Not many people can say they’ve got engaged in front of thousands with the help of Steps but Stephen Horton can thanks to his loving fiancé.
Stephen, originally from the Wirral, got engaged over the weekend at Birmingham Pride to his boyfriend Adam Higginson. The 34-year-old head of service delivery manager recalled the experience as being out-of-body-like and is still being inundated with messages of love and support from family, friends and those who have reached out on social media after seeing him say “yes” on the main stage.
The couple have been together since May this year after meeting on Tinder. However, their love for Steps has been around for much longer, so when it was announced that the band would be performing at Pride, the two knew they needed to go. They travelled to Birmingham on Sunday, August 25, to celebrate their second Pride together having attended Chester’s earlier this year.
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Unbeknown to Stephen, Adam, a 31-year-old hairdresser, had been planning a surprise with the help of Claire Richards, Faye Tozer, Lisa Scott-Lee, Ian ‘H’ Watkins and Lee Latchford-Evans. However, Adam’s surprise proposal plan only came together two hours before the engagement took place. He had initially messaged all the members of the pop band on Instagram to tell them of his idea. Faye Tozer came across the DM and put Adam in touch with the group’s management team who took the reins from there.
The management team didn't make it clear until 8:30pm on the day that in a few hours' time, Adam would be getting down on one knee on stage to ask Stephen the all-important question in front of thousands who were celebrating at Birmingham Pride, including the couple’s two best friends, Kimberley and Natalie. Had the original plan not gone ahead, Adam said he was still going to propose with the hope that Steps would draw attention to the two of them in the middle of the crowd.
Originally, Stephen had thought they had secured two VIP meet and greet tickets and was preparing to say hello to his idols after they had finished their set. Stephen told the ECHO : “I thought we just had an extra special meet and greet because we were at the side of the stage watching them perform, which is a very rare moment for anyone. It was only until we were pushed on stage that I realised. But even then, I thought this was just an even more extra special meet and greet.
“It was so emotional, I’ve been a big fan of Steps from the very start since I was 10 years old, my whole life really. It was such a surreal experience. We’ve met them before so it felt very natural, relaxed and an out-of-body experience. It was incredible but I was trying to keep cool and was freaking out even at the side of the stage. It was made just that extra bit special by having Steps there and was a completely selfless act of Adam.”
Adam added: “There was an eruption of cheers, but Ste was talking to Lisa from Steps when I got down on one knee so he was oblivious. The crowd was cheering for Ste to turn around. The whole crowd knew what was happening but he still hadn’t had a clue.”
The couple are now enjoying their new titles as fiancés, before trying to get Steps to perform at their wedding.
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