In honour of Valentine’s Day this weekend, we’re celebrating the Old Bristolians whose stories began at BGS and continued long after leaving.

School crushes, a rite of passage for any teen, a source of embarrassment even in adulthood and often the reason for indulging in one too many drinks than you should have at school reunions. 

They live on in memories of notes passed around lessons (“Do you wanna go out with me? Tick yes or no…”), taunts from friends at blushed cheeks because the hottest boy in school brushed past you in the corridor and the dreaded rumour going around that the subject of your not-so-secret affections had found out that you liked them and certainly didn't like you back.

Cheers from friends in the playground because you finally held hands with the girl you asked out during form time and finally getting the chance to sneak your first kiss between lessons in one of the quieter corners of campus.

This Valentine's Day at BGS, however, we’re taking the time to celebrate the school crushes that made it past those awkward moments and beyond the school disco dance floors. 

At the beginning of January we put a call out to our OB community asking for couples who met at BGS to get in touch and tell their stories. What followed was a warm reminder that sometimes, those early crushes really do turn into something special.

Hannah and Steve met in 1987, when Hannah moved up to Upper School. They were in the same class, 1.2 with form tutor Miss Hall, and friends from the outset. They started dating after Steve made the move and asked Hannah to the Sixth Form Ball at the Unicorn Hotel, Prince Street. They have been together ever since.

“Steve can take credit for me having a GCSE in Greek (I only chose it because he did) and for doing as well as I did in Physics as we sat opposite each other in class and his writing was surprisingly legible upside down (possibly more so than the right way up!). We remained in a class together up until the Sixth Form when he took sciences for A-Levels (Physics, Chemistry and Biology) and I took arts (English, French and Music) so we went into different forms but remained firm friends. In May 1993 (our Lower Sixth year) he asked me to be his date for the Sixth Form Ball and we’ve been together since – 33 years this year. When we married the school organist (Gary Desmond, who had been Steve’s form tutor in the Lower School) kindly played for us and, unsurprisingly, BGS got several mentions throughout the day. We both absolutely loved our time at BGS and we feel incredibly fortunate that our children Thomas (17) and Lucy (13) have been there since reception. I can’t quite believe that it’s Thomas’ last year!”

BGS couple Alex and Holly also began dating at their Sixth Form Ball after meeting in Lower 6th in December 2013 and both being put in the Brown house.

“We officially started our relationship in January 2014 when I drew up the courage outside the library to ask Holly out to watch a movie. Fast forward to October 2023, I proposed and we finally got married in October 2025 in Bristol! We celebrated our 12th year together a few weeks ago.”

The JCR seems to have been a popular spot for budding romances at BGS. Majeed and Ruth, who married in 2009, met in Lower Sixth in 2002 and now live in London with their two children and two cats.

“Between Spanish lessons, slapdash entrepreneurship at Young Enterprise and a shared appreciation of Mr. Bell's sarcastic yet affectionate form-tutoring style, it was basically inevitable that we would get together.”

Nicola and Ian have been together now for 26 years and are married with two children, one of whom attends BGS! It was their time in Sixth Form together that eventually led them to start dating.

Last year BGS couple Amy and Charlie tied the knot and both Ms Niamir (Magee) and Ms Biggin attended their wedding!

Not all romances began in Sixth Form and instead for Laura and Chris, their time at BGS laid the foundations of a great friendship which eventually blossomed into a relationship in 2015. They are now married with two children in Bristol.

“We met at school when I was Upper Sixth and Chris was Lower Sixth. That was around 1996. We stayed friends and finally got together as a couple in 2015! We are now married with two boys, living in Bristol.”

Thank you to all the BGS couples that got in touch and allowed us to share their stories! 

As we head into the next phase of The 500 Campaign, these Valentine’s tales prove that a BGS childhood can spark memories, friendships… and the occasional lifelong romance.

Liked this feature? We’d love to hear from you. Whether you met your partner or a lifelong friend at BGS or through the BGS community, we want to hear your story. Get in touch with us on community@bgs.bristol.sch.uk so we can keep having fun and showcasing the stories that make our community what it is.