Bristol man's surprise proposal on film
Pete Simson wanted to pop the question in style.
He arranged for his long-term girlfriend Hannah McDonagh to see a special screening of himself singing Daniel Bedingfield's hit If You're Not the One at Bristol's Watershed cinema... wearing just his pants.
She thought he was taking her to see a French film for her 25th birthday.
But as they sat down in the packed cinema, a spoof music video of Pete as Bedingfield, wearing nothing but his pants, appeared on the big screen.
Pete, 26, wore a selection of brightly-coloured briefs in the film, which was captured at landmarks around Bristol and North Somerset by his two flatmates.
Pete, who works for BBC Somerset's breakfast show, hired the Watershed cinema and even planted a whole audience in the room to make it seem like it was a normal night out.
After the special showing, Pete got down on one knee and popped the question.
Hannah, a solicitor, said "yes" and the whole auditorium exploded into applause.
Pete told the Evening Post: "I wanted to do something a bit different, because after all, you only propose once. Daniel Beddingfield's If You're Not the One is the most romantic song, so I thought I would do a bit of a film, and I asked my two flatmates to help film and edit it."
He added: "I have a penchant for pants. I think they are coming back into fashion. All the pants on the video, Hannah had bought for me. You can't take yourself too seriously."
Pete and his flatmates Liam Vowles and James Howiantz, who are both 27, filmed the music video over three evenings, in locations including Cheddar Gorge, Ashton Court, and the Clifton Suspension Bridge.
When Pete and Hannah were on holiday in Spain last week, Liam and James edited the film.
Hannah thought they were going to see a film called 35 Shots of Rum and couldn't believe it when her boyfriend appeared on the cinema screen.
She said: "I was totally shocked. I had no idea what was going on. Everyone else in the cinema was in on it and they were all looking at me. They were all watching it like it was really ordinary. I didn't realise it was a proposal until near the end when Pete stood up and put his hand in his pocket. I thought it was a birthday message. It's amazing that he has put so much effort into it."
The couple, who live in a shared house in Quantock Road, met five years ago at Cardiff University, but didn't get together until a year later. They moved to Bristol last November.
Pete said: "The Watershed were amazing. I don't think they've had anyone ask to do this before, and they didn't charge a penny.
"They wanted to make it look authentic so they even had tickets printed out. When we got into the cinema there were about 20 people milling around, who were plants arranged by the Watershed. They even gave us two free tickets at the end so we could go to see a film."
He added: "I was nervous as I hadn't seen the final edit, but I was well chuffed with it. Hannah just gawked, her mouth just fell open, and she was crying. When I got down on one knee I was bricking it."
After the proposal, the couple went out for champagne before celebrating Hannah's birthday and their engagement with a house party.
Cat John, spokeswoman for the Watershed, said: "We were delighted to be able to help out with this unique romantic proposal and staff were more than happy to file into Cinema 1 masquerading as audience members to watch as the regular adverts unfolded. Everyone couldn't help but giggle when the proposal film came on – it was all done with a great sense of fun. The atmosphere was really charged and we were all relieved when she said yes.
"Everyone clapped and cheered and congratulated them. They celebrated afterwards in the café/bar with champagne and we even captured the whole thing on camera.
"The whole team pulled together – projection, events, front of house and the admin staff worked to make it a success. We're all romantics at heart."
The Bristol couple plan to marry next August.
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