Sasha Farber popped the question to longtime girlfriend Emma Slater and he did it on live TV. Dancing With the Stars pro dancer Sasha Farber interrupted ABC’s live results show to ask the English pro dancer to be his bride. Luckily, she said yes, and now fans will have another star-studded DWTS wedding to look forward to.
While the proposal was primetime gold, Sasha and Emma’s relationship hasn’t been all roses. There have been a few bumps in the road.
Sasha Farber met Slater in 2008 when they both worked on the Broadway show Burn the Floor and they began dating three years later. In an interview with The Morning Show , Farber said it was a dream come true to work with his lady love on Broadway and then later on DWTS.
“To work with someone — I don’t even call it work ’cause we have so much fun — to work with someone and be with someone that you love at the same time is just perfect,” Sasha said.
Farber made his debut on the Dancing With the Stars troupe back in Season 13, and he was joined by his girlfriend the following season. Sasha and Emma were both chosen to be competing pros in fall 2013 for Season 17. While they worked and lived together for three years, things took a turn in 2014, when Slater announced her breakup with Farber on Instagram. In the post, the blonde pro dancer revealed that she and Sasha created many beautiful memories and that she would “always cherish the journey” that they traveled together.
“Even though life has now taken us in separate directions, and we will no longer head for the same future we once visioned, I’m so grateful I’ve had this time with you,” she wrote to Sasha. “I believe my life was enriched through knowing you so well. I only wish you the absolute best you can ever wish another person.”
Still, to the surprise of DWTS fans, Farber and his then-ex decided to continue living together. In a 2014 interview with Glamour , Emma explained her unusual living arrangement with her ex-boyfriend.
“You know, it goes through moments, but I think the world of Sasha,” she said.
“He’s just the best person. I don’t think we’re supposed to finish together. I think there are other people that might make us both individually happy, but I’m always going to be his best friend…It has just happened in the way we have gone from a beautiful three-year relationship, which I love and cherish, to best friends. I still live with him.”
Farber’s ex explained that they had an amicable breakup and that they decided to continue on as roommates because they are like “family.”
“He’s the only family I have in America, and we still love each other,” she said. “For now, living together is just totally fine. It’s not going to be forever, but I was glad that he decided to go on tour with me. I only ever want the best for him, but I will be there because we’re going to be there for each other.”
Sasha and Emma soon realized that the romantic spark was still there, and the rest is DWTS history. In fact, Farber and his future fiancé even bought a house together in August, which they recently showcased on Entertainment Tonight .
“The second we walked in, it was like, ‘This is our home,’” Farber said of the cottage-style hideaway. Sasha also teased the status of the couple’s relationship, although he downplayed the timeline.
“Marriage is definitely in the cards,” Farber said. “It’s just there’s no time at the moment. We’re so busy. You never know. Maybe tomorrow or next week. Who knows?”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3Tj8Cgx8cQ
Fans now know that Sasha Farber had a proposal planned, and while his future bride was definitely shocked by how the proposal played out, she wasn’t surprised by the ring. In an interview with People , Sasha Farber revealed that Emma actually picked out the vintage-style, rose-sapphire ring.
“She had gone shopping and picked it,” Farber told People . “I spoke to her sister and she told me and I went and got it.”
While their fairytale was almost cut short, Sasha Farber said he knew Emma was the one just “three or four months” after they met. But now that they’re engaged, the popular pro dancers won’t rush to the altar. Farber and Slater plan to wait at least a year before they make things official.
“It’s already felt like I’ve been his fiancé and wife for years now,” the bride-to-be said. “Apart from the heaviness of my arm [because of the ring,] it feels quite natural.”
Take a look at the video below to see Sasha Farber proposing to his longtime love on Dancing With the Stars .
[Featured Image by David Livingston/Getty Images]