14 Female Celebs Who Proposed to Their Partners
14 Female Celebs Who Proposed to Their Partners
Carly Breit, Emily KrauserWed, August 12, 2026 at 2:57 PM UTC
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Rita Ora and Taika Waititi attend the ‘Vanity Fair’ Oscar afterparty at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, Calif., on March 12, 2023Credit: Amy Sussman/Getty Images
Tradition is lovely, but some proposals are meant to break the mold.
There’s no rule saying women can’t be the ones to ask for their partners’ hands in marriage — so some female celebrities did just that!
Rita Ora, Sarah Snook and Kristen Bell are among the stars who’ve flipped the script, proving that the moment is just as special coming from the less expected side. Proposals have ranged from elaborate asks, like Pink’s motocross roadside signs, to casual question-popping, à la Haley Lu Richardson during an at-home pizza night.
A few even decided that engagements were so nice, they had to do it twice. That was the case for Bella Thorne and Lindsey Vonn, who both stressed equality as the reasons behind their decisions to get down on one knee.
Ahead, find out which A-list women didn’t wait for their partners to propose.
01 of 14
Bella Thorne
From left: Bella Thorne attends ‘The Hollywood Reporter’ Women in Entertainment event at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Dec. 3, 2025; Bella Thorne proposes to fiancé Mark Emms in August 2025Credit: Stefanie Keenan/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty; Bella Thorne/Instagram
Thorne initially got engaged to her partner, Mark Emms, on May 13, 2023, when the film and TV producer popped the question at the actress’ California home after nine months of dating, per Vogue.
Two years later, Thorne got down on one knee herself.
“3 years ago we met, 1 year later he proposed, Now 1 year later so did I 🥴❤️,” she wrote on Instagram in August 2025.
At the time, some fans criticized the Shake It Up alum’s unique second proposal, and she addressed the chatter with PEOPLE at The Hollywood Reporter’sannualWomen in Entertainment Gala in December 2025.
“It’s hilarious. I was like, there was a war, there was a debate going on, a social debate over this, which was very interesting. Yeah. Funny enough, I actually got more congratulations, like texts and messages when that video [came out], than the first time I got engaged,” she said, adding, “I was like, oh, so nobody cares about me. Everybody only cares about Mark.”
Thorne noted that her proposal only strengthened the pair’s bond.
“Oh my God, he was crying, and he was losing his mind,” Thorne told PEOPLE. “I think showing the equality, like the equalism, in a relationship is so beautiful, and I think that bringing in the romance to his side was nice. I think he was, well, one, he was really shocked, so he was kind of like, ‘What is happening here?’ And yeah, I think it made us a lot stronger together as a team.”
02 of 14
Rita Ora
Rita Ora and Taika Waititi attend the ‘Vanity Fair’ Oscar afterparty at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, Calif., on March 12, 2023Credit: Amy Sussman/Getty Images
Ora’s now-husband, filmmaker Taika Waititi, told Voguein August 2023 that he “said ‘yes’ instantly” when she proposed on their vacation in Palm Springs, Calif., during the summer of 2022. Their private at-home wedding took place in L.A. just a few weeks later on Aug. 4, 2022.
In May 2023, the “For You” singer explained that, like her wedding ceremony, the proposal itself was simple and heartfelt. She told Glamour UK that there was “no real getting down on one knee.”
Ora continued, “It was more like, ‘I want to marry you. Let’s just do it.’ ”
03 of 14
Becca Kufrin
Becca Kurfrin and Thomas Jacobs in Hawaii in May 2022Credit: thomas jacobs/instagram
When Becca Kufrinannounced her engagement to Thomas Jacobs in May 2022, she revealed that she proposed.
“In the ultimate plot twist ... HE SAID YES!” the Bachelorette alum wrote on Instagram. “We’ve been keeping this secret just between us and close family & friends for a while but we’re so excited to shout it from the rooftops! I finally found my chauffeur for life and the one who makes my heart smile every single day.”
In his own Instagram post, Jacobs added: “The ultimate UNO reverse card / power move. You keeping me on my toes for a lifetime has a great ring to it. Cheers to forever Boops.”
The pair actually got engaged twice. In October 2022, five months after Kufrin proposed, Jacobs decided it was his turn to get down on one knee.
Kurfrin and Jacobs tied the knot on Oct. 13, 2023. They’ve also welcomed two children together: sons Benson Lee, born in September 2023, and Steven Jon, born in April 2026.
04 of 14
Sarah Snook
Dave Lawson and Sarah Snook attend a dinner at the Ralph Lauren Private Hospitality Suite during the Australian Open 2026 at Melbourne Park in Australia on Feb. 1, 2026Credit: James D. Morgan/Getty
During an interview with Vogue Australia, Snook revealed that she quietly married her close friend, actor and comedian Dave Lawson, in February 2021 after the two were locked down together in Melbourne, Australia, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’ve been friends since 2014, lived together, traveled together, always excited to see each other, but totally platonic,” she told the publication. “We’ve just never been single at the same time.”
