Actor Johnny Ward has announced he is engaged to salon owner Brenda Murphy after the pair met last year.
The Love/Hate star has been dating Brenda since February 2021 after he ran to her aid when she tripped while out walking on the Curragh in Kildare.
The Fair City actor announced on social media: “Delighted to finally announce that my best friend said Yes! Brenda and I are getting married July 2023.
“Thank you for making me the happiest man in the world. Love you more than anything @bmbrenda.”
Johnny previously told RSVP Live how the pair met.
He said last year: “I checked to see if she was okay. We walked in the same direction afterwards and it was almost like the way panto characters would meet.
“We got chatting on Instagram a couple of days after and we did the walk again.”
It is Johnny’s first relationship following a brief romance with dancer Emily Barker after they were partnered on Dancing With The Stars.
His fiancée doesn’t work in television – she runs a salon in Dunlavin, Co Wicklow – but she knew who he was when they met.
He said: “She has nothing to do with media or acting, which is probably the first time that has happened to me.
“She and her family are big Fair City fans and they watched Dancing With The Stars and Love/Hate.”
The couple met during lockdown in February 2021.
Johnny said: “There was nothing to do in February. Her salon was closed. We started hiking together and we did things I would have normally done.”
Johnny briefly dated UK dancer Emily Barker while on Dancing With The Stars.
He previously said Emily was a great support to him after his father passed away from cancer during the run of the show.
"Emily became a counsellor to me during my dad’s last days, she didn’t have a choice.
"And when the finals of Dancing with the Stars were over, I felt like I had run a marathon and run too much. Myself and Emily got asked to go to all these events together, like Julian Benson’s ball, and were hanging out together like dancers and their partners."
He surprised fans in 2019 when he revealed he had split with his ex-girlfriend Rachel after six years together.
Johnny added: “With myself and Rachel, it was just really unfortunate.
“I was very, very happy and I would love to be able to tell you all these horrible things about Rachel but I can’t because she is an absolutely incredible person.
“She is someone who I would love to still have contact with but I haven’t spoken to her in a very long time and we didn’t end on bad terms at all.
“I just needed to move back in with my mum and be there for her and it was just a very difficult time.”
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