‘Too Hot To Handle’ star marries inmate who proposed after just 6 weeks together

He has a different kind of life sentence now.

A Netflix star redefined the phrase “ball and chain” after marrying an inmate who proposed to her after dating for just six weeks.

“I thought he was really emotionally intelligent,” real estate agent Laura Gehrke, 27, told the Kennedy News Agency of having a cellmate for a soulmate.

The newlywed was referring to her husband Joshua Stewart, who is currently serving time in Washington state in the US for murder and possession of a controlled substance.

Gehrke starred in the Netflix dating series Too Hot Too Handle: Germany, in which a group of determined bachelors meet in a paradise where they must remain single for a chance to win $100,000.

And while she might not have landed a pre-modern on the show, she did find love in an unlikely place — a correctional facility in Washington state.

The whirlwind romance began last year while Gehrke was stranded in Dubai over Christmas because a visa issue prevented him from returning home to Germany.

The lonely bachelor saw a TikTok video about corresponding with prisoners through the social networking site writeaprisoner.com, which seems to spark many of these lock-up love stories.

“I thought I could send one of them a text saying ‘Merry Christmas,'” recalled Gehrke, who said Stewart’s account was the second she clicked on.

“I saw on his profile that he said he liked poetry and I was interested in that,” the girl in love shared.

After texting each other about the poem, the soul mates took their relationship private, regularly talking on the phone for up to 11 hours a day. She would also fly to Washington on occasion to see her imprisoned pen pal face to face.

It wasn’t long before the jailbird became her lovebird. “We really clicked,” gushed a smitten Gehrke. “He was open to everything from the beginning. He used to tell me so many stories about his life.”

And while romancing a convicted murderer may seem uncomfortable, the soon-to-be prison wife said his crime didn’t change her “opinion about him” as she knew “the story”.

“I wasn’t asking about the crime right away because I didn’t want to judge him on that alone,” Gehrke said. “I was hearing a lot of stories about him growing up before I knew all the details of what he was incarcerated for. It made me see everything a little differently.”

In February, Stewart popped the question during a phone call – just six weeks after first corresponding with his wife-to-be from abroad.

Gehrke said yes and flew to Washington in June for a 90-minute prison ceremony.

“It was a prison wedding – one of the other inmates was his best man,” she revealed. “We were all in white and had our own color theme. It felt so right.”

And while the couple was unable to consummate their marriage, they hope to be approved for conjugal visits later this year.

Interestingly, Gehrke said both of their parents supported their romance, stating, “Obviously my mom had questions, but she was very supportive.”

The relationship didn’t sit well with online critics, many of whom felt Stewart was simply trying to “cheat” on his other half.

“Bro just secured his financial future after being out,” declared one hater while another added: “You obviously have all your priorities mixed up.”

A third wrote, “he will disappear after release.”

However, Gehrke insists that their relationship is not like that fling-bam-thanks-mom.

“People just look at things with a made-up mind – they can’t believe we got married for love,” she lamented. They just think I’m using him or he’s using me. They can’t believe it’s true love.”

She added, “We have a lot of support, but we also have a lot of haters.”

Gehrke hopes to live with her husband in the US after he is released from house arrest in December 2025.