Rita Simons is officially engaged to her partner of five years, announcing the news with an adorable smiling selfie.
The EastEnders star has been dating now fiancé Ben Harlow since 2020 after meeting him during a stage production of Legally Blonde The Musical.
‘….so this happened! 💍💍 🤗,’ she cooly captioned an Instagram post, flashing a gorgeous ring on her finger.
One picture showed the pair laughing together with Ben’s hand holding Rita’s while resting on her shoulder, giving everyone a clear view of the huge rock.
The solitaire ring was also visible in their second picture, with the duo still beaming for the camera.
Rita, who played Roxy Mitchell in the beloved BBC soap, met Ben while starring as Paulette Bonafonte in the musical.
Adorably, Ben portrayed her on-stage love interest, delivery driver Kyle as romance heated up off the stage too.
The duo grew close while touring the UK with the show from September 2017 until June 2018, The Sun reported at the time.
The news of their relationship came as Rita confirmed she had split from ex-husband Theo in 2018 after 14 years of marriage.
In the Instagram comments, her EastEnders sister Sam Womack said: ‘Wooooooooooop!!!!! ❤️❤️❤️💋💋💋.’
Famously, the duo died at the same time on the long-running soap, drowning in a pool on Ronnie’s wedding day.
Other soap stars shared the love, including Hollyoaks star Steph Waring who wrote: ‘Congratulations to you both!’
Nadine Mulkerrin added: ‘Awww the loveliest couple ❤️❤️❤️ congratulations guys xxx.’
Diane Parish said: ‘OHHHHH!!! That is too Fanthee for words! I’m thrilled for you both. 😍 Xxxx’
‘Love u so much! Congrats to the both of u! Jadore !! ❤️❤️,’ wrote Blue’s Duncan James.
‘Huge congratulations xx,’ shared Nick Knowles as Lisa Snowden said: ‘Ahhhh congratulations ❤️.’
Rita, who has also starred in Hollyoaks, revealed earlier this year how her ADHD has helped her career, referring to it as her ‘superpower’.
The Marie Fielding star explained how her ability to ‘hyperfocus’ has allowed her to learn her lines ‘at lightning speed’ during an episode of ITV reality series Drama Queens.
‘I’ve got a superpower. This is ADHD, because I hyperfocus. I literally will get pages and go, “Okay, can you test me?” I learn them so unbearably quickly,’ she revealed, while sitting in the make up chair at Hollyoaks.
‘When you’ve got ADHD, you’re either – well, I am, not everybody – totally distracted or hyper focused.
