Getting his gorgeous girlfriend Leah Lisausky to say “yes” when he popped the question was the least of Chris Hobbs’ worries. The former Shortland Street actor and Dancing with the Stars contestant went through a rollercoaster of near-disasters – almost from the moment he decided to ask the stunning American to marry him.
“It didn’t go as smoothly as I thought it would,” he laughs, during a recent visit to New Zealand with Leah to see friends and family. “Even though we hadn’t talked about marriage, I knew she was the right one, and I wanted to do it right.”
First there was the ring to organise. Chris (39), who lives in Los Angeles with Leah (28), waited until she was at work then grabbed a ring off her dressing table to take to the jeweller as a size guide.”When I gave it to him, the jeweller looked confused and said, ‘Hmm, this is pretty big, you know. Do you really want it this big?’ I had no idea about rings but it did look kind of huge, so I just said, ‘okay, make it a bit smaller.'”
Then Chris had to fi nd the perfect venue to propose, which took some planning.”I knew Leah loved oulholland Drive so I thought I’d take her there at sunset, when it’s very romantic, and ask her to marry me,” he says. “I knew of the exact spot too, a lookout point high above the city. I just had to work out how to get her there without making her suspicious.”
Chris, who has lived in Los Angeles for five years while breaking into the acting scene, decided the best option was to fill Leah with food so she might be keen to go for a walk.”I took her to our favourite pizza place but was so nervous, I didn’t eat as much as usual – and I usually eat a lot! I tried to keep it very casual, and suggested heading up to oulholland Drive after the meal.”
Leah remembers Chris’ determination to get her there. “I said, ‘Sure, why not?’ and never thought for a moment that he might be proposing to me. We had not even discussed getting married. We knew wewould be together, and kids were in the picture one day, but marriage just hadn’t been a thought for me.”
once Chris got Leah to the beautiful viewpoint, he faced another problem – some teenage girls were right where he had pictured popping the question. “I asked Leah to wait, and went to the girls, trying not to raise Leah’s suspicions, and quietly asked, ‘Please can you move from here, just for a short while? I want to proposeto my girlfriend.'”
Thankfully the young women agreed to move and Chris, with the ring in his pocket, led Leah to the perfect proposal spot. There he got down on one knee and finally asked her to marry him. While it didn’t get the reaction he had hoped for, it also didn’t get the one he had dreaded. Instead, Leah was completely confused by her partner’s sudden drop to the ground and told him to get up.
“I was saying, ‘What? What are you doing? Stand up!’ “What he had said didn’t sink in right away, I was too focused on wondering why he was kneeling out of the blue,” says Leah.
Feeling even more nervous, Chris repeated his question. “Then she clicked that I was proposing, and went, ‘Yes!’ I can’t describe the relief I felt,” says Chris. However, the hiccups still weren’t over. When he wentto slip the ring on to her fi nger, it immediately slipped off – it was far too large for her.
“I had actually grabbed a toe ring to measure the engagement one against,” he says sheepishly. “The good thing is, it was just a ‘stunt ring’ and we’ve since had one made up that’s the proper one.”
Leah shows off the beautiful diamond ring that fits perfectly on her finger, adding that she’s kept the stunt ring.With the wedding planned for october, on a beach in oalibu, with family and friends coming from all over the world, Leah isn’t leaving anything to chance.
“Let’s just say I’ve got a bit of a ‘to do’ list but I’m mainly leaving it to Leah,” he jokes. “I’m there to do the ‘yes, dear, no, dear’ bits.” Leah is happy to take on the lion’s share of the organisation. She works in film and TVproduction so keeping everything on track is part of her daily life.
“I’m really looking forward to it,” she says. “I know Chris is the right one for me. He makes me laugh and he’s gorgeous. It feels totally right.”
And Chris also can’t wait to make Leah his wife. “She’s an amazing woman – selfless and kind, and beautiful. I’m the luckiest man in the world.”
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