Primetime proposal: Chattanooga TV reporter pops question to news anchor

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — A Tennessee news anchor unknowingly read her own marriage proposal as her boyfriend emerged on the set to pop the question.

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Cornelia Nicholson was recording promos on the set of WRCB-TV in Chattanooga after the station’s 6 p.m. EDT broadcast. That is when the station’s staff placed a copy of her surprise marriage proposal on the teleprompter, Deadline reported.

The video posted by Nicholson that showed the “breaking news story” went viral on TikTok. She also posted the video on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“Coming up we have the story of two young journalists who just happened to find love in the same industry,” Nicholson said, with a hint of a chuckle that quickly turned quizzical. “Local 3′s Riley Nagel joins us in the studio with a special report?”

Nagel, a reporter for the television station, approached with a bouquet of flowers, the entertainment news outlet reported. The couple met while working for a news station in Billings, Montana, nearly four years ago, according to Deadline.

“I thought it’d be fitting to ask you this question here, since we met in news,” said Nagel, who also works at WRCB as a reporter. “Cornelia Nicholson, would you marry me?”

Cue the Kleenex.

“I’m going to cry!” Nicholson said while Nagel dropped to one knee to offer an engagement ring.

She said yes, by the way.

Commenting on the proposal on a subsequent newscast, Nagel joked, “They don’t call me the romance reporter for nothing!” People reported.

Nagel said that Nicholson had no idea that she would be introducing her own proposal, according to the magazine.

In a TikTok post, Nicholson said she was “still at a loss for words” after the proposal, People reported.

“@Riley Nagel hid this so well,” she wrote. “I am so excited for our future together.”

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