His proposal on the front cover of Metro today was slightly overshadowed by a heterosexual couple but Jon Ireland is celebrating this afternoon after his boyfriend agreed to tie the knot.
Mr Ireland, 27, of Wood Green, was one of the winners of the newspaper’s Win The Cover competition and decided to surprise his partner of almost five years, 23-year-old Ben Collins.
Today’s cover, distributed around the country, read: “To my darling Ben Daniel Collins. Will you marry me? Lots of love, Jon Mark Ireland.”
Metro would not confirm until this afternoon whether Mr Ireland’s bid had ended in success.
Mr Ireland told the newspaper that his boyfriend, a carer, did not pick up a copy of Metro this morning but spotted the ad on the tube on his way to work.
He said: “He was all right about it but he was a bit ‘oh my god, my name!’”
“He said that he was a bit horrified to see his name but he was happy so it was a good job I suppose.”
Mr Ireland said his boyfriend initially texted him “I’m going to kill you!” but gave him a resounding ‘yes’ this afternoon.
The couple have not yet set a date for their civil partnership but say they may tie the knot in May on their fifth anniversary.