His person! Big Brother alum Tommy Bracco is engaged to Joey Macli after more than two years of dating, Us Weekly can exclusively confirm.
“We’re both so over the moon with happiness!! It was the perfect day and the engagement went so smoothly!” Bracco, 32, told Us on Tuesday, May 30. The CBS personality was the one to pop the question, which he and his fiancé had previously agreed upon.
“Ultimately, we decided I would be the one to propose because I’m a better planner and truth be told, Joey would have been a nervous wreck,” the New York native revealed. “I had been ready to propose for a while. … I knew Joey was the one right away, so it feels great to finally have a title that catches up to how strongly I feel. Boyfriend just didn’t cut it anymore. We had to upgrade to fiancé.”
When it came to planning the proposal, Bracco knew that he “wanted to do something different” that felt “authentic” and “meaningful” to the couple. “I turned to a handful of our friends and family to help plan but for the most part, I kept it a surprise for everyone which is tough when you both come from a big Italian family,” he shared.
The Broadway performer — who competed on Big Brother 21 in the summer of 2019 — picked an engagement location that symbolizes the couple’s future together.
“Earlier this year, my parents bought the house next door to them. The plan is to renovate it and Joey and I are looking to move in there. At this point, the ‘next door house’ is basically just a wood frame. All throughout the last week, I would sneak to the house to create the setup. I hung up hundreds of pictures of us from our adventures over the last three years,” Bracco explained.
He continued: “Yesterday, I brought him to the house, revealed the setup and proposed to him there. The photos represent the life we’ve built together so far, and the house is a metaphor for the future. We were surrounded by photos of our friends and family but still were able to have that intimate moment be between just the two of us.”
The lovebirds commemorated their two-year anniversary in October 2022. “Celebrating 2 years with my favorite person today,” Bracco captioned an Instagram reel of Macli posing for photos on his lap at the time. Although they’ve had a couple of years to get to know each other, the reality TV personality told Us that he “knew right away” that his fiancé was the one.
“Before I even met Joey in person, I felt different about him. I still remember the excited feeling I had driving from Staten Island to the Bronx for our first date. Literally, the second I sat down at the table, I knew he was The One,” he gushed. The Challenge: Ride or Dies alum admitted that he was less certain when it came to picking out a ring for Macli.
“I struggled with [it] for a bit because I had conflicting thoughts. I wanted something classic and timeless but at the same time I wanted it to be special and specific to us,” he said. “Ultimately, I decided on a beautiful and classic gold ring with a little flair on the inside. My nickname for Joey is ‘my dove,’ so engraved on the inside of the ring is a small dove. Gerald Peters did an incredible job bringing this vision to life and True Warrior Jewelry helped design it. I couldn’t imagine a more perfect ring and they made it possible!”
The twosome are already looking ahead to their wedding day, with “a couple of ideas” in mind for the nuptials. “One thing is for sure, we like to think outside the box,” Bracco teased. “Yesterday’s engagement party was a spontaneous backyard pool party with our closest people and it was absolutely perfect. The wedding will most likely embody that same energy.”
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