*Adrienne Bailon and Israel Houghton were friends for years before they started dating, and on Monday’s episode of ‘The Real,’ Houghton dished on how he popped the question to the host last month in Paris during a boat ride around the French capital.
“I told the captain — the lights sparkle on the Eiffel Tower every hour for five minutes. So I said, ‘Toward the end of that, make sure we’re right by the tower,’” said the gospel singer, 45. “She was looking out the window. I said, ‘Turn around.’”
“You guys know I’m obsessed with social media and Instagram,” Bailon, 32, explained. “So everyone goes, ‘1, 2, 3!’ I throw [the rose petals], and he was on his knee.”
Houghton admits that he was uncertain if the former singer would accept.
“Of course I’m nervous [at the time],” Houghton gushed. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime woman.”
READ RELATED NEWS: Adrienne Bailon and Israel Houghton Get Engaged in Paris
Adrienne told PEOPLE that even before they considered each other as potential lovers, she tried to set up him with some of her friends.
“When he got officially divorced and started dating again, I immediately started to set him up with my friends,” Bailon, 32, tells PEOPLE of her singer-songwriter fiancé. “He didn’t think they’d want to go out with him but I told him, ‘Don’t be silly. You have a great smile, you’re successful, you’re kind, super witty, funny and smart. Of course they’ll go out with you.’ ”
“A while later, we were sitting in the corner together at a party and a friend of ours came up and said, ‘You guys have old love,’ ” she says.
“We both heard that, and it had impact on us. That was such a special choice of words, and I felt it was correct,” adds Houghton. “I felt a connection to her that I still can’t define.”
“He’s my best friend,” adds Bailon. “I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with him.”
Check out the couple’s segment on ‘The Real’ below:
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