Big Brother VIP Australia favourite Ellie Gonsalves is now engaged to her long-time partner Ross Scutts after he proposed at Australia Zoo.
Ross popped the question in the middle of the legendary Crocoseum, moments before Ellie fed a crocodile alongside Terri and Robert Irwin.
The once-in-a-lifetime experience comes as the 30-year-old model nears 12 years as a global ambassador for Wildlife Warriors.
The proposal was broadcast to Instagram via a live video, which began with Ross preparing to get down on one knee.
“I have a little surprise for Ellie,” Ross said, flashing the ring box to the camera. “She’s feeding a crocodile… Hopefully, she’s saying ‘yes’.”
Ellie later shared the clip with her 1.2 million followers, telling them: “BRB… I’M GETTING MARRIED!!!!!!!!!”
“What an amazing surprise right before I was about to feed a crocodile,” she penned. “My best friend [Ross] asked me to marry him.. and I said YES.”
Thanking everyone involved in the surprise, Ellie confessed she was “so glad this happened at such a beautiful place that means so much to us”.
Ellie Gonsalves’ and Ross Scutts’ Long-Awaited Engagement
Despite having been together for nearly 13 years, Ellie has been open about the reasons why she and her entrepreneur fiancé have put off getting married.
To begin with, both Ellie and Ross have lost their fathers in the years since they’ve been together.
During a heartfelt chat with Caitlyn Jenner in the Big Brother VIP hotel, the model revealed the pain that would come with walking down the aisle.
“Us getting married is a completely different situation to a lot of people because we both lost our dads,” she said. “It’s going to be a really hard day. Like a really hard day. My dad not walking me down the aisle. His dad not being there.”
In another Instagram post following her engagement, Ellie echoed this sentiment.
“We’ve always been asked why we’ve waited so long to get engaged,” she wrote. “Ross & I wanted to wait for a time we could get past the loss of our dads & be in a really great place (mentally) where we could celebrate our love for each other.”
Calling it “the most beautiful day”, Ellie commended Ross on proposing in a place that means a lot to the pair.
“I’m glad you’ve picked a place that is SO special to us,” she said. “[A place] that we’ve shared so many incredible memories with BOTH of our dads.”
The Special Meaning Behind Ellie Gonsalves’ Engagement Ring
Ellie thanks Calleija Jewels for bringing to life a ring that encapsulates her and Ross’ love.
“THANKYOU [sic] to @CalleijaJewels for creating the most beautiful ring to symbolize our love for each other,” she wrote online.
“Even down to the initials R for Ross, D for daddy & of course their signature C for Calleija on our ring.. which represents the past, present & future.” How beautiful!
Congratulations Ellie and Ross!
Know something about Big Brother VIP Australia that we don’t? Spill the tea here!
Get the tea first! Follow So Dramatic! on Instagram, and tune in on Mondays to get your reality tea fix with the So Dramatic! podcast with Megan Pustetto.
