Rio Ferdinand and Kate Wright engaged: Ex-England footballer pops the question in front of three children

The happy couple celebrated in Abu Dhabi 
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Natasha Sporn1 November 2018
The Weekender

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Kate Wright and Rio Ferdinand have announced their engagement after almost two years together.

Ferdinand dropped down on one knee in Abu Dhabi to pop the question in front of his three children.

Lorenz, 12, Tate, 10 and seven-year-old Tia rushed excitedly to hug the happy couple, who have been dating since January 2017.

Wright, who found fame on TOWIE, shared a series of snaps capturing the idyllic moment, deeming it the “perfect end to our holiday”.

Alongside a series of heart emojis she posted: “How could the answer not be yes,” with a series of heart emojis.”

Ferdinand also shared the moment on Instagram, joking that he has no idea how his children managed to refrain from letting slip the secret to Wright.

He posted: “She said yes. How these 3 kids kept it a secret I’ll never know.”

Big news: Rio Ferdinand and Kate Wright on the BAFTA TV Awards red carpet
Jeff Spicer/Getty Images

Ferdinand started dating the former reality TV star two years after his wife Rebecca Ellison’s death.

Ellison, who is mother to his children, lost her battle with breast cancer, aged 34.

BT Sport pundit Ferdinand last year opened up about his romance with Wright, hailing it a “positive” effect on his life while overcoming grief.

He told This Morning: “I’m happy again, and in a relationship and it’s going well.

“The kids are also happy, they deserve to be after going through tragedy in the last few years of their life. There’s not been one stage of going into this relationship where they’ve not been involved.”

Earlier this year, Wright spoke about becoming a step-mum to Ferdinand’s three children, revealing that they wanted their dad to pop the question.

Chatting to This Morning, she said: “At the beginning, it started with Tate at the school saying, 'That's my aunt picking me up,' then it's, 'That's my dad's girlfriend' and now he says stepmum’.

“They say on a daily basis, 'When are you giving us a brother and sister? When are you getting married?' It's lovely how far we've come.

“Every day they'll say, 'Dad, are you going to do it yet?' Rio's like, 'Oh god, I've got three kids and Kate, and thinking when are we going to do it.”

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