The Convent in Woodchester features in cringe-worthy episode of MTV’s Catfish where man thinks he’s in a relationship with Katy Perry

That was the hope of American man Spencer Morrill who flew all the way over to Stroud for what he thought would be the first meeting with his girlfriend of six years.

But there was just one problem – he thought the woman of his dreams who he would be meeting for their first date was superstar pop singer Katy Perry.

Instead, the love of his life turned out to be a complete stranger – Canadian-born Harriet from Gloucester.

This incredibly awkward first encounter was filmed as part of the hit MTV show Catfish – which uncovers online scams and fake relationships.

Spencer, from Knoxville, had been convinced he was in a relationship with the superstar despite having never met her face-to-face and only had one “conversation” on the phone.

The painful prank was uncovered in episode 15 of the MTV show when Morrill told presenters Nev Schulman and Max Joseph that he had been exchanging emails and text messages with the 31-year-old singer on a regular basis.

During this time Harriet had been able to convince Spencer that he was in relationship with one of the world's biggest pop stars - even though the real Katy Perry had been married to Russell Brand.

"I've been talking to this woman for the past six years," Spencer tells the show.

"I'm in love with her. We’ve been chatting as much as humanly possible.”

"She's awesome. Katy's funnier than I am, she's smarter than I am. I don't know how many people give her credit for that, but she's very intelligent. Katy's full of life, huge heart.”

During the show Spencer revealed he was so smitten he had even spent a huge amount of his savings to buy her an engagement ring using his grandmother's emerald.

Their one exchange over the phone, to a number he had for her in Canada, had cost him $270.

Determined to find out the truth, Nev and Max were able to trace the number and email address to a woman identified only as Harriet from Gloucester.

The crew flew over to the UK with Spencer in May this year to film the confrontation.

This awkward meet-up takes place in the grounds of The Convent – where Spencer finally finds out he’s been ‘catfished’.

Yet even when he’s met the catfisher in person it still takes some time for Spencer to realise he’s been lied to all along.

"We've found the person you've been talking to beyond really any shred of doubt, and you still want to believe the thing that makes you happier," Schulman said on the show. "You need to know that you're not talking to Katy Perry."

"And you [Harriet] need to start thinking about the fact that this is the actual human being. As weird and crazy as he might be, he has a heart and was giving it to you 100 percent for six years of his life. For both of you, there's some self-reflection that needs to happen."

Harriet reportedly apologised for what she did and said, "I can't change what I did, but I understand that it was really wrong," she said.

Morrill then went on to say: "I'll be okay. I'll be fine. The bad's in the past. What's ahead will be good."