Marry Me, Matilda! Art's Idyllic Island Proposa

He takes the plunge and puts a diamond ring on it!

 

- Ashleigh McEnaney

Just days after the first season of The Bachelor New Zealand wrapped on screens, series sweethearts Art Green and Matilda Rice jetted off to Rarotonga on their very first romantic holiday away from the cameras. The new couple swam with turtles, sipped on cocktails and came home buzzing with excitement about starting their new life together.

When Woman’s Day catches up with the happy pair almost three years on, they are fresh from another idyllic trip to the tropical island. They share the same honey glow and smitten smiles of two lovers who have just enjoyed five days of sun-soaked serenity abroad. But this time around, blonde beauty Matilda has returned with some very precious extra cargo – a diamond ring.

“We’re engaged!” the 26-year-old squeals, still in awe of the platinum-silver sparkler sitting snug on her finger. “I’m over the bloody moon – I didn’t know I could even feel this happy. I just want to scream it from the rooftops.”

It’s been almost a week since 29-year-old Art popped the question on a white-sand beach in the Cook Islands, but nothing – not even the chilly, wet weather that’s greeted them back home in Auckland – can knock the ecstatic couple off cloud nine.

For jet-setting Matilda, their trip began like any other, but little did she know her handsome beau had been planning to pop the question for months.

“When Matty and I walked off the set of The Bachelor, I knew she was the only one for me,” reveals Art. “A proposal was inevitable – it was only a matter of when and how.

“I love Matty and I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her, so it made sense to do it in Raro, a place that’s really special to us.”