A woman scuppered her own proposal FOUR times before her boyfriend was finally able to pop the question - without her ruining it.
Frankie Clark, 27, kept spoiling the moment her partner, Andy, 39, was going to propose to her - by making jokes about him putting a ring on her finger.
Frankie ruined the moment Andy, an inverting operations manager, was first going to get down on one knee when she swapped a day with him to hang out with some friends who were visiting from Ireland.
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When Andy made plans to pop the question on New Year’s Eve, Frankie decided to head to bed early ahead of a singing gig she had the next day.
She shot down ideas of him proposing after she came off stage the next day when she said it “would steal her thunder”.
On his fourth attempt, Andy was about to pull out the ring while the couple were taking self-timer photos on a walk, before Frankie jumped in joking “now would be a good time to propose.”
Andy finally surprised Frankie on his fifth attempt and asked her to be his wife during a beach walk on January 6, 2023, in Bamburgh, Northumberland.
Frankie, a personal trainer and trainee therapist, from Morpeth, Northumberland, said: “I was always making back-handed jokes about him putting a ring on my finger.
“I’d wiggle my finger at him as he left for work. I didn’t realise I had ruined his proposals four times.
“You can see in the photo on our walk on the fourth attempt he literally had his hand in his pocket on the ring.
“I ruined it by saying: ‘If you want to propose, now would be a really good time.’
“On our walk when Andy did propose I’d joked again saying: ‘Shall I bring the tripod and not cut my nails if you’re going to propose?’
“He snapped - so I felt really guilty and hit a nerve. But he didn’t want me ruining another proposal. It was really special.
“We went for fizz afterwards and he told me all the attempts I had inadvertently ruined.”
Andy said: "I was disappointed at first which quickly moved into hopelessness. I kept thinking this is never going to happen.
"I also asked myself if it was a sign it is not meant to be but I'm no quitter. When I finally asked Frankie it felt really emotional.
"I knew it was the right time as the sun came out, wind dropped and it was just Frankie and I."
Frankie and Andy started dating in May 2022, after hitting it off as neighbours.
“I could hear him shouting at the football above me and messaged and we became inseparable,” Frankie said.
Andy moved into Frankie’s apartment in September 2022 and Frankie was so set on her man she wanted to make things official with an engagement.
“We’d talked about it, but Andy didn’t want to rush things as he had been married before and didn’t want things to go wrong,” Frankie said.
But after a bad day she had a ring designed at her local jewellers.
“I had the Amethyst stones ordered and everything, but Andy felt the pressure and I had the stones sent back,” she said. "Little did I know, two months later, he had the ring ordered.
“I was still always making jokes like I’d make him a Sunday roast and say, ‘marriage material’.”
Andy first tried to propose in December 2022 but had his plans ruined when Frankie asked to spend the day with some friends who had come to visit from Ireland.
“We were going to have the day together, but some friends came back from Ireland,” Frankie said. "Turns out he’d wanted to propose.
“On New Year’s Eve he wanted to propose and planned for us to watch the fireworks in London.
“I said I wanted to go to bed early because I had a big singing gig the next day.
“I remember waking up at midnight and he was sitting there - all grumpy.”
Andy plucked up the courage to try again the next day after Frankie’s gig until she told him about not wanting anything to take away from the moment.
"I said something about not wanting my thunder stolen," she said.
“A few days later we went on a dog walk, and I set my tripod up to take some photos.
“I ruined it by saying ‘if you want to propose, now would be a really good time.’
“He had his hand on the ring.”
Finally, Andy asked Frankie to be his wife on January 6, 2023, on a blustery walk on the beach, but she nearly ruined that attempt too.
“I’d been really annoying him in the morning teasing about a proposal,” Frankie said.
“But the sun came out as we were on the beach, and he turned to me all red-eyed and said: ‘I love you and I can’t imagine my life without you.’"
“He got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife. I was like ‘oh my god, it’s happening.’
“I asked him at the restaurant how long he’d wanted to propose for, and he said: ‘Frankie you’ve ruined four proposals.’
“But he knows it’s typical of me.”
The happily engaged couple plan to get married abroad in the next few years.
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