Television star Duane Chapman - better known by his persona of Dog The Bounty Hunter - has revealed that he is engaged to girlfriend Francie France.
Revealing their happy news in an exclusive interview with The Sun, 67-year-old Dog revealed that he got down on one knee and popped the question during a romantic candlelit proposal at their home in Colorado.
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Recalling the romantic proposal, Francie, 51, said: "I wasn't expecting it at all. I think I had gone to pick up some food and then when I came back he had all the lights turned down with just a few lights on and a bunch of candles lit."
Francie then described the scene as "awesome", and explained Dog asked her to sit down because he needed to talk to her. She said:
"So I put all the food in the kitchen and I came in and he said, ‘I know that God brought you into my life and I don’t want to spend one moment of it without you’.
"And he got down on one knee and he opened the ring box and he said, ‘Will you marry me and spend the rest of our lives together?’
"Who can say no to that? It was wonderful."
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The happy couple is planning to wait until lockdown rules have been lifted to get married, and want their family - including Dog's 12 children, Francie's two sons, and their grandchildren - all to be present for their big day.
Per The Sun, the couple first got together when Dog left a voicemail for Francie's late husband, Bob, asking if he could carry out some work on his property - unaware that he had passed away.
When Francie called Dog to explain, the pair became friends and eventually started dating.
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Dog told the UK publication that he now hopes to have "the biggest wedding there's ever been". The TV star is looking forward to sharing "a little love" once lockdown is over:
"I’ve had so many fans ask ‘When you marry Francie, are you going to let your fans come?’ So we’re negotiating right now because I want to open it up.
"I would love to have the biggest wedding there’s ever been. I’m sorry but that’s just me. I hope I can talk Francie into it and open it to my fans, the 'Dog Pound', to everybody.
"It would be one hell of a party and it’s just what people need right now. I told Francie, people they need a little love after being locked down. I love the idea of that."
The news comes 11 months after Duane lost his wife, Beth Chapman, to cancer.
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Revealing that the couple is prepared to face criticism for their announcement, Francie said: "I think too that there's always going to be people who say we did this wrong or we did that wrong or we've moved on too quickly or too fast.
"But the truth is that both of us have spent three years walking alongside our spouses sick and we know that God brought us together and that's why we don't believe that it's too soon.
"And because we both have done our share of screaming and crying and asking why.
"Then for us to come together the way that we did and build this friendship because of what we've been through, that turned into a love story. We don't believe that it's too soon."
We would like to extend out congratulations to the happy couple!