The All Her Fault star said that after falling in love, she proposed, and the two wed in her Brooklyn, N.Y., backyard.
“We had matching Blunnies,” Snook told Vogue, referring to the couple’s footwear choice the day of their wedding.
The couple welcomed their first child together, a daughter whose name they’ve kept private, in 2023, just as Snook’s hit series Succession ended.
05 of 14
Jodie Turner-Smith
Jodie Turner-Smith and Joshua Jackson attend the EE British Academy Film Awards at Royal Albert Hall in London on Feb. 2, 2020Credit: David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images
During a July 2021 appearance on The Tonight Show, Joshua Jackson told host Jimmy Fallon that it was his then-wife Jodie Turner-Smith who suggested they get hitched.
After Fallon asked the Dr. Deathactor if the pair always knew they would get married, Jackson cheekily responded, “I knew the moment she asked me!”
Jackson went on to detail Turner-Smith’s New Year’s Eve proposal: “We were in Nicaragua. It was very beautiful, incredibly romantic. We were walking down the beach, and she asked me to marry her.”
The Dawson’s Creek alum said that he wasn’t expecting the proposal, but admits Turner-Smith “was quite adamant and she was right.”
Jackson later elaborated on the story — and addressed the racist, misogynistic comments Turner-Smith received because of it — in an interview with Refinery29 in August 2021.
“It could not possibly have been more romantic. And yes, my wife did propose to me, and yes, I did say ‘yes,’ but what I didn’t say in that interview was there was a caveat, which is that I’m still old school enough that I said, ‘This is a yes, but you have to give me the opportunity [to do it too],’ ” he explained.
Jackson noted that he was most focused on speaking to Turner-Smith’s biological father and her stepdad, whom he said “raised her,” before their nuptials.
“[I said], ‘You have to give me the opportunity to ask both of those men for your hand in marriage,’ “ he continued. “And then, ‘I would like the opportunity to re-propose those to you and do it the old-fashioned way down on bended knee.’ So, that’s actually how the story ended up.”
Jackson and Turner-Smith secretly wed in December 2019 and welcomed daughter Juno in April 2020. After four years of marriage, Turner-Smith filed for divorce in October 2023. They finalized the divorce in May 2025.
06 of 14
Jenna Bush Hager
Jenna Bush Hager and Henry Hager attend the George H.W. Bush Points of Light Awards Gala at the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum in New York City on Sept. 26, 2019Credit: Jamie McCarthy/Getty
Five years before Jenna Bush Hager’s husband Henry Chase Hager asked her to marry him, she beat him to the punch.
As she told her former Today co-host Hoda Kotb, “I asked Henry to marry me.”
“How did I not know that?” Kotb asked, surprised by the revelation, per Today.com.
“Because he said ‘no,’ and then he asked me five years later,’’ Jenna said.
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At the time of her proposal, the TV personality was in her early twenties, and the pair hadn’t been dating long, but she felt ready to tie the knot.
“After three months of dating — I might’ve had a Christmas cocktail — and we were dancing, and I said, ‘This is it, I know it, let’s just get married, what are we waiting for?’ “ she recalled.
Henry let her down easy, with Jenna sharing, “He smiled, and he was like, ‘I’m crazy about you, but you’re young.’ ’’
Luckily, things worked out when they were supposed to! The pair got engaged in August 2007 and tied the knot in Texas on May 10, 2008. They share three children: daughters Poppy Louise and Margaret “Mila” Laura and son Hal.
07 of 14
Lindsey Vonn
Lindsey Vonn and P.K. Subban share their engagement news on Instagram in December 2019Credit: Lindsey Vonn/Instagram
As part of a sweet Christmas surprise in December 2019, alpine ski racer Vonn popped the question to her partner, hockey star P.K. Subban. The catch? They were already engaged.
“Merry Christmas and happy holidays everyone!!” she captioned the post. “On our 2 year anniversary I returned the favor and asked PK to marry me… and he said yes ☺️”
While Subban first proposed that August, the Olympic gold medalist didn’t see why that meant she couldn’t follow suit, explaining, “We talk about equality, but actions speak louder than words. Men should get engagement rings too, and this is what PK deserves.”
The two split in December 2020 after three years together.
08 of 14
Haley Lu Richardson
Brett Dier and Haley Lu Richardson attend day 2 of the Kari Feinstein Style Lounge at the Andaz Hotel in West Hollywood, Calif., on March 2, 2018Credit: Omar Vega/Invision for KFPR/AP Images
After seven years of dating, Richardson knew she wanted Jane the Virgin actor Brett Dier to be her husband, so “I just asked,” she told Busy Philipps during a March 2019 appearance on Busy Tonight alongside her Five Feet Apart costar Cole Sprouse.
