Pantomime star left shocked after boyfriend proposed during performance

Oh yes he did! A pantomime star was left shocked after his boyfriend surprised him on-stage - with a wedding proposal.

Lee Samuel, 37, was performing as Boabby Blumenthal in Beauty and the Beast when his boyfriend Lee Johnston, 30, suddenly walked on stage.

Mr Johnston then got down on one knee and popped the question to his boyfriend of two years in front of a cheering crowd.

Mr Samuel said: "I didn't really know what was going on and we had taken our final bow all the audience were cheering.

"My colleague then stood forward and said we had a special moment for a special person, but I looked at him and was like 'what are you doing?'

"Then he pointed to the right of the stage and from the wings, out came my then-boyfriend and now fiancé.

"He was introduced and got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.

"The whole crowd just stood up. It was the best feeling and it was a sold out weekend so it was absolutely amazing.

"It couldn't have been a more magical moment. I was stunned and I was speechless for the first time in my life."

Mr Johnston said he wanted the proposal 'to be special' which is why he decided to do it at the Beacon Arts Centre in Glasgow.

The social worker said: "I wanted the proposal to be special and to take him completely off guard.

"Being on stage and doing panto is what he was born to do and I decided to do it there because he loves it so much.

"When I first met him, I was in awe that he was an actor."

Mr Samuel didn't know that his future husband was at the performance on Sunday (December 10) until he walked out on stage.

Their family and friends were also watching the show in the audience and waiting for the proposal but hid from Mr Samuel so he didn't see them while he was performing.

But he said he's happy they got engaged at the venue because it has a 'very special place in his heart.'

He said: "I usually find out everything - I'm usually the one that's in on the surprises and the one that's in on the jokes.

"I had no clue - everyone knew apart from me.

"I don't even know how people were able to keep it a secret.

"I'm always talking to the boys and girls in the audience and I just didn't see anybody.

"I can spot some people but because the stage lights are so bright, the audience are in the dark and you can't really see them.

"But I'm so surprised that I didn't spot any of them.

"Panto has a very special place in my heart and the venue has a very special place in my heart as I've done panto every year.

"I'm a comedy actor so I do panto and children's theatre.

"He just knows how special it is to me so he thought it would be a really, really magical moment."

Mr Samuel said it was 'love at first sight' when the couple, who first met two-and-a-half years ago.

But he added that he doesn't want a pantomime-themed wedding and instead wants something 'completely different.'

The actor said: "We had a first date and we were chatting about the future and we were both really on the same page.

"It was love at first sight and we just got each other from the get go.

"It's like we've met each other's soulmates, it's fabulous.

"I'm doing panto until New Year's Eve and with the madness of Christmas, we'll have to start making plans for a wedding in the new year.

"Because panto is what I love and what I do as a job, I think the wedding has to be something that's completely different.

"The engagement was a really special moment to happen in a really magical place but we have to do something bigger and better."