Stacey Solomon and Joe Swash have been happily married for three years, but their romantic woodland engagement wasn't all it seemed.
Looking back at his proposal plans, Joe reflected that it was a "stressful" experience and noted that "everything went wrong." During a joint appearance on the Newlyweds podcast with Jamie Laing and Sophie Haboo, the Loose Women star – who met her husband on I'm a Celebrity in 2010 – opened up about the surprise, which took place in the woods outside their home, Pickle Cottage, with their children.
"It was beautiful and it was wonderful, but Joe is a real flapper and a panicker," she began, with Joe adding: "You know when I'm lying or when I'm up to something."
© InstagramSince the milestone moment took place amid the coronavirus pandemic on Christmas Eve in 2020, they had to balance social distancing regulations with their desire to capture their engagement on camera.
"Stacey's dad is a photographer, so I phoned him up and said, 'Look, we've got to keep distance. I'm going to do it in the forest. You find a tree to hide behind and take some secret photos," Joe explained.
Elaborate stories
© GettyTrying to stick to the plan was not as easy as Joe had thought, and he was left raising his voice at the family and having to concoct stories in order to get Stacey to walk to his chosen location, including one "affair" rumour.
"Everything had gone wrong. I couldn't get them out of the house on time. In the end, I was shouting at them. I was like, 'This is not the way I'm going to propose to my wife,'" Joe confessed.
"Her dad's got a number plate that says 'D Solomon' on it. He's parked right by the gate," he added, before coming up with plausible excuses for why her father would be visiting.
© Instagram"Wow, he might be having an affair. He might be dogging. We never know. Let's just go in and have a little look," he said, much to the amusement of Jamie and Sophie, who couldn't contain their giggles.
Continuing the story from her perspective, Stacey said she spotted the huge white floral display Joe had organised for the backdrop of the photos and thought it had sinister connotations.
© Instagram"But I walked into the forest and I was like, 'Someone has died. Something bad has happened here.' And he was like, 'Let's go and have a look.'
"I genuinely was like, 'Who is this man I'm living with, with my children, who wants to go and visit someone's grave?'" she joked.
If that wasn't enough mishaps to navigate, Joe revealed that two children in the forest began meddling with the flowers. The EastEnders star said: "As we're walking up, I've heard David pop behind the tree and go to these two little kids, 'Leave the flowers alone.' And she's gone, 'That's my dad.'
"So it completely went from this big romantic gesture to someone's dead, Dave's attacking two kids, she thinks her dad's having an affair in the forest. It was honestly so stressful," he concluded.
Stacey's engagement ring
Joe proposed with a halo ring including Australian Opals, which was a sweet nod to their love story.
"Opal is my birthstone and Australia is where we fell in love. It gives me goosebumps every time I look at them," she explained, but she later tweaked the design to include a gold band.
She revealed she wanted to make it more "dainty", but assured fans that they used the same rocks when redesigning the ring.
"Joe also had my ring changed to gold because I wear more gold than silver. It's all the same stones, but we moved them around a bit so it was more dainty for my fingers," she wrote ahead of her wedding in 2022.
© InstagramThe couple were planning to get married in July 2021, but they delayed their nuptials after learning they were expecting baby Rose, who was born on Stacey's birthday, 4 October 2021.
They got married at their family home in front of her four kids Zachary, Leighton, Rex and Rose, and Joe's son Harry from a previous relationship. They have since welcomed a fifth child, Belle.
Following their big day, Stacey debuted a third ring which boasts a gold band and a giant emerald-cut rock, layered next to her eternity wedding band.
