Bella Thorne is getting married!
On Sunday, March 21, the 23-year-old actress, singer and Disney Channel alum and Benjamin Mascolo, 27, announced on Instagram that they are engaged, with her showing off a stunning pear-shaped halo diamond engagement ring. The two have been together for almost two years.
"Thank you for being amazing, baby. I love you so much," Benjamin, who goes by Ben, said in a video he took at what appeared to be an engagement party. Bella replied, "I love you so much," making kiss gestures.
Ben continued, "Yay! We're getting married. Celebration in Italy and in America, both."
Benjamin is an Italian singer and actor who recently made his acting debut in a film starring none other than his fiancée. After revealing their engagement on his Instagram Story, he also shared a love letter he gave to Bella, which he wrote on the back of the movie's script.
Check out 10 things to know about Benjamin "Ben" Mascolo, Bella Thorne's new fiancé:
Bella's new man is an Italian singer. He and pal Federico Rossi formed the duo Benji & Fede. Benjamin went solo in 2021, using the stage name B3N.
In November 2020, Benjamin and Bella began filming the movie Time Is Up, his big screen debut, in his native Italy. In the film, they play a couple forced to make changes to their lives following an accident.
"Shooting my first Movie, making my new Music, working and living side by side with my partner in crime," Benjamin wrote on Instagram. "2020 has been crazy, 2021 is going to be f*****g insane."
Benjamin told Icon magazine in Italian in 2021, "When they proposed it to me, I was not convinced to accept. Bella encouraged me. Making a starring film has been one of the most difficult and rewarding challenges of my life."
Bella also Benjamin also star together in his music video "Finché le Stelle non Brillano" ["Until the Stars Shine"].
According to his Facebook page, Benji lives in Modena, Italy, but he also lived in the city of Hobart on Australia's island state of Tasmania while studying at Rosny College.
"I try to spend about six months in Los Angeles and six in Italy every year," Benjamin told Icon magazine in Italian in 2021. "Living there with Bella is beautiful, we have our protected place in the hills where we enjoy our normality, a little different from normal here."
Benjamin wasn't unable to visit Bella in the United States for a while in 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic. In July of that year, Bella shared pics of the two on Instagram, writing, "After 5 months reunited & it feels so good [red heart emoji]. where shall we go next ??since ben isn't allowed in America yet... and I can't go to Italy unless I have a work permit there."
Benjamin was born on June 20, 1993.
And he writes in all caps. In the letter, he appeared to compliment Bella on her "stunning beauty," "striking intelligence," "sarcasm" and "mind-blowing creativity."
"I wrote the love letter on the back of our script of our movie," Benjamin wrote his Instagram Story on March 21, 2021, the day he and Bella announced their engagement. "At the end of the last scene, she was at [a] monitor watching with the director and.. surprise."
Bella and Benjamin were first linked romantically in April 2019, after photos showed them kissing in San Diego. They were published online two days after she announced her breakup from rapper Mod Sun. Her rep told E! News at the time that they were already broken up at the time the pics were taken.
"Our journey together began nearly two years ago in Palm Springs," Benjamin told Icon magazine in Italian in 2021. "We met at Coachella, and I immediately knew she was different from all the other women I met in my life. With Bella mixing private and work has become simple, we are accomplices at 360 degrees: it was she who asked me to participate in the video clip of 'Finché le Stelle non Brillano' ['Until the Stars Shine'], which gave me immense pleasure as she was the inspiring muse of the song."
In April 2020, Benjamin paid tribute to Bella on their one-year dating anniversary, writing on Instagram, "About one year ago, out of the blue you landed like a UFO alien in my very normal Italian popstar life and f****d up all the plans I had for a outrageous Coachella weekend and summer in Ibiza and Mykonos. Safe to say this was no doubt the best thing that ever happened in my life, I'm forever grateful to you my beautiful little girl, god bless the moment I put aside my shyness to randomly text you and say 'let's hang out.'"
He continued, "Thank you for being yourself no matter what and teaching me the meaning of love and life: you are the smartest, funniest, sexiest, craziest and cutest creature that ever walked planet earth. I miss you so much, you deserve all the love and flowers my heart and bank account can afford. BTW I'm writing so many songs about you, one ballad after the other I am now to softest [sic] and most romantic b*tch ever and I'm proud to embrace it. When I'm back in LA I'm gonna serenade you to the point you will kick me out of your crib. You might have to call the police or I will continue on the sidewalk singing, shouting and sweating under the sun like Bruce Springsteen on stage after a 3 hours long concert, and that's because the neighbourhood and all the entire damn world needs to know how much I Love you. Ben."
"Writing music with my baby girls," he wrote on Instagram in July 2019.
In 2017, Benjamin interviewed his "favorite artist ever," Ed Sheeran, for Warner Music Italy. At the end of the interview, he asked the fellow musician if he could write his name on his arm so he could get it tattooed.
(Additional reporting by Jess Cohen)