Romance is in the air - divorce is on the airwaves

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters Life!) - On a day when romance is supposed to be in the air, a U.S. radio station has been overwhelmed by people wanting to take advantage of its Valentine's Day offer of a free divorce.

WKLC-FM in Charleston, West Virginia, had more than 1,500 entrants apply on its Web site by late Thursday morning, well in excess of the 50 or so it expected when it launched the promotion on Monday, said program director Jay Nunley.

"A lot of people out there want a divorce," said Nunley. "We are getting about one (application) a minute."

He said the station launched the promotion to "make fun" of the hype surrounding Valentine's Day.

The winner, to be randomly selected when the promotion ends at 4 p.m. EST, will receive 10 billable hours from a local law firm, worth about $3,000, Nunley said.

He added that the station would check with the spouse of the winning applicant first to ensure the divorce was not a surprise.

Most applicants are already separated and have entered the competition because they can't afford the legal fees for a divorce, said Nunley. They had to submit their reasons for wanting a divorce.

Nunley said he had received "30 or 40" calls from people who objected to the promotion on the grounds that it makes light of marriage. But the general response, he said, had been "overwhelmingly positive."

"They think what we are doing is tacky or sleazy," he said. "I might agree with tacky, but I don't think its sleazy."

(Reporting by Jon Hurdle, editing by Michelle Nichols and Patricia Reaney)