John Whaite's relationship with his fiancé Paul Atkins hit the headlines after he opened up about his feelings for Johannes Radebe following his stint on Strictly 2022.
The Great British Bake Off winner met the graphic designer on Facebook in 2008, but it wasn't until 2017 that John announced their engagement.
Next to a photo of himself and his long-term partner dressed in matching white shirts and blue suit trousers, he wrote: "My true love. We've decided to get married. We've fought for these rights, and we shall use them."
While he has not shared specific details about the proposal, he can be seen wearing a band on his left hand in the Instagram snap.
© InstagramJohn and Paul had already begun thinking about their wedding plans three years before they got engaged and admitted they would want a "low-key", quintessentially British celebration.
"My mum has an old manor house up north so I'd like it there," John explained to Attitude in 2014. "We'd like an 'English country bumpkin' wedding! But as there are no rules, we can do whatever we like."
He continued: "When we first started going out it still felt a little bit wrong. I used to shudder at the word ‘gay’, because my family never spoke about it. Whenever it was mentioned on Corrie, I would feel myself burning red as if I’d done something wrong. But now the laws have changed. Gay is part of the human nature."
© Dave J HoganAhead of John's Strictly appearance, Paul said he wasn't concerned about the infamous curse on Steph's Packed Lunch, while John added to The Sun: "There is no attraction [to Johannes] because you see sweat and everything."
However, John later changed his tune and admitted he "fell in love" with the professional South African dancer while performing as the show's first same-sex coupling.
In a new interview with The Times, John said that he "spent some time apart" from Paul after the show ended, as he had made his feelings for Johannes known.
© BBC"I fell in love with him," said the 34-year-old, who came second on the BBC competition. "I can't speak for him – because I'm not allowed to, legally – but it felt like there was love there.
"So yes, I fell in love with Johannes. I still love Johannes. Of course I do."
He added: "All the way through, me and Paul discussed it. Paul of all people deserved to understand how I was feeling.
"You go through life being told that you'll fall in love with someone, you'll get married, you'll have children and that's it. But love can't just be directed to one person. The heart can easily split into two or three or four. And those loves aren't mutually exclusive."
© InstagramJohannes also confessed his love for John on the Reign with Josh Smith podcast. "I have fallen in love with my art form again because of John. The opportunity to be so creative with what we had to come up every week. I was trying to figure things out as I was going along. Not once did he make me feel otherwise," he gushed.
"In my moments of doubt, John just stood by me and waited for me to figure it all out. And I can’t tell you that patience, I’m in love with the man. And I know he’s a married man – soon to be – but let me tell you something, people come into your life and you just don’t know how you’ve been doing without them this entire time."
John said he has worked through his problems with his fiance during an appearance on Lorraine as he promoted his new book, Dancing on Eggshells. "And the point of the story and the whole book is a story of love, if it weren't for my relationship with Paul where we speak candidly and honestly, I don't know where I'd be in life."
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