Ireland AM host proposes to his long-term love LIVE on television
It's wedding bells once again for Alan Hughes and Karl Broderick, after an on-air proposal this morning.
Alan popped the question to his partner of over 20 years on the Ireland AM set, directly after an on-air segment about the Marriage Equality Bill finally being signed into Irish law.
Wahooooooo Alan just proposed to @karlbroderick & he said yes!! #irelandam pic.twitter.com/f4jWapyAc7
— Ireland AM (@IrelandAMTV3) November 3, 2015
The couple celebrated their civil partnership back in 2011 with a massive reception at Dublin's Mansion House, but now that they can legally marry there'll no doubt be more celebrations to come.
Viewers were quick to congratulate the happy couple after Alan got down on one knee this morning, in front of his co-hosts Mark Cagney and Sinéad Desmond:
@IrelandAMTV3 @karlbroderick omg I cried. So beautiful Congratulations
— Amelia J Hunter (@ameliajhunter1) November 3, 2015
@IrelandAMTV3 @karlbroderick @Colmogorman What an amazingly sweet moment, Many congrats Karl & Alan.
— Emer Tyrrell (@emer_tyrrell) November 3, 2015
Speaking ahead of last year's Marriage Equality Referendum, Alan said he just wanted to be extended the same right to marriage as other Irish citizens.
"Just to have it that I am allowed to be married like any other person in the country. It seems like a basic human right to be able to be married to someone which at the moment you cannot do," he said.
Just weeks after their 2011 celebrations, the couple underwent a series of family tragedies, which included the deaths of both Alan's sister and Karl's mother.
"Soon after we came back from our honeymoon my sister started to get quite ill," Alan told VIP magazine in 2012.
"The day before Christmas Eve Karl’s mam was admitted to Beaumont with pneumonia.
"Christmas Eve we were in St Vincent’s hospital with Karl’s dad, who was called in for a liver transplant. And Christmas day my sister was taken into the oncology unit in St James’ Hospital."
Alan has since referred to that period as "the worst two weeks of our years together," admitting it led to serious tension between them.
"We survived it, but we never stopped rowing at the time," he said.
Three years on though, the couple are still going strong – and we can't wait for the second round of celebrations.
