Bride-to-be wins Groupon trip of a lifetime to New Orleans to meet Brad Pitt
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Brad Pitt fans might want to look away now.
Sarah Gilbertson from Liverpool beat 80,000 fellow Europeans to win the experience of a lifetime - a trip to New Orleans to attend an exclusive charity gala, meet Brad Pitt, and party alongside the likes of Bruno Mars and Kings of Leon.
Sarah, 25, took her fiance, Michael Quinn, on the one-off package holiday, which included exclusive access to an after party where platinum-selling artists Mars and the Kings Of Leon performed.
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Starstruck: Brad Pitt, pictured with fiancee Angelina Jolie, met the Groupon competition winners in New Orleans
Lucky winners: Sarah Gilbertson and her fiance Michael Quinn were 'huge fans' of Brad Pitt - and jazz
Sarah, a rehabilitation programme coordinator for people with brain injuries, described the Hollywood superstar as 'quite genuine'.
'He took the time to speak to me and my fiancé - he'd read up on us and said congratulations and good luck with the wedding,' she said.
Then he asked me, 'do you support Liverpool?' and said, 'unlucky on not winning the league this year - maybe next year'!
'Brad was wearing a dark suit and he looked gorgeous.
'He's very handsome in real life. Very charming; I got a kiss from him - it was one of those moments, I'm not washing my face!'
Founder: Brad Pitt, pictured where 150 ecologically sustainable homes are to be built in Louisiana, set up Make It Right
Night to remember: Sarah and Michael got to see the Kings Of Leon perform at the Make It Right gala
Sarah described how she reacted when she found that she'd won the competition.
'I got the call when I was in Tesco doing my weekly shop and when I found out I just had to sit on the floor and calm myself down!' she said.
'I then told my manager immediately to make sure I could get the time off work.'
Pitt founded the organisation Make It Right in 2007, and it has so far built 100 homes of the 150 that organizers hope to erect for Ninth Ward residents and other people in need.
Tickets for the gala sold out months in advance.
'Creole Queen': Sarah described the trip to New Orleans as the 'trip of a lifetime'
New Orleans magic: Sarah Gilbertson, left, soaks up the vibe of New Orleans during the three day trip to the city of jazz. Sarah and her fiance Michael Quinn, right, are both jazz lovers as well as Brad Pitt fans
'We went into the after party where Bruno Mars was playing. That was really surreal; I've never seen him before and he's such a showman. At one point Brad Pitt got on stage with him and started playing the tambourine.
What the £15,000 deal included:
- Round-trip airfare from UK to Louis Armstrong New Orleans Airport
- Meeting with Brad Pitt
- Three-night stay in a suite at the W Hotel
- Two VIP tickets to the Make It Right gala on May 17, featuring Make It Right's founder and event chairman Brad Pitt, internationally celebrated artists, including Bruno Mars and Kings of Leon and award-winning chefs
- Two tickets to the after party
- Chance to meet Brad Pitt
- Tour of a Make It Right home with an award-winning architect
- Private round-trip transportation to and from Louis Armstrong New Orleans Airport
'It was great watching them doing this weird duet thing on stage.
Groupon CEO Eric Lefkofsky said: 'We've been helping to build and support communities around our thousands of local merchants since our inception.
'By partnering with Make It Right we're able to expose millions of people around the world to this important project.
'We want to help the organisation make a significant difference, one that should be replicated in struggling neighbourhoods across the world.
The three-night trip included first class air travel from the UK to Louis Armstrong International Airport in New Orleans.
The couple stayed in suites in the W Hotel, close to the renowned French Quarter in the city.
The sparkling event raised thousands of dollars to build homes for people in need, including victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, disabled veterans in New Jersey, children leaving foster care in Kansas City, and Native Americans on the Fort Peck Reservation in Montana.
Thousands of homes were left devastated by Hurricane Katrina, which struck New Orleans in August 2005.
More than 1,800 people lost their lives and 250,000 homes were destroyed - and two years later Make It Right started up to build affordable, high-quality housing in the city.
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