Two Strangers & a Wedding - BRMB 1999

As stunts go, this was a biggie; and still remembered to this day. 'Two Strangers and a wedding' ran in the UK on Birmingham's BRMB in 1999, having begun its life the year before in Australia in the hands of Absolute & Dowse.

The UK couple, Greg Cordell and Carla Germaine, who'd spoken just the once in the course of the contest, exchanged vows and walked off with a huge prize package. They remained married for four months; the bride later marrying then-BRMB presenter, Jeremy Kyle.

The point, as ever, was talkability. In this pre-reality TV age, the press and the Church duly rallied to that cause. Ironic, as ever, the Daily Mail covered the 'tacky radio contest' with truly pages of interviews and comment; and religious leaders claimed it reduced "a sacred and momentous decision to a media event". BRMB staged the contest again seven years later.