How We Met: ‘he Moved Into My Spare Room And Ended Up Staying For Five Years’

Matthew, 43, and David, 39, met in Manchester in 2006. Now best friends, they’ve seen each other through mental health crises, relationship disasters and an MTV-style dance class

When Matthew finished his teacher training in 2006, he was nervous and excited about starting a new job. “I’d moved from Birmingham back to Manchester and I was going to be teaching performing arts at a sixth form college in Salford,” he says.

Early in the first term, he found himself huddled over the photocopier, frantically printing out copies of Jim Cartwright’s play Road for his class. “You were meant to put in your photocopying requests a day early and I’d forgotten,” he says. “I was trying to print them as fast as I could, conscious that I was taking up time using the photocopier.”