Congratulations are due in order forCynthia Baileyand Mike Hill!
PEOPLE can exclusively report that after 14 months of dating,Real Housewives of Atlantastar, 52, and the sports journalist, 48, are engaged to be married!
Hill proposed to Bailey on Friday with a gorgeous 5 carat princess cut solitaire ring in Atlanta at the grand opening of her new business, The Bailey WineCeller.
The surprise proposal was a family affair, with Bailey’s daughterNoelle Robinson, 19, and Hill’s two daughters —Kayla, 17, and Ashlee, 19 — all in attendance, alongside a crowd of the couple’s closest friends and Bailey’sRHOAcast mates.
Mike Hill and Cynthia Bailey.Night Owl Post Productions Nick McElroy and Courtney Ajinca Events
Night Owl Post Productions Nick McElroy and Courtney Ajinca Events
Cynthia Bailey.Night Owl Post Productions Nick McElroy and Courtney Ajinca Events
So how did Hill pull it off? Well, he had a little help from celebrity event planner, Courtney Ajinça.
According to a source on the scene, during Hill’s speech, Kayla interrupted to hand him a bottle with a big question mark on it — telling him, “No dad, I think you should propose like this.”
Then, he told Noelle that he needed her help to open the bottle and she passed him the ring box, helping him open that before he dropped to one knee and professed his love.
As he did, Noelle, Kayla and Ashlee all gathered behind him with a hand-made puzzle piece sign that real, “Can we be a family?”
It all turned Bailey into a ball of emotions. Though she was confused at first, Bailey broke down in tears when she saw Hill get down on one knee and ask her the big question. She quickly said yes.
The crowd quickly erupted in applause, the source tells PEOPLE, chanting “Congratulations Chill!” — the nickname Bailey and Hill have adapted on social media.
Mike Hill.Night Owl Post Productions Nick McElroy and Courtney Ajinca Events
The proposal.Night Owl Post Productions Nick McElroy and Courtney Ajinca Events
Mike Hill and Cynthila Bailey.Night Owl Post Productions Nick McElroy and Courtney Ajinca Events
Cynthia Bailey and Mike Hill’s kids.Night Owl Post Productions Nick McElroy and Courtney Ajinca Events
This will be the second marriage for both Bailey and Hill, who currently works at Fox Sports 1 out of Los Angeles.
She was previously married toPeter Thomasfrom 2010 in 2017.
Cynthia Bailey and Mike Hill.Leon Bennett/WireImage
Bailey has made no secret about her desire to walk down the aisle again and marry Hill.
“I want to marry Mike. I love Mike. He’s my soulmate,” she told PEOPLE in December. “We talk about getting married all the time. I’m hoping a proposal will happen soon, if not before the end of this year, then hopefully next. I’ve certainly been dropping enough hints! But God has a plan, so I’m just letting it go.”
“You know, we’ve both been married before, so marriage is something we both understand,” she added. “We’re not jumping into this blind. We both have kids and we both love each other very much. We know marriage is the next step.”
Bailey is currently filming the 12th season ofRHOA, which is expected to premiere before the end of the year.
source: people.com
