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A woman with a bizarre obsession with collecting puppets has told how she dumped her fiancé for one of her dolls.
Single April Brucker broke up with her fiancé, who she asked not to name, after he gave her an ultimatum: “It’s me or the puppets.”
She said she briefly dumped her puppets, something she is now ashamed of, but realised that “they were her children” and she had made the wrong decision. So she split up with her boyfriend and now lives alone with her 16 puppets in an apartment in New York City.
She works 60 hours a week as a singer, promotional model and freelance writer so they can have the
best of everything – even if it means she goes short.
MirrorUK adds that the 30 year old estimates she has spent £134,000 over the past ten years on the dummies, who have their own bedroom.
“They are like my children,” she said. “Yes, they are expensive, but if they need things, they need things. I will go without clothes for them. I’m a parent – that’s what you do.”She said her relationship failed when her ex said her dolls were “weird”. April, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, said:
“I was not allowed to date growing up. My parents were strict and when I met him I fell in love. He became my boyfriend. He was very romantic.”After their third date he proposed.
“My parents were engaged after their third date. And they’ve been together 40 years. He got down on one knee. I thought he was the one.”But things quickly become sour.
“He started becoming jealous of the puppets after four months. He started saying the puppets were weird. He said, ‘no wife of mine will ever have a puppet’. Ultimately he felt jealous of the puppets.”That is when he gave her an ultimatum.
“He said, ‘It’s me or the puppets. I wanted to be with him, so I stayed with him. But after eight more months, I realised I had to stay with my puppets. In the end, my puppet children are all I have. They have never disappointed me like men have.
They have their own room. They are like my family. We all do shows together. Sometimes I think, ‘yes, I dumped my boyfriend for a puppet. But then I think, ‘puppets are better’. I love my puppets.April said she now couldn't date a man who did not appreciate her puppets.
“I spend so much on them after all. I spend $20,000 (around £14,000) a year on them. That’s for clothes, airfares, hair. I’ve been doing that for about ten years.April first developed her bizarre hobby when she was just 13.
“My first puppet was Groucho Marx. And it just went from there. My dream is to tour the world with my children. I might not have love with a man but I have 16 children and they need me.”
