
07:02Half of them think they set us up anyway.
07:03She wants her parents to stop pushing her
07:05toward ex-fiancée Jonathan,
07:07while he hopes to make ex-Margaret jealous.
07:09Yes, we are in the early stages.
07:11Not too early.
07:12But also not so advanced.
07:13Just that magical moment
07:14when two people come together
07:16in this crazy journey we call life.
07:18Sydney Sweeney and Glenn Powell
07:19turn the bickering into crackling chemistry,
07:22making their characters' staged affection
07:24feel suspiciously convincing.
07:25We're getting pretty good at faking it.
07:27I don't even know it's real anymore.
07:30Their scheme soon uncovers feelings
07:32neither planned to admit.
07:33Loosely inspired by Shakespeare's
07:35Much Ado About Nothing,
07:36this modern spin understands
07:38that fake dating works best
07:39when hostility is already
07:41half the flirtation.
07:43Number 13.
07:44Drive Me Crazy
07:45Nicole and Chase,
07:47played by Melissa Joan Hart
07:48and Adrian Grenier,
07:49grew up next door to one another
07:50and were great friends.
07:52Until they went to junior high
07:54and ended up in totally
07:55different social circles.
07:57Would you look at them?
07:58They'll be away at college next year.
08:00Time flies.
08:01Seems like only yesterday
08:02they were practically
08:04living together
08:05in the whole treehouse.
08:07Dad, milk.
08:07Mom.
08:08Seriously, you two used to do
08:09everything together.
08:10What happened?
08:11After they both get dumped
08:12before their high school
08:13centennial dance,
08:15the two former BFFs
08:16decide to team up
08:17in order to make
08:18their respective exes jealous.
08:19We can't do this halfway.
08:21You know, if we expect
08:22people to buy it,
08:23it's got to feel real
08:24through and through.
08:25That makes sense.
08:26They don't figure that
08:26they'll actually forget
08:27the people who broke up
08:28with them and fall
08:29for each other.
08:30But of course,
08:31because this is a romantic comedy,
08:32that is exactly
08:33what ends up happening.
08:34So, who are we making jealous?
08:37Everyone, Nicole.
08:40Everyone.
08:41Number 12.
08:42We're the Millers.
08:43You can't buy me.
08:44I'm not buying you,
08:46alright?
08:46I'm renting you.
08:48Hmm.
08:49Like, pretty woman.
08:50What is it with Jennifer Aniston
08:52in fake relationship movies?
08:53In 1997,
08:54she starred in Picture Perfect,
08:56where she faked having
08:57a fiancé to get a promotion.
08:59In 2011,
09:00she acted alongside
09:01Adam Sandler
09:02in Just Go With It,
09:03where she pretends
09:03to be married to his character.
09:05And in 2013,
09:07she had a primary role
09:08in We're the Millers.
09:09In that film,
09:11she plays a stripper
09:12who poses as a suburban
09:13wife and mother.
09:14Oh, come on.
09:14Relax, Dorothy.
09:16Jesus.
09:16We're not at the border yet.
09:17Who cares what those people think?
09:19It's about not drawing attention
09:20to ourselves,
09:21you little hobo.
09:22Pot dealer David Clark
09:23hires her,
09:24along with two teens,
09:25to act as fake family members
09:27that'll help him
09:27with a drug smuggling plot
09:29to pay off his debt.
09:30Unlike most of the other movies
09:31on our list,
09:32this isn't a romance,
09:34focusing more on
09:35a comedic crime caper.
09:37We're not related at all,
09:38any of us.
09:38No, we're just friends.
09:40No, we're not.
09:41We're not friends.
09:41We're not friends.
09:42Number 11.
09:43What Happens in Vegas
09:44What Happens in Vegas
09:46stars Cameron Diaz
09:47and Ashton Kutcher
09:48as Joy and Jack,
09:49two people who get married
09:50in Vegas after meeting there
09:52and partying together.
09:53Are you dumping me?
09:56You didn't...
09:57No, I was coming down here
09:58to dump you.
09:59Oh, Jesus.
09:59Okay, so we're good.
10:00Yeah.
10:01Okay, disaster averted.
10:02They plan to get
10:03a quickie divorce,
10:04but their plans change
10:05when Jack unexpectedly
10:06comes into a significant
10:08amount of money.
10:09Now, if you'll excuse me,
10:10I have a giant,
10:10colorful chick to deposit.
10:13Whatever happened
10:14to what's mine
10:15is yours, baby.
