Talk about clingy.
An Italian model vacationing in the Seychelles found love when he was least expecting it — with an octopus.
Federico Cola was taking a dip in the stunning waters of the East African honeymooners paradise when the creature cruised over — promptly attaching itself to the hunky holidaymaker and refusing to let go.
The meet-cute was captured on Cola’s Instagram account. Viewers can see the octopus tripping up the object of her affection, wrapping herself around his legs as he’s trying to walk out of the ocean in an effort to get him to notice her.
“What a magical surprise this first of the year, I found my love (actually she found me) haha,” the caption on the video read. Nearly one million viewers have liked the clip.
As Cola tries to untangle himself from her tentacles, the cephalopod asserts her dominance by latching onto his back.
Despite the unusual situation, Cola appeared comfortable with the creature. He walked her out of the Indian Ocean to splash her with water, caressed her, and let her latch on to him.
Many people online joked about the chemistry between the pair.
“She is falling in love with you,” gushed a watcher.
“That octopus knew exactly what she was doing,” laughed one person. “Get a room.”
“Not sure if this came to me through my hot guy algorithm or my octopus lover algorithm,” another confessed.
“That’s honestly amazing but initially I think I would’ve died and had a heart attack!” admitted an Instagram user.
Some onlookers were quick to judge the budding relationship.
Octonation, an Octopus activist group on Instagram, didn’t see the interaction as endearing as Cola’s many followers.
They called out the model for his alleged “harsh and unproductive” behavior towards the sea creature — sparking a great debate.
Cola and the organization exchanged words back and forth, in now-deleted comments. The two parties eventually took their conversation private, where they were able to reach a resolution.
Octonation later released a lengthy statement apologizing for the misunderstanding.
Upon further examination, the group stated that the octopus was “likely senescent and displaying end-of-life behavior,” explaining the intimate conduct with the model.
Cola chimed in, saying, “I’m glad that after watching my whole video, you understood that it was an extraordinary event and that I just wanted to show people that we can love this special animal.”
