Romantic Winnipeg husband’s viral video sparks national attention

WINNIPEG — Dana Paulson still can’t believe that her husband’s romantic gestures have received more than 2.6 million views on YouTube.

“I find it very surreal. I don’t understand it, I don’t understand why people find it so interesting, because it’s just us,” Dana said Thursday after appearing on Global Winnipeg’s Morning News.

“So to me, it’s been going on for so long, it doesn’t surprise me, but to see all these other people liking it? It’s like ‘Oh, I guess that is a really cool video!’ ”

The first video shows Derrick and Dana in a car headed to a restaurant for their anniversary, when Derrick announces they’re on their way to the airport instead.

“We’re going to the Bahamas. For our one year anniversary,” Derrick says in the video while Dana gasps, speechless. “But first we have to go to Miami, because that’s where our cruise ship is going to be!”

In the second video, shot five years later, Dana is getting ready for work when Derrick walks into the kitchen and hands her some Euros. He then tells her she has an hour and a half to pack a bag for a European vacation.

WATCH: Winnipeg romantic’s antics catch Ashton Kutcher’s eye

Since Ashton Kutcher posted the video Friday on Facebook with the comment the Winnipeg man is “a boss,” Derrick has been interviewed by media across the country.

“I was on with a Toronto morning show on the radio, I was on with Calgary, I was on the evening show in Vancouver, and then TV stations across the city here in Winnipeg,” said Derrick. “I keep on thinking that it’s going to die down. Like, I keep on saying, ‘Alright, maybe another seven hours,’ but it’s still going, and I know it can’t go on forever. These things have a shelf life and it’s not even 15 minutes of fame anymore, it’s 15 seconds.”

But with a recent article from Perez Hilton, and a request from Steve Harvey to join him in Chicago on his show (for a “best husband in America” segment, no less), Paulson’s title of Most Romantic Man Ever seems to be sticking (although the Harvey appearance won’t happen because Derrick’s Canadian).

“Everybody keeps joking that Ellen’s going to see it! Ellen’s going to see it! So I kept throwing it off like it just wouldn’t happen,” said Dana with a laugh. “But then the Ashton Kutcher thing happened and it sort of went from there!”

Derrick’s spontaneity existed before he pulled out his cellphone to film Dana’s reactions. The couple, married for seven years, experienced the first taste of Derrick’s supreme surprises right after their wedding social.

“The next day, we woke up and were like, ‘Wow! That’s finally over! Thank God! What a stressful moment!’ But then he was looking out the window and was like, ‘I think somebody’s here…’ ” Dana said with a smile. “And a limo pulled up, and it took us out to a cabin that he rented for three days just to get away and unwind, just to say thank you for everything.”

After the video skyrocketed to popularity, Derrick began receiving private messages from men looking for love advice on how to sweep their gals off their feet.

“I’m getting a lot of private messages from boyfriends and husbands being like, ‘Dude, give me a bit of advice! I’ve got this coming up, how can I surprise her?! What should I do?!’ So I try and give them some tips and that sort of thing.”

Is a dating column from Winnipeg’s most romantic man in the works?

Derrick laughs.

“Maybe I’ll look into something like that. I could reach out to all the men out there and share my wisdom with them.”