10:17We're married now.
10:19Remember?
10:20In order to be able
10:22to split the funds,
10:23the two have to prove
10:24to a judge that they're
10:25working on their relationship
10:26for six months,
10:27even if the last thing
10:28they want to do
10:29is actually be together.
10:30Do you do this?
10:31Pretend like you don't
10:32make me vomit in my nose
10:33every time I look at you?
10:36Yes.
10:36This rom-com is full
10:37of hilarious moments
10:38and some sweet ones
10:40as the two eventually
10:41develop feelings
10:42for one another.
10:43Number 10.
10:44It Happened One Night
10:45Long before fake dating
10:47became a rom-com staple,
10:49Ellie Andrews
10:49and Peter Warren
10:50were already
10:51perfecting the act.
10:52I wish you'd
10:52stop being playful.
10:54Oh, so sorry.
10:55Sorry.
10:56You know,
10:56this is the first time
10:57in years I've risen piggyback.
10:59This isn't piggyback.
11:01The runaway heiress
11:02and fired reporter
11:03strike a deal.
11:04He helps her reach New York
11:05while she gives him
11:06an exclusive story.
11:08Sharing an auto lodge cabin
11:09to save money,
11:10they pose as husband
11:11and wife,
11:12even staging a marital spat
11:14to fool her father's detectives.
11:15Say, how many times
11:16have I told you
11:17to stop butting in
11:17when I'm having an argument?
11:18Well, you don't have
11:19to lose your temper.
11:20You don't have to lose your temper.
11:21That's what you said
11:22the other time, too.
11:23Every time I try to protect you.
11:24Clark Gable
11:24and Claudette Colbert
11:25play the charade
11:26with such easy comic timing
11:28that Peter and Ellie's
11:29growing feelings
11:29sneak up almost naturally.
11:31Fittingly,
11:32this screwball landmark
11:33became the first film
11:34to sweep the five major Oscars.
11:37Number 9.
11:38Green Card
11:39Fake relationship movies
11:40often begin with a couple
11:42who can't stand each other
11:43and Green Card
11:44is no exception.
11:45These people are due here
11:46any minute
11:47and you stroll around
11:47my apartment
11:48touching my things.
11:49Do you realize the situation
11:50that you've put me in?
11:51Do you?
11:52I'm sorry, Betty.
11:58It's Bronte.
11:59Andy McDowell
12:00and Gerard Depardier
12:01play an American woman
12:02and a Frenchman
12:03who enter into
12:04a marriage of convenience
12:05so that he can get
12:06a green card
12:07and stay in the country.
12:08She uses their relationship
12:09to leverage her way
12:10into the New York City apartment
12:11that she's always dreamed of.
12:27Unfortunately,
12:28the Immigration
12:28and Naturalization Service
12:30becomes skeptical
12:31of the legitimacy
12:32of their union
12:32and the couple
12:33has to actually
12:34move in together
12:35where they test
12:36each other's tolerance
12:37for one another.
12:38Now you go.
12:39Out.
12:39Out.
12:40Out.
12:41Out.
12:41Now.
12:42Are you upset?
12:43Upset?
12:43Upset?
12:44Out.
12:45Number 8.
12:46The Wedding Banquet
12:47Under the authority
12:47vested in me
12:48by the state of New York
12:49I now pronounce
12:50that you are
12:51husband and wife.
12:53Ang Lee directed
12:54this Taiwanese romantic comedy
12:55that makes up
12:56one part of what's been dubbed
12:58his Father Knows Best trilogy.
12:59This is a story
13:00where a fake relationship
13:01is central to the plot
13:03but doesn't result
13:04in a love match
13:05between the two participants
13:06and that's because
13:07Weitung is gay
13:08and happily in a relationship
13:10with Simon in New York.
13:11In order to conceal
13:12his sexual orientation
13:14from his conservative family
13:15he pretends to be
13:16engaged to a woman.
13:17Meanwhile,
13:18Weiwei has her own reasons
13:19for needing the relationship.
13:21She's living in poverty
13:22and needs a green car
13:23to stay in the U.S.
13:31However,
13:31they certainly did not expect
13:33Weitung's parents
13:34to come from Taiwan
13:35to plan the titular banquet
13:36with them
13:37but that is exactly
13:38what they have to contend with.
