Against All Odds: Kristen Doute Engaged to Luke Broderick After 'The Valley' Stars Almost Split Over Age Gap, Distance… and His Hunting Hobby
Kristen Doute is headed for the altar with Luke Broderick.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the reality star, 41, was stunned when her boyfriend of two years popped the question during a romantic boat ride in Hawaii.
Doute confirmed the news with a photo on Instagram showing Broderick down on one knee against a tropical sunset backdrop. She wrote in the caption: "[I]’m wrapped around your finger like this ring [I]’m wearing...out of the all the fish in the sea, you chose me".
Broderick told Doute to watch for dolphins before presenting a "4.27 carat Emerald cut diamond, plus a half carat worth of diamonds on the band and hidden halo", Us Weekly reported.
In her post, Doute thanked her friend, jewelry designer Kyle Chan for "crafting the most beautiful ring".
She admitted she couldn't help but respond with expletives before saying "yes", telling Us: "It was a total surprise.”
The stars of The Valley met at a wedding where Broderick was a groomsman in June 2022 and they immediately hit it off.
Doute said: "I knew from the moment we met that Luke was my person. I am so excited to continue this journey together, now as fiancés."
She admitted, however, a few things gave her pause during the early days of their romance: The eight-year age gap between them, Broderick's hunting hobby and the fact that he lived in Colorado while Doute lived in Los Angeles.
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The bride-to-be explained to her new fiancé: "I battled with being, like, your person. I love you so much, but just the thought of being someone’s girlfriend again threw me through a loop because I want to be a wife and I want to be a mother.
"Most of all, I just want to be a mother and a partner. And I was so tired of being a girlfriend for a couple of years and then having s--t fall apart."
Broderick chimed in: "You tried really hard not to fall in love with me and not to let this become a thing because of my age, because of the distance, because of these factors that when you think about it logically, like, how can this work?"
Bravo fans got to know Broderick on the first season of The Valley, which followed the couple's unsuccessful attempts at conceiving a child after they had a miscarriage.
Season two, which began filming this summer, will show the couple moving into a house together, they said.
Doute rose to reality fame while dating Tom Sandoval on the first two seasons of Vanderpump Rules, but their relationship fell apart after she accused Sandoval of cheating on her with Ariana Madix. She went on have another volatile relationship with James Kennedy before getting fired from the show in 2020.
She returned to Bravo earlier this year for spinoff The Valley alongside VPR alums Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright. Season two will pick up where the first season's finale left off, as Cartwright revealed she was finally seeking a divorce from Taylor after five years of marriage.
Another couple on the show, Jesse and Michelle Lally, had also called it quits at the end of season one.
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