“Neither of us are, like, crazy romantic people, so nothing was planned. He was sitting there eating a pizza, and he was telling me a joke that Shia LaBeouf had said in an interview, and he was, like, pretending to be Shia LaBeouf explaining this joke and for some reason I just cut him off and was like, ‘Wanna marry me?’ ”
“You married Shia LaBeouf,” Sprouse joked.
“Maybe that got us in the mood, I don’t know,” Richardson said with a laugh. “But yeah, we’re engaged now.”
The stars split in 2020, though they didn’t share the news until November 2022.
09 of 14
Kristen Bell
Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell attend the 74th Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Jan. 8, 2017Credit: Steve Granitz/WireImage
Dax Shepardproposed to Bell in December 2009, but the couple famously pledged not to get married until everyone legally could.
Following the Supreme Court’s historic ruling striking down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and overturning California’s Prop 8 on June 26, 2013, the Nobody Wants This star celebrated marriage equality by asking Shepard to marry her.
“.@daxshepard1 will you marry me? Xo #marriageequality #loveislove,” she wrote on X (formerly Twitter), to which the Parenthood alum replied, “F- yes!!!!!!!!!!!”
The actors, who share daughters Lincoln and Delta, quietly wed at the courthouse that October.
10 of 14
Britney Spears
Kevin Federline and Britney Spears attend the Billboard Music Awards at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas on Dec. 8, 2004Credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage
In the summer of 2004, Britney Spears proposed to Kevin Federline while they were flying from Ireland to N.Y.C.
“All of a sudden I said, ‘What if you want to get married?’ And I kind of went from there to asking him if he would marry me,” she recalled to PEOPLE at the time.
At first, Federline said ‘no.’
“I was taken by surprise. I thought the guy was supposed to ask the girl,” he said. “So a couple of minutes went by, and then I asked her.”
Federline added, “I wasn’t really thinking about asking her right away, but I did without reservation. I’d known for a while that she’s the one.”
Spears and Federline wed in a surprise ceremony on Sept. 18, 2004, but Spears later filed for divorce in November 2006. The exes share two sons, Sean Preston and Jayden James.
11 of 14
Pink
Pink and Carey Hart attend the 40th American Music Awards at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live in Los Angeles on Nov. 18, 2012Credit: Kevin Mazur/AMA2012/WireImage
In June 2005, Pink took her marital status into her own hands by proposing to motocross star Carey Hart at the Pro 250 class finals.
As he entered the third lap of the race, the “So What” singer held up a pit board that read, “Will You Marry Me?” followed by one that said, “I’m serious!” when Hart failed to pull over.
The couple tied the knot in Costa Rica on Jan. 7, 2006. They later welcomed daughter Willow Sage in June 2011 and son Jameson Moon in December 2016. A source told PEOPLE in February 2026 that Pink and Hart had separated after 20 years of marriage, but the singer refuted the report in a video shared on Instagram.
12 of 14
Judge Judy Sheindlin
Judge Judy Sheindlin on ‘Judge Judy’ in 1996Credit: Paramount TV/Courtesy Everett Collection
Judge Judy Sheindlin’s tough love showed when she asked her husband Jerry Sheindlin to marry her in the late 1970s.
“I did propose to him,” the courtroom television star told DuJour. “I said to him, ‘Where is this relationship going?’ And he tried to weasel out of it, with his, ‘Well, you know, why do we have to get married?’ Whatever. He finally capitulated. I told him to pick a date. He picked Flag Day.”
The couple, who share five children from previous marriages, wed in 1977. They divorced in 1990 but remarried the following year.
13 of 14
Gretchen Rossi
Slade Smiley and Gretchen Rossi attend ChefDance, sponsored by Sysco and GiftedTaste, in Park City, Utah, on Jan. 21, 2017Credit: Tiffany Rose/Getty
Gretchen Rossi teared up as she popped the question to Slade Smiley.
Because of “cold feet,” she had previously ended their relationship after learning he may have been planning a proposal, but Rossi later realized Smiley was the one for her.
“With this ring, I hope you’ll say ‘yes,’ and I hope you’ll marry me, and I hope we’ll have a wonderful, fabulous, maybe not perfect, but happy life together,” she said during a season 8 episode of Real Housewives of Orange County.
In response, Smiley got down on one knee and told Rossi it would be a “privilege” to be her husband.
The pair knew each other for years before they started dating in 2009. Though they haven’t tied the knot since Rossi’s 2013 proposal, they welcomed daughter Skylar Gray in July 2019.
14 of 14
Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor arrives at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, FranceCredit: Photoshot/Getty
Elizabeth Taylor famously had seven husbands, but only proposed to one — the Hollywood icon asked British actor Michael Wilding, who was 20 years her senior, to marry her, according to The Guardian.
After Wilding said “yes,” the two wed on Feb. 21, 1952. They had two kids together — sons Michael Jr. and Christopher, born in 1953 and 1955, respectively — before amicably divorcing after five years of marriage.
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