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All the Details About Real Housewives of New Jersey Star Ashlee Holmes' Engagement

Reality star will soon say ''I do!''

By Beth Sobol, Kendall Fisher Feb 19, 2016 6:39 PMTags
Ashlee Holmes, Pete Malleo, EngagementInstagram

There is now a Real Housewives of New Jersey wedding in the works!

As we reported earlier last week, Jacqueline Laurita's daughter Ashlee Holmes is engaged to boyfriend Pete Malleo, and now we have all the details surrounding their adorable engagement (which was filmed and will be revealed on the Bravo TV show when it returns later this year)!

Holmes chatted with E! News' Beth Sobol and explained how she "just knew" he would be the one and yet he still managed to surprise her when he got down on one knee!

"He's been my best friend since I was 18. We always kind of dated here and there but it got serious a little over a year ago," she said. "When it did, we just knew. Within the first week we were talking about getting married."
 
Not to mention, Holmes' family absolutely adores him.

"My family loves him. He and my cousin Albie [Manzo] used to sit at the same lunch table," she adorably recalled. "When I told Albie about the engagement, he joked that his sister Lauren had already married his best friend and now I'm going to marry his buddy from high school."

The beautiful @ashleeeenichole and I during New York fashion week.

A photo posted by Pete Malleo (@c3peteo) on

As for the actual engagement, Holmes said, even though she knew they would one day be married, she had no clue it was coming.

"The proposal was so cute. We were in Hoboken and there's a gate that's like the bridge in Paris with all the locks. We were filming for the Real Housewives of New Jersey so it will be on the show."

She continued, "I had no idea it was coming. We were just talking and all of a sudden he told me he had brought a lock with him. He took it out and it had our names on it. I thought it was the cutest thing ever but had no idea he was going to propose. He asked if I wanted to write the date on the lock and I did and then when I went to lock it he said, 'I love you so much,' and he got down on one knee and proposed."

OK, chills! But that's not even the cutest part. Before popping the question, he made sure to get her parents' approval first.

"Pete asked my mom and my stepdad permission around Thanksgiving, and then asked my dad in Texas in December when we were out there visiting," Holmes explained. "I'm so surprised my mom could keep the secret! The whole thing was so beautiful and everyone did such a good job. I'm so glad it's on film because it's going to be a great memory. I can't wait to see it."

And as if that wasn't already perfect enough, the whole story is topped off with a perfect ring, too!

"I love the ring. It's pretty much the ring that had been on my Pinterest!" she told us. "I asked him if he had checked my Pinterest, and he did. Our friend who's a jeweler did it, Mark Shami of The M Jewelers."

Now, one question remains: will they get married on TV? "You'll have to watch what happens!" Holmes said coyly.

Well, we certainly can't wait to watch the whole thing play out on RHONJ later this year!

—Reporting by Beth Sobol.

(E! News and and Bravo are both part of the NBC Universal family).