Giuliana and Bill Rancic’s romance is a true Hollywood love story—from the way they met (Giuliana, the co-anchor of E! News, interviewed entrepreneur Bill after he won The Apprentice) to the adversity they’ve overcome to start a family (Giuliana battled infertility, then breast cancer, before the couple welcomed son Duke via a surrogate). Their too-cute relationship is documented on their Style Network reality series, Giuliana & Bill. And while their fabulous, jet-set lives as celebrities are enviable, it’s their undeniable love for one another that has really won over fans.
With that in mind, we asked our guest editors to reminisce about two of the key moments in their relationship: when they first met, and when Bill proposed. Their answers are even more adorable than we expected!
What Bill thought when he first met Giuliana:
“When we first met, I think we knew there was something special,” Bill says. “On our second date—this is what we tell people—we were making plans for six to seven months in advance, which I had never done in my life before. I think it was the third or fourth date when she came to Chicago [Bill’s hometown], and that was it. That was the weekend we both knew it would be it for us. It was the rest of our lives.”
How he sealed the deal:
“I rolled out the red carpet in Chicago: Cubs game, Giordano’s pizza and a gift basket waiting in her hotel when she arrived. I cooked her dinner. It was just so much fun. We were with all my buddies; just a wild three days. It was Memorial Day weekend, I think eight years ago, and that was it. That was the end of my dating world.”
What Giuliana thought when Bill proposed:
“My first thoughts? I was shocked!” Giuliana admits. “I didn’t see it coming at all. It was incredible. I had no idea.”
How Bill kept the proposal a surprise:
“He proposed at nighttime in a helicopter in Chicago,” Giuliana says. “I thought were going to see Christmas lights, which he had been dying to do for a long time, so I was looking [down at the city] and then I turned around and he was on bended knee proposing. We went from there to his condo; candles were lit, and there was dessert. It was amazing—rose petals everywhere! And it wasn’t until early the next morning when I went to the bathroom to get ready and I really looked at the ring and was like, ‘oh my God! This ring is amazing!’ And he was like, ‘Are you just seeing the ring?’ It was dark the whole time! I really, you know … I just didn’t really see it. And then it was like, it blew me away. And it was kind of funny—it took a while for it to sink in. It was incredible. It was a dream come true. It was even better than I ever imagined it to be.”
A version of this story originally appeared on iVillage.