13:39Weitung
13:40Weitung
13:41Weiwei
13:41You two are in a completely
13:43different environment
13:44and you are in the海外
13:47together
13:47Number 7
13:48Easy A
13:49Oh my God
13:54Go for it, my son
13:55You're a man now
13:57Easy A is inspired
13:58by Nathaniel Hawthorne's
14:00The Scarlet Letter
14:00and also takes inspiration
14:02from many of the
14:03fake relationship movies
14:04that came before it.
14:05Emma Stone
14:06plays Olive Pendergast
14:07A high schooler
14:08who tells a simple lie
14:09that ends up spiraling
14:10out of control
14:11Listen,
14:12I'm not the one
14:13that you have to answer to
14:14for your depraved behavior
14:15There's a higher power
14:16that will judge you
14:17for your indecency
14:18Tom Cruise
14:19She soon realizes
14:20that she can get benefits
14:21for both herself
14:22and others
14:23by pretending to get
14:24physically intimate
14:25with guys at school
14:26even though she's a virgin
14:27You know,
14:27you're starting to get
14:28a reputation
14:29and you're coming off
14:30as a little pious
14:31Easy A breaks
14:32the typical
14:32fake relationship story mold
14:34because Olive doesn't
14:35pretend to be dating
14:35the person she ends up with
14:37Number 6
14:38Can't Buy Me Love
14:39The plot of Can't Buy Me Love
14:41involves a high school nerd
14:42Ronald
14:43paying one of his
14:44popular classmates Cindy
14:45$1,000 to pretend
14:47to date him for a month
14:48in an attempt
14:49to get in
14:50with the cool crowd
14:50Okay, now let's get
14:51this deal straight
14:52one more time
14:53Um, we only pretend
14:54a hand, right?
14:55No hand holding
14:56kissing
14:56and I get my lunch hour off
14:58Well, that's not our deal
14:59I need more return
15:00on my investment
15:01Well, there's no way
15:02I'm holding your hand
15:03in public
15:04Unexpectedly, however
15:05Cindy ends up
15:06developing a crush
15:07on Ronald
15:07after their time together
15:08starts to come to a close
15:10The problem is
15:11that he overdoes it
15:12in their faux breakup
15:12and winds up
15:13insulting her
15:14I'm tired of you
15:15comparing me to Bobby
15:16and in fact
15:17I'm tired of you
15:18Period
15:22Because it's a rom-com
15:23however
15:24they of course
15:25make it work in the end
15:26Okay, how about kissing?
15:28Yeah, it's important
15:29Lots of moss
15:30Definitely
15:32Can Bobby love us?
15:35Number 5
15:36To All the Boys I've Loved Before
15:38Wake up!
15:41Are you okay?
15:42What happened?
15:44You fainted
15:45To All the Boys I've Loved Before
15:47became an internet sensation
15:48after being released
15:49on Netflix in 2018
15:51and for good reason
15:52The love story
15:53between introvert
15:54Lara Jean
15:55and jock
15:56Peter Kavinsky
15:56plays on many
15:57popular high school
15:58romance tropes
15:59including the fake relationship
16:01These two start
16:02pretend dating
16:03to make his ex jealous
16:04and cover up
16:05Lara Jean's crush
16:06on her sister's ex-boyfriend
16:07Here's the thing
16:08I don't actually like you
16:10I just had to make it
16:11look like I liked you
16:12so somebody else
16:13wouldn't think
16:14that I liked them
16:14Oh, okay
16:16Say who?
16:18What?
16:18But the two have
16:19undeniable chemistry
16:20that makes their
16:21fake relationship
16:22turn real
16:23really quickly
16:23The candy-colored
16:25cinematography palette
16:26awesome soundtrack
16:27and adorable cast
16:28makes this movie
16:29all the more lovable
16:30And don't even get us
16:31started on the sequels
16:33Hi
16:36There's no one
16:37like you, Covey
16:41Number 4
16:42Pretty Woman
16:43One of the most
16:44iconic romance movies
16:46of all time
16:46is based on a fake relationship
16:48Richard Gere's
16:49Edward Lewis
16:50is a successful businessman
16:51who hires a streetwalker
16:53Vivian
16:53played by Julia Roberts
16:55After spending
16:56the night together
16:56he offers her money
16:58to pretend to be
16:58his girlfriend
16:59for the next few days
17:00Holy shit
17:16It's a classic
17:17fish-out-of-water story
17:18with Vivian
17:19struggling to fit
17:20into Edward's world
17:21and being poorly treated
17:22by many of the people
17:23he associates with
17:35Despite their differences
17:37and the vastly different
17:38social sets they occupy
17:39they manage to find
17:40common ground
17:41and develop real feelings
17:42for one another
17:43So what happened
17:44after
17:45he climbed up the tower
17:46and rescued her
17:48She rescues him
17:49right back
17:55Number 3
17:5610 Things I Hate About You
17:57Patrick Verona
17:59initially courts
18:00Cat Stratford
18:00for a reason
18:01she knows nothing about
18:02He's being paid
18:03Cameron needs
18:05Cat dating
18:05so Bianca can date too
18:07and Joey supplies
18:08the cash
18:09that puts Patrick
18:09in her orbit
18:10You're gonna pay me
18:11to take out some chick
18:15How much?
