It seems Amal Alamuddin was just as surprised as the rest of us when George Clooney proposed: the two didn’t have the “Should we get married?” talk ahead of time so he didn’t know if she’s say yes—and she didn’t, for about 25 minutes!
To set that scene for his proposal, George—whose appearance on Ellen will air today—lit candles, hand-picked music (“Why Shouldn’t I?” by his aunt, legendary cabaret singer Rosemary Clooney) and set out a home-cooked dinner for his then-girlfriend—and she walked away from the table to wash dishes. (“Which she’s never done,” George told Ellen.)
George blew out the candle—part of his plan all along—and then asked his confused girlfriend to hand him the lighter in a box, which had an engagement ring inside!
“She pulls it out, looks at it, and says, ‘It’s a ring.’” remembers George. “Like somebody had left it there some other time. So I got down on my knee and said, ‘I couldn’t imagine spending the rest of my life without you.’ And she kept looking at the ring and looking and me and was like, ‘Oh my god.’”
But she still didn’t say yes!
“We now know, because there was playlist, it was like 25 minutes! And I finally said, ‘I hope the answer’s yes, but I need an answer, because I’m 52, and I could throw out my hip pretty soon.’ And then she said yes. So it worked out pretty well.”
If you want to watch, the proposal story starts two and a half minutes minutes in.
For more George, watch Gold Globes Stars Talk Fashion, Cats, and George Clooney on the Red Carpet.