Preston Mitchum is getting married. The Summer House: Martha’s Vineyard star is engaged after asking his now-fiancé, Donald Cooley, to be his groom, during a European getaway. PEOPLE can report the happy news exclusively, along with photos of the special moment. “We, Preston and Donald, joyfully announce our recent engagement while traveling in Madrid, Spain,” they told PEOPLE in a statement. They dated for three years before Mitchum asked for his hand in question. “In a world where love between Black queer men isn’t always acknowledged or celebrated, we stand proudly together on this beautiful road together,” they said in a statement. “Our journey is a testament to the beauty and strength of love in all its forms and a commitment to always love and learn from each other. With hearts full of gratitude, we look forward to writing the next chapter of our lives together.”
The whole proposal caught Cooley by surprise. “He was so genuinely shocked it happened — thought he suspected something!” Mitchum told the outlet. “So that made it even better.”
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The couple, who met on the dating app Jack’d, sealed the engagement with a kiss. “Don’t believe what people say about particular apps,” Mitchum said. “He stumbled on my page and sent me a message. I loved what I saw. His page was very chill and fun at the same time, and it piqued my interest.”
The reason the ordeal was a surprise is because vacation is nothing new to this couple. “We usually take two big international trips a year and this one just felt right to pop the question,” says Mitchum. “In our conversation about engagements and marriage, we already knew we didn’t want those dates to be stereotypical or around dates that were already of distance to us (birthdays, holidays, etc.). So this made sense to me, since we were already on our usual romantic/lit excursion.”
