‘Below Deck’ Alum Ashton Pienaar Engaged to Sarah McAlpine Cooper

On Tuesday, Pienaar announced their engagement while discussing his journey in life. He wrote on Instagram, “Over the last 5 years, my life’s journey has been really all over the place. I’ve shaken things up, put myself out there, done hard work on myself, and peeled back my layers. I followed my personal mantra of having security in the unknown, and kept faith that if I remained true to myself and put in the work, good things would come my way.”

Ashton added, “I did this all for the sake of establishing a better, more fulfilling life for myself… And for you @sarahmcalpine. For us. From here on out, it’s you and me — taking on life’s challenges and succeeding together. My love and respect for you grows with every passing day. I am honored to call you my fiancé!❤️.”

Sarah shared her own Instagram about the proposal. She wrote, "I thought I was going to the airport to say goodbye for 6 months and instead… I said yes to forever!"

"Life with Ash has been this steady whirlwind, keeping me on my toes while sweeping me off my feet," she added. "Let our new beginning start @ashtonpienaar! The easiest YES!"

Pienaar appeared on the sixth and seventh seasons of “Below Deck.”

During the seventh season of the show, Pienaar got into a confrontation with chief stew Kate Chastain. During the altercation, he punched a window in a van.

Years ago, Chastain recalled the incident, telling Decider, “I was scared but also just in shock. I was in a place where I could not have escaped if I wanted to. I played possum, just froze and held still. Why is [Ashton] so mad right now? Why is he punching windows? Why is everybody screaming stop the van? What’s he gonna do? What is happening? It all kinda happened really fast.”

Pienaar would eventually apologize for his actions during the cast reunion. He told Kate, “I was completely drunk, I was out of my mind. I’m sorry for that. I hate the fact that everything has been spun the way it is. But you know what, I have to take responsibility for that because I’m the one that behaved the way I did.”

He insisted, “I’m making serious changes in my life because I’m not proud of the person I saw on camera that night. And I am extremely sorry. I have amazing relationships with all the women in my life. The way everything has turned out and the way everything has turned out in the real world now and the labels I’m being labeled with, I’m extremely ashamed of.”