An English student is trying to have his marriage annulled after a drunken wedding in Las Vegas to an Australian backpacker.
Bristol University economics student James Cripps, 21, has been dumped by his girlfriend and forced to enrol at university as a married man after marrying Kristy Ladzik for a joke during an American holiday.
Mr Cripps and best friend Gareth Wilcock, 22, were finishing a trip around the United States with a visit to Las Vegas when they met Ms Ladzik, a backpacker, at a youth hostel.
After an all-day drinking session on his last day in the city, the pair took a limousine to a 24-hour courthouse to collect a marriage licence, then used a borrowed copper ring to marry at the Candlelight Chapel.
"It was just one of those stupid things," Mr Cripps said.
"You always hear about someone who has done it once, I just thought it might be quite funny.
"If you go to Las Vegas, you drink, you gamble and you get married, which is what I did."
The newlyweds celebrated with Twinkies and champagne, but were too drunk to consummate the marriage.
The next day, Mr Cripps returned to England and Ms Ladzik to Australia without any plans to see each other again.
He told his girlfriend, Abi, two days after his return.
She did not see the funny side and ended their relationship.
"When I told my parents, my dad just laughed, but my mother cried a lot, which is one of my main regrets," Mr Cripps said.
"It was funny for a while, but now my ex-girlfriend is never going to talk to me again, and with good reason.
"It is a great story to have, but it's not worth the grief I will get."
Mr Cripps is now trying to have the marriage annulled on the grounds that it was not consummated.