A couple who got engaged at an Ed Sheeran concert in Manchester have gone viral on TikTok after a video of the proposal raked in millions of views. Andrew Gunning, from Crewe got down on one knee to propose to Tanya Preen, from Nantwich, his girlfriend of over two years at the Etihad gig on June 12.
In the video captured by nearby fans, Ed was playing Overpass Graffiti while Tanya was facing the stage, dancing and singing along to the music. A visibly nervous Andrew can then be seen getting down on one knee behind her before he nudged her to get her to turn around.
Tanya, a mixture of surprise and happiness etched on her face, said yes and the lovebirds embraced before Andrew put the ring on her finger as people around them cheered, CheshireLive reports.
"There's no other words to say other than I was bricking it," said Andrew, 35. "From the moment I met this girl, I've loved her. I was worried that the proposal wasn't good enough for her. Not that she would ever think that but, to me, she deserves the world."
Andrew and Tanya, 33, began dating in May 2020 - just a couple of months into the first lockdown. Two years on, Andrew began to think about how he was going to propose.
He even said to the couple's baby son Teddy during Christmas last year that it would be 'the last Christmas' his mum would 'just be his girlfriend'. Despite Tanya not liking big crowds or the attention that would come with it, Andrew bravely decided to pop the question while they were at Ed Sheeran's gig.
Andrew said: "She's always had it in the back of her mind. Every time we go on a date she kept asking if she needed to get 'ready ready'. So I knew that I'd never be able to get the proper reaction from her during a meal or something.
"I know she hates big crowds and wouldn't like the attention. But we were going to Ed Sheeran on the Sunday after getting back from Majorca on the Friday so I thought I'd ask her there."
Speaking of the day itself, he said: "I started doing a Snapchat private story, including with her mum, daughter and close friends. I was taking pictures on the way up there of her saying 'today's the day'. I took a picture of the stadium - we were right at the very front.
"While she was facing the stage, I got the ring out to take a picture to put into the story and I was writing 'she has no idea what's about to happen'. But all these people around me saw me get the ring out and got excited. I had to quickly stop them saying 'nope, nope, not yet'.
"Tanya went to get a drink and they asked me if I was doing it, and I said 'yeah'. If certain songs come up, I was going to do it on those songs.
"They showed me the setlist and I thought 'right OK this is the song I'm doing it on'. I asked one woman if she'd record it for me. Obviously everyone else around knew and they were all recording when she had no idea."
Asked how he felt afterwards, he said: "I felt huge relief but also, this woman has just agreed to be my wife. It's hard to put into words. You could go through a whole Thesaurus and I don't think you could find any word that would describe how happy I was in that moment."
Describing how she felt, Tanya said she was 'shocked' and a 'little embarrassed'. But she also said she 'couldn't be happier right now'.
She said: "I just couldn't believe Andy would propose in that way because he knows I'm not a fan of big crowds and attention so when I turned around I was in shock. It turned into a little embarrassment but I couldn't be happier than I am right now."
But the whirlwind didn't stop there for the couple. They were told by a family member that they were on TikTok and they began getting tagged in post after post on social media.
The video has been viewed a staggering four million times, with more than 500,000 likes and thousands of comments congratulating them. Many fans have been desperately trying to get Ed Sheeran to see the video.
Andrew said: "I just want to thank everyone for sharing our special moment with the world. We really appreciate everyone's comments.
"People keep tagging Ed Sheeran saying he's got to play at our wedding. He's Tanya's favourite artist and she's been to see him numerous times."
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