Only a year after a whirlwind romance between Bachelor In Paradise alum Michael Turnbull and his leading lady Natasha Candyce, the real-estate agent and former soccer star got down on bended knee and, much to his delight, she said yes!
Watch his Bachie ex Sam Frost talk about her battle with anxiety in the video below!
“I was so surprised, I didn’t know what to expect, to be honest – he’s always surprising me!” Candyce exclusively tells WHO.
The proposal, which took place on Nov. 16, was well thought out – while he was going to wait until Christmas time to pop the question, he bit the bullet and did so with the permission of her family. “I’ve always been traditional and Natasha’s got a lovely Italian family. I wanted to ring up and get permission from the parents first. So I rang up Natasha’s parents [Ange and Roseanne] in the morning and had a good chat with them and asked permission,” Turnbull, 37, tells WHO.
“They were kind enough to say yes, so then I told Natasha, just be dressed and ready to go at 5pm. I went away for a couple of hours before 5pm and then I came back and she was dressed up, looking beautiful, and we had glass of champagne. Then we had a car pick us up and drive us down to Kangaroo Point. I had a private boat waiting for us with a captain and a sea deck waitress; we had some champagne and some food, and then had a sunset cruise down the Brisbane river. It was beautiful.”
After enjoying an array of snacks, Turnbull checked the clock, “I wanted to time it because seven is my lucky number so I asked the question exactly at 7pm – and that way we can always look back at 7 o’clock and say, ‘Oh that was the time that I proposed’ and it’s got a special meaning.”
Needless to say, an excited Candyce did not even stop to look at the ring – a three-and-a-half carat cushion-cut stone with white gold diamond pavé band and halo – because she was just ready to scream, “Yes, yes, yes!”
In hindsight though, 27-year-old Candyce says, “He’s outdone himself, it’s amazing! He did more than well.”
So did her family approve?
“When I asked Natasha’s parents, her mum was quite emotional and her father was – as all fathers would be – quite protective. They were very respectful. I’m very close with Natasha’s parents and I’ve got a very good relationship with them. They were very, very happy for me to ask, and really respected that I asked permission,” he recalls.
“It was pretty funny,” Candyce chimes in. “We called our parents straight after and we FaceTimed them and then obviously being in an Italian family, we had my Nonna there, my Nonno, the champagne was flowing in the background. And then Michael’s parents were in LA so they were in bed – but they took the call and they were really happy,” she says.
The couple is yet to decide on a date, but they plan to tie the knot in 2020 among close family and friends, as well as a few friends from The Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise.
But before they get started on the wedding planning, they will be celebrating in Melbourne for their engagement party.
“We’re actually planning an engagement party in Melbourne for next year – even last night we were going through the guest list and there are so many numbers. Natasha, being from an Italian family, she blows my numbers out of the water. I’ve got like 15 people. And she’s got like 80 people that have to come because they’re family.”
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