Jake Quickenden and Danielle Fogarty are the picture of happiness as they pose with their families in new photos released by HELLO! magazine. The couple have celebrated their engagement in this week's issue of the magazine, just days after Jake proposed on his 29th birthday. One photo shows the former I'm a Celebrity finalist and his girlfriend Danielle posing with Jake's relatives, including his mum, stepfather, nephew, older brother and sister-in-law. Another picture shows the engaged couple with Danielle's family.
"I had a whole speech prepared, but as soon as I opened the ring box I was blubbing and I couldn't speak," Jake reveals of the moment he dropped to one knee, clutching a stunning oval diamond ring to propose to his girlfriend of two years marketing executive Danielle, 26, the eldest daughter of motorcycling champion Carl Fogarty. "I didn't even ask Danielle to marry me, but luckily she said 'Yes' when she saw the ring – and then she started crying too."
"As soon as I opened the ring box I was blubbing and I couldn't speak," Jake reveals
Jake reveals he chose his birthday on 3 September to propose at his favourite wine bar in Ribchester, near Preston, with their families in on the secret, so that Danielle didn't guess what he had planned. "From the moment we met, I knew I'd propose one day and I chose to do it on my birthday because I knew I could get away with being a bit sneaky," he said.
"Even though you didn't say anything, I knew that this was the moment I'd been dreaming of. It could not have been a more perfect moment," said Danielle. Jake added: "Danielle always said she wanted her family around when she gets engaged and I felt the same. We're both really close to our families so as soon as everyone walked around the corner, we were both crying again."
The couple plan to wed in 2019
Jake shocks fans with hair transplant
Jake and Danielle, who plan to wed in 2019, first met when they were introduced to each other at the I'm a Celebrity afterparty, a result of the friendship forged between Jake and Carl in the Australian jungle. Keeping to tradition, Jake asked Carl's permission to marry his eldest daughter, eight days before the proposal.