Celebrity News May 24, 2012
How Ace Young Kept His 'Idol' Proposal a Secret
It was finalists Jessica Sanchez and Phillip Phillips' big night on “American Idol,” but it was former contestant Ace Young who stole the spotlight with a surprise proposal to fellow “AI” alum Diana DeGarmo.
How did Young pull it off? He explained to People at the season 11 finale post party, "I called Nigel [Lythgoe] directly last week and said, 'I want to do this. I'm going to do this. Is there any way I could do it at the show?' He said 'Yes, I'm not going to tell anybody until the day of ... [and] I want you to figure it out with Ryan [Seacrest]."
The plan worked (DeGarmo was “completely caught off guard”), maybe a little too well. She nearly spoiled the surprise with a trip to the bathroom.
"I actually almost got up to go to the bathroom to fix my hair," laughed DeGarmo. "And then I just started shaking [on stage]."
Young went on to reveal how he helped design DeGarmo's new David Webb sparkler.
"A month ago, she said, 'Gold needs to come back,'" he said. "I was like, I agree, so mental note. Her favorite thing is a sunflower and she loves yellow, so one of our dear friends put together a ring that has a yellow diamond, a gold band and two smaller diamonds on the side that are clear, so it's like a sunflower."
