‘I wish he’d given me a hint!’ Stacey Solomon admits she nearly MISSED Joe Swash’s Christmas Eve proposal as she jokes she’s been planning their wedding ‘for years’
Stacey Solomon made her grand return to the Loose Women panel to a bridal fanfare on Thursday, after getting engaged to boyfriend Joe Swash on Christmas Eve.
The presenter, 31, proudly displayed her engagement ring after Joe popped the question by a beautiful arrangement of roses in the woods, as she told her co-stars she nearly missed his proposal by refusing to go out for a walk.
Stacey joked she wished her new fiancé had given her a hint before they headed out as she thought someone had passed away in the woods when she saw the white flowers, before the former EastEnders star, 38, called the studio later in the show.
First interview since engagement: Stacey Solomon made her grand return to the Loose Women panel to a bridal fanfare on Thursday, with new fiancé Joe Swash calling in to surprise her
The TV star was greeted with confetti and bridal music as Jane Moore, Judi Love and Carol McGiffin welcomed her back to the panel, with congratulations on her engagement.
She admitted she had no idea Joe was planning to propose, and was puzzled when he insisted on going out for a walk in the woods with their children.
The mother-of-three explained: ‘Oh Jane, it was really funny, so basically we were all in the house, it was Christmas Eve, I made people wear matching gnome outfits.
‘Joe said lets go to the woods for a walk, and he kept saying and all of a sudden he got really frantic, he said ”it’s getting dark we have to go for a walk” so I start shouting ”boys we have to go for a walk!”
On cloud nine: The presenter, 31, proudly displayed her engagement ring after Joe popped the question by a beautiful arrangement of roses in the woods (pictured)
Welcome back! The TV star was greeted with confetti and bridal music as Jane Moore, Judi Love and Carol McGiffin welcomed her back to the panel
‘He’d given me nothing!’ Stacey joked she wished her new fiancé had given her a hint before they headed out as she thought someone had passed away in the woods
‘We went out and he asked someone to put roses on the trees where our boys run and I thought oh no someone has passed away in our woods. He said shall we have a look and I thought no we can’t do that, it’s disrespectful.’
On how she was overwhelmed with emotion when he finally got down on bended knee, Stacey recalled: ‘I wish he’d given me a hint, he’d given me nothing…. as soon as he said my full name I thought oh my gosh its happening. It’s finally happening.
‘He got down on one knee and I had this really ugly crying face. and he said tell me and I kept going get up get up, and he said well what do you say, and then the boys came and I said yes, yes, yes!
‘It was a shock…I just thought it would be a running joke between the two of us and I thought he would just drag it out for years and we would be like 90 and the kids had left home and then we would get married or something.’
‘It was really funny’: She admitted she had no idea Joe was planning to propose, and was puzzled when he insisted on going out for a walk in the woods with their children
‘I had this ugly crying face’: On how she was overwhelmed with emotion, Stacey recalled: ‘As soon as he said my full name I thought its happening’
The newly-engaged couple, who welcomed son Rex in May 2019, reside in Essex with their children, while Joe’s son Harry, 13, lives with his mother Emma Sophocleous.
Stacey co-parents Zachary, 12, with her former partner Dean Cox and Leighton, eight, with ex-fiancé Aaron Barham.
When asked if she’s kicked off preparations for their big day, the media personality confessed: ‘I was planning this for years!
‘I have started a scrap book, it is like meditation, it is something to look forward to… Who knows if it is going to happen this year with everything that is going on, but just to have something in sight for the future.’
‘I thought I was going to have a panic attack!’ Elsewhere on the show, actor Joe, 38, and their son Rex, 19 months, joined in for a virtual chat, enthusing that his plans worked out in the end
Wedding plans: Stacey later took to Instagram to reveal she is getting married ‘as soon as we can’ because ‘there’s special people in our lives that will not be around forever’
Elsewhere on the show, actor Joe and their toddler Rex joined in for a virtual chat, enthusing that while his plans worked out in the end, the lead-up to the special moment was a ‘nightmare’.
The ex-soap star: ‘It all went to plan, but like Stacey said, trying to get the Solomons out the house is a nightmare. I thought I was going to have a panic attack.
‘I was originally going to do it on Christmas Day but Stacey kept pushing…I had it planned for months and months and then she kept saying, ”Oh wouldn’t it be nice if we got engaged on Christmas Day?”
‘By this time, I had already designed the ring, spoken to her dad and her sister, so I thought, I will push it forwards slightly and do it Christmas Eve. I definitely surprised her because she looked absolutely lovely in that forest.’
‘We have had such a tough year’: Asked if he ever feared that she’d decline his offer, the ex-soap star explained that he would have been ‘devastated if she’d said no’
‘I thought I would have a couple of years grace’: Despite being over the moon at how the proposal turned out, Joe said he didn’t think they’d be walking down the aisle so soon
Asked if he ever feared that she’d decline his offer, Joe explained: ‘I would have been devastated if she’d said no. I hoped after five years and having a baby together, she was going to say yes. But I was so nervous.
‘We have had such a tough year, me and Stace privately, with losing people, my nan and stuff like that.
‘I just thought I have wanted to do it for a long time and there is no better time than right now. It was lovely because all the boys were there and they got to see it.’
Despite being over the moon at how the proposal turned out, the former King of the Jungle said he didn’t think they’d be walking down the aisle within the next year.
The Dancing On Ice 2020 champ joked: ‘To be fair, I didn’ think we were going to get married so soon, I thought I would have a couple of years grace, but by all accounts we are going to get married in a few months…
‘I think Stacey is really keen to do it this year, I am really keen as well because it has been a really tough year and I can’t wait for her to be my wife.’
The loved-up pair met on the set for I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! when the artist was crowned Queen of the Jungle and the former EastEnders star hosted spin-off series Extra Camp in 2010, a year after he took home the title.
The duo confirmed their relationship in January 2016, with the auburn-haired beauty stating at the time: ‘It’s going really well… we’re having fun, spending time together and getting to know each other.’
Blended family: The presenter shares Zachary, 12, with Dean Cox and Leighton, eight, with Aaron Barnham, while Joe raises son Harry, 13 (pictured this year), with ex Emma Sophocleous
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