Andy Lee proposed to Bec Harding with a napkin. He just shared what he wrote on it.

Andy Lee is opening up about the details behind his long-awaited engagement to Rebecca Harding.

Rebecca was completely oblivious in the lead-up to the proposal, with Andy telling her they needed to visit their "new old house" to film before shots for social media. The couple are currently undertaking a $5 million renovation project after purchasing a historic mansion in Melbourne's east.

Pretending to grab something out of the marble fireplace, Andy got down on one knee and held out a napkin, in a nod to the first time they met.

The two first crossed paths in 2014 at a Melbourne cafe where Rebecca was working as a waitress. The TV and radio host left his email address on a napkin.

"When I was down there, I stayed on one knee and I gave her another napkin — because when I first met her at the café, I wrote on a napkin my details — and I gave her another napkin," Andy said on the Hamish & Andy podcast last month when announcing the engagement.

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This week, Andy spoke to the Fifi, Fev & Nick radio show, where for the first time he revealed the heartfelt message he had written on the napkin.

"I'd waited for 10 years for Bec to propose, and I thought, 'Bloody hell… I'm just going to have to do it,'" he laughed.

"When I first met Bec in a café, she was a waitress. She was busy, and I wrote a nap on a napkin. I left my email address [on the napkin], which she didn't like, but I just said, 'If you have a boyfriend, just tell him that I'm using you to get to him. I bet he's handsome.'"

So on the morning of his proposal, Andy went back to that very café and picked up a napkin.

"I'd actually gone back to the same café, gotten the same napkin again, and I had written, 'If you've got a husband, just tell him that I'm using you to get to him. I bet he's handsome.' And, I proposed with the napkin, which she loved."

As for the ring itself, Andy opened up about why he chose that specific design.

"I went and got the ring myself, so I took the plunge. I thought I had an idea, but I didn't realise how important the ring is," he said, confirming he designed the ring himself. 

Last month, Lee announced that he was engaged via the Hamish & Andy podcast. Speaking to co-host Hamish Blake, Andy shared the backstory surrounding the proposal.

"I asked Bec to marry me on Sunday," he said during the episode.

"Is it a bit quick? That's all I wanna ask," joked Hamish, before admitting that he and his wife Zoë Foster Blake already knew.

After announcing the news, Hamish and Andy called up Rebecca, who shared how Andy was forced to delay the proposal after she had booked a grooming appointment for their dog, Henrietta.

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Speaking to Sydney Morning Herald earlier in the year, Rebecca praised her other half, saying he's her "best friend".

"We complement each other. I watch him love what he does every day. He is inspirational. Andy as I know him now is Andy from that first date. We share values, family is important to both of us and we get on really well." 

Andy, who left his email address on the napkin instead of his number, received a message from Rebecca right away, which was then followed by a phone call.

"She told me she was two weeks away from finishing her master's degree for the year. I said, 'That's a Tuesday. I'll call you on the Saturday and tell you where I'm going to take you,' and we went out Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday," he told SMH.

The couple went public with their relationship at the Australian Open in 2015 but briefly split in 2016.

Read more: How Andy Lee and Rebecca Harding got through their 'big break up'.

Six months later, they started things up again and made their red carpet debut at the 2017 Logie Awards.

Safe to say the couple are going to be occupied over these next few months with a wedding to plan and a house to renovate. 

This article was originally published in May 2024, and has since been updated with new information.

Feature Image: Instagram @andytomlee.