Strictly favourite Natalie Lowe announces engagement to boyfriend James Knibb
Congrats are in order for the Strictly favourite...
What a weekend it's been for Strictly Come Dancing pro, Natalie Lowe.
After escaping the boot from last night's show when she found herself in the bottom two with dance partner, Ainsley Harriott, Natalie's revealed that her boyfriend James Knibb has asked her to marry him - and she said yes!
In an interview with Hello Magazine, 35-year-old Natalie said she's 'very excited, happy and proud' about the pending nuptials and that she was in complete ‘shock' when James proposed at the Four Seasons hotel in Hampshire.
Whereas many of the Strictly professionals met their other halves on the dancefloor, Natalie and James met during a rare moment of fate. The Aussie dancer got chatting to James, a company director, on a train from London to Leeds in 2013. That was the same year Natalie was forced to pull out of Strictly because she had a fractured metatarsal, in what was a nightmare situation for Natalie at the time, who now calls it a ‘blessing in disguise'.
Heading home to Leeds and just making the train because it was delayed by 10 minutes, James told the magazine, 'I have to thank East Coast for being late. Getting that train was the best decision I ever made.'
For once, train delays aren't so bad after all!
Natalie has been a favourite on the BBC series since she joined the show in 2009, partnered with Hollyoaks star, Ricky Whittle. The pair made it to the final and came second place, making it Natalie's most successful year to date. Teamed with Harriott for the current series, the couple found themselves third to bottom of the leader board this weekend after performing a Cha Cha to Boogie Wonderland with a Happy Feet theme.
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The dancing penguins received mixed reviews from the judges with Craig saying: 'I thought you did a brilliant job bringing that dance to life. It is one of those dances that suits your personality. You did some of it wrong, but you did it wrong with style'.
After competing in the dance-off against boxer Anthony Ogogo and partner Oti Mabuse, the decision was unanimous as all four judges decided to save Natalie and Ainsley. With the lovely engagement news too, we bet the celebrations were in full swing last night!