18:16Heath Ledger
18:17and Julia Stiles
18:18make the scheme
18:18feel increasingly
18:19beside the point
18:20as Patrick genuinely
18:21falls for Cat
18:22with grand gestures
18:23replacing calculation
18:24You're just too good
18:26to be true
18:28Can't take my eyes
18:30off of you
18:39The truth
18:40eventually wrecks
18:41what they've built
18:42giving the romance
18:43real consequences
18:44instead of an easy
18:45escape hatch
18:45Based on Shakespeare's
18:47The Taming of the Shrew
18:48this deception
18:49produces one
18:50seriously satisfying
18:51teen romance payoff
18:52and an unforgettable
18:53pair of performances
18:54You can't just buy me
18:55a guitar every time
18:56you screw up
18:57you know
18:58Yeah I know
19:01But then you know
19:02there's always drums
19:02and bass
19:03and maybe even
19:04one day a tambourine
19:04Number 2
19:05How to Lose a Guy
19:06in 10 Days
19:07Neither Andy Anderson
19:09nor Benjamin Berry
19:10realizes their new romance
19:11is basically
19:12two competing experiments
19:31magazine columnist Andy
19:32needs to drive a man away
19:33in 10 days for an article
19:35while advertising
19:36executive Ben
19:37bets that he can make a woman
19:38fall for him
19:39in the same span
19:40Kate Hudson
19:41and Matthew McConaughey
19:42turn that collision
19:42into sabotage
19:43from an imaginary
19:44family album
19:45to Ben's stubborn
19:46refusal to quit
19:47Haven't you had enough?
19:50Andy look
19:51I'm willing to do
19:52anything
19:52Get up
19:53I'll do anything Andy
19:55The joke gets sweeter
19:56once genuine feelings
19:58complicate both agendas
19:59Their relationship
20:00begins as mutual deception
20:02but the chemistry
20:03makes watching
20:04both constructed plans
20:05implode
20:06ridiculously satisfying
20:07for everyone
20:08except the two people
20:09involved
20:09Take the lady's luggage
20:11back to her place
20:12she has alternate
20:12transportation
20:17You call my bluff?
20:20You bet I am
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20:28be sure to check out
20:29WatchMojo's new game
20:30Terrible Influence
20:31Just launched for purchase
20:32at TerribleInfluence.com
20:34Terrible Influence
20:35is a satirical board game
20:36about the dark side of fame
20:37from the writer
20:38of the most popular girls
20:39in school
20:40and us
20:40WatchMojo
20:41Boom
20:41I can make an apology video
20:44Oh you so would
20:45Click on the link
20:45in the description
20:46to check out the game
20:47and be the first
20:48to play Terrible Influence
21:00Released in 2009
21:02The Proposal
21:03manages to encompass
21:04countless fake
21:05relationship tropes
21:06It involves
21:06an opposites attract romance
21:08with the two leads
21:09positively loathing
21:10one another
21:11at the beginning
21:11and it includes
21:12a green card type plot
21:14The story hinges on
21:15Margaret
21:15a high powered editor
21:17and Canadian
21:17who is about to be
21:19deported from the US
21:20As such
21:21she forces her
21:22American assistant
21:23Andrew to marry her
21:24in order to allow her
21:25to stay in the country
21:26I'm not gonna marry you
21:27Sure you are
21:28Because if you don't marry me
21:29your dreams of touching
21:30the lives of millions
21:31with the written word
21:32are dead
21:32As so often happens
21:34in this sort of rom-com
21:35however
21:35their faux engagement
21:36ultimately leads
21:37to a real love story
21:39I'm scared
21:41Me too
21:47Which pretend romance
21:49had chemistry
21:49so convincing
21:50that you were rooting
21:51for the couple
21:52to make it real
21:52Let us know
21:53in the comments
21:54Please
21:56I'm not gonna marry you
21:56I'm not gonna marry you