Tennessee news anchor Cornelia Nicholson got the sweetest surprise of her life when she covered a "special report" featuring two young journalists who were about to be engaged.
It didn't take Nicholson long to realize that the impromptu segment she was introducing live from inside the studio for NBC affiliate WRCB was about her and her boyfriend, Riley Nagel, who wound up on bended knee and asking for her hand in marriage live on TV.
Nagel, who also works at WRCB as a reporter, walked onto the studio set with a bouquet of red roses and told a slightly confused Nicholson:
"That is right, Cornelia. I do have a very special report for people at home who maybe don't know."
"Cornelia and I met in news back in Montana at our news station almost four years ago," said Nagel, as Nicholson quietly giggled.
Nagel told Nicholson:
"When I first met you, I was very drawn to you."
"You have such an amazing personality and you're so bright and you always light up the room when you come in and make everyone laugh."
As slideshow images of the couple were shown on the monitor behind Nicholson, Nagel continued praising his soon-to-be fiancée, telling her how talented she was and how she was the main driver that kept him in the industry and encouraged him to be better "in news and all aspects of my life."
"I thought it'd be fitting to ask you this question here since we met in news," he continued.
As he got down on one knee, Nicholson commented, "I'm gonna cry," before Nagel popped the question.
Nicholson, who was wiping away tears as she said "yes," extended her hand so Nagel could put the ring on her finger.
"I'm kinda shaking," said Nagel, to which Nicholson replied, "Me too."
You can watch the sweet moment that was aired as part of a subsequent news report with Nagel, here.
A primetime proposalyoutu.be
Nagel later told his co-worker, who may or may not have been wiping away a tear after learning of the proposal:
“They don’t call me the romance reporter for nothing!"
Nicholson also shared the clip of the proposal on TikTok, where it went viral.
"My boyfriend proposed to me during our newscast," she wrote in the overlaying text, followed by happy crying and engagement ring emojis.
Nicholson wasn't the only one crying.
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@ceraynicholson/TikTok
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@ceraynicholson/TikTok
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Romantics responded to Nicholson's post, which also appeared on X (formerly Twitter), and they congratulated the newly engaged couple.
When a user asked how the producers managed to sneak the segment past her in the rundown, Nicholson replied:
"Hid it in the 7am rundown (which is smart because I would never look at that) and dragged it over right before I was going to read it."
Nagel told viewers that Nicholson "had some hints" about when the proposal was going to happen but wasn't expecting to be presenting the special report about herself.
The sly reporter recalled watching her moments before he made his appearance in front of the camera to join her.
"You can see her kinda like laughing like, 'Wait a minute, what's going on here?'"
"So I got her."
Congratulations to the happy couple on their engagement!
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