Bella Thorne is pushing back against criticism after she decided to propose to her fiancé, Mark Emms, nearly two years after he first asked her to marry him.
On Saturday, August 16, the 27-year-old actress and singer shared a series of photos and videos on Instagram revealing the moment she got down on one knee to present Emms with a ring. The post was accompanied by a caption marking their relationship milestones: “3 years ago we met, 1 year later he proposed, Now 1 year later so did I [...].”
The clips showed Thorne kneeling in front of Emms with a ring box in hand, while photos captured the elaborate setup she had arranged for the occasion.
The romantic scene was decorated with glowing candles, vibrant floral arrangements, and red, heart-shaped balloons carrying the words, “I Love You.”
The moment was clearly intended as a celebration of love and equality within their relationship.
Although many of her followers applauded the gesture, flooding the comments with well-wishes, one remark in particular stirred debate.
A user wrote: “Ok ladies let’s not normalise this, okay?” The comment quickly went viral, amassing close to 80,000 likes and sparking a conversation over whether women proposing to men should be considered unconventional.
Thorne, never one to shy away from addressing public opinion, responded to the chatter the following day.
Sharing a photo of Emms relaxing with a dog on his lap, she posted on her Instagram Stories: “The comments on my post are hilarious!! Totally split down the middle. Half of u are like let’s not normalize proposing to your partner, other half is like f*** yeah girl power this is the sweetest!!”
Emms, a British film and television producer, first proposed to Thorne in May 2023 at her California home. Vogue reported at the time that he presented her with a striking emerald-cut diamond ring.
Even then, Thorne already had her wedding vision mapped out. She told the outlet that she wanted to wed in the English countryside, where Emms is from, and that she hoped to wear not just one wedding gown, but four. “Every bride does not need one gown, but four!” she said with a laugh.
The couple first crossed paths in 2022 at model Cara Delevingne’s birthday party in Ibiza. Reflecting on their meeting, Thorne described it as an instant connection, saying, “It was love at first sight as the sun rose.”
In a December 2023 interview with PEOPLE, Thorne opened up about how her relationship with Emms deepened following their engagement.
“Every day we kind of draw closer,” she explained. “It’s really like, ‘Oh wow, you’re my partner. Let’s do this together.’ So that kind of becomes more real every day and solidifies our partnership more and more.”