Seth Browarnik/startraksphoto.comThe good times are just beginning for Ryan Phillippe and Paulina Slagter!
E! News confirmed Monday that the actor proposed to his law student love over Christmas after nearly five years together. Hours after the news went public, the two hit up the club scene in Miami, partying at Rockwell with DJ Khaled and Quincy Combs. Ryan and Paulina drank champagne and danced together all night long. "They were very loving," a source reveals to E! News, adding that the pair seemed "extremely happy."
Ryan and Paulina—who kept her ring out of the photographer's shot—are scheduled to make an official appearance at the Five Star New Year's Eve party on Watson Island.
This will be the first marriage for Paulina and the second for Ryan, who was married to his Cruel Intentions co-star Reese Witherspoon from 1997 to 2006. The exes share custody of their two children, daughter Ava Phillippe, 16, and son Deacon Phillippe, 12. Ryan went on to date a number of actresses after his divorce, including Abbie Cornish, Alexis Knapp (with whom he fathered his third child) and Amanda Seyfried. But it was Paulina who made a lasting impression on the Secrets and Lies actor, 41.
"She's awesome. When people see her they have these judgments because she could be a model but she's about to graduate Stanford Law," Phillippe told Howard Stern in April. "Also what's great about it—as you get older certain issues become more important to you. I'm very involved in civil rights issues, and so to be with a woman who could actually make an impact in the legal realm—that's a beautiful thing."
At the time, Howard also asked Ryan if he planned to propose. "It's [serious]," Ryan said of his relationship with Paulina. "I'm not opposed to [getting married again]."
Now that he's older, Ryan feels confident that his second marriage will withstand life in the limelight. As he told Larry King in March, part of the problem with Reese was that they were "so young" when they got married. "I think more of the problem was age. When we got together we were so young," he said. "I think it can create issues with two people in this industry because there's so much noise that goes along with it." Ryan also told Larry that that he and Reese are "very much" friends to this day.
—Reporting by Baker Machado