The professional ice skater kept her engagement secret for weeks
Dancing on Ice champion Alex Murphy got engaged on 4 December but waited over a month before announcing the news to her followers – and she's still in shock!
The professional ice skater, who won the 2020 competition with Joe Swash, shared a video of the moment her fiancé Paul Klein popped the question, which she admitted took "months of planning." Now, Alex has shared new photos and details exclusively with HELLO! – take a look.
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Alex was dressed in leather leggings and a red belted jacket ahead of her trip to Winter Wonderland in December – or so she thought until Paul, one-half of YouTube duo Woody and Kleiny, began playing a personalised song for her in the car.
"They told me that I was getting into the car and I was doing a blind reaction video to a friend's new song that was coming out," she told us.
Alex burst into tears when she saw the 'Marry Me' sign
"And then obviously, he played the song, and it had to do with us. And I was like, 'What is this?' To be honest, I still thought it was a prank all the way until we got out of the car. Until I saw the sign."
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Paul had set up a white sign that read, 'Will you marry me,' surrounded by red roses while some of their closest friends and family tearfully watched on. Alex said the entire set-up came as a huge shock to her, as they hadn't really spoken about marriage yet.
Paul had set up a surprise proposal with their closest friends and family
"I wasn't expecting it. Or not even close. We obviously knew we were going to be together forever. But we had kind of mentioned that we would talk about all that stuff maybe this coming year. I had no clue, he totally got me," she said, which explains her very emotional reaction.
Paul presented Alex with an oval diamond, which she described as "the perfect ring." And the design was very carefully thought out by Paul, she revealed.
The Dancing on Ice star explained her oval diamond was from New York
"Both my mother and my cousin Cara, who is my sister, they both have gold rings. So I always thought I would want a gold ring because they remind me of them. But it's an oval ring and it has little hidden diamonds around the side of it. It's gorgeous."
The TV star added that the main diamond was sourced from New York, which was a sweet nod to her American heritage.
"He knew the type of diamond that I wanted, so he tried to find the exact right one. I think it just happened to have been in America, which isn't that just amazing?" Alex added. "He loves the American culture. And he, he's adapted to it with my American family."
The couple and their friends went on to celebrate their engagement at Winter Wonderland
Speaking of America, we asked if the couple has any plans to host an engagement party (or a wedding!) there in the future. Alex said she had already travelled to Boston to break the news to her closest friends and family personally around one week after the proposal, but added that they will "definitely" host some sort of wedding celebration in both the UK and the US.
So when can we expect more news about their wedding plans? "I love winter, obviously. I'd love to have a winter wedding. That would be the dream." Watch this space, a 2023 wedding could be on the horizon…
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