Jonathan Knight Engaged to Harley Rodriguez

New Kids on the Block singer proposed during a trip to Africa

By Zach Johnson Nov 15, 2016 8:00 PMTags

Jonathan Knight has a wedding in the works.

The New Kids on the Block singer revealed on Jenny McCarthy's Sirius XM series Inner Circle Tuesday that he recently proposed to his longtime love Harley Rodriguez. "We have always considered ourselves a married couple," Knight, 47, said. He proposed during a vacation with their moms in Africa. "I just figured this was the time to pop the question and make it official. I went out and bought rings three weeks before we left for Africa," Knight said. "He had no clue."

Thankfully, Knight's proposal went off without a hitch. He arranged a raft dinner on the Zambezi River, right above Victoria Falls. "There were hippopotamus in the background and we saw crocodiles swimming by and everything," the singer recalled. "Oh, and it was a super moon on top of that, so it was absolutely beautiful and so romantic. I just said, 'Now is the time to do it.'"

Knight bucked tradition, as he didn't get down on one knee.

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"See, that's the funny thing with two guys: It's always hard like, who proposes? Who asks? And I think that was our problem," said the "Step by Step" singer, who was publicly outed years ago. "Like the whole time I'd been waiting for him to ask, he'd probably been waiting for me to ask, and it just gets to a point where somebody's gotta do it. Then the whole getting on your knee thing—I was thinking about that, too. Then I was like, 'No, we aren't really that type of couple.'"

The couple previously competed on CBS' The Amazing Race. "I was kind of shocked at myself too, for doing it," Knight admitted to E! News in 2015. "It was definitely something outside of the box for me. I'm the one who sometimes doesn't like being on stage and being the center of attention. And now all of a sudden I'm being thrown into a race and all these crazy challenges."

Rodriguez, a master instructor at Barry's Bootcamp, was more than up for the challenge. "Jon asked me like, 'What do you think about The Amazing Race?'" recalled Rodriguez, who began dating the singer in 2008. "He thought I wouldn't be into it. I was like, 'Are you kidding me?!'" Despite their best efforts, the pair finished ninth; Tyler Adams and Laura Pierson finished first.

Knight and Rodriguez aren't in a race to the altar, though: they've yet to set a wedding date. In the meantime, Knight will be prepping for NKOTB's new tour with Paula Abdul and Boyz II Men.