Alexis Bellino and John Janssen Are Engaged After 9 Months of Dating: 'On Cloud 9,' RHOC Star Says (Exclusive)

• The Real Housewives of Orange County stars Alexis Bellino and John Janssen got engaged on Tuesday, August 27, PEOPLE can exclusively confirm
• The couple first met in November 2023, and announced their romance in December
• A rep for the couple told PEOPLE, “John and Alexis are happily engaged and look forward to their long future together as husband and wife.”

Alexis Bellino got a big surprise for her nine-month anniversary with John Janssen: an engagement ring.

PEOPLE can confirm that The Real Housewives of Orange County the couple is engaged, with Janssen, 61, popping the question on Tuesday, August 27 during a getaway at San Ysidro Ranch in Santa Barbara, California.

Fans who follow Bellino, 47, on social media know that she shares photos from her getaway on her Instagram stories. “My boo surprised me,” she said, showing off their elegant room and private jacuzzi in the video. “This is amazing… I’m so happy, baby. It’s beautiful.”

But a post on her main feed on Wednesday, August 28, hinted to fans that something bigger was in store for the trip. In a sweet photo of Bellin and Janssen together, a brand new cushion-cut diamond ring is visible. that finger.

“On Cloud 9 🎉❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️, celebrating 9 months of love and laughter and looking forward to being with you forever,” Bellino captioned the photo. “Every moment together was a gift. I am so in love with you and the beautiful life we ​​are building together. And the answer is 100000000% yes.”

“#9MonthsStrong #LoveOfMyLife,” she hashtagged the post, adding a verse from 1 Corinthians 13:13 in the Bible that reads: “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

A representative for the couple confirmed the engagement news when contacted by PEOPLE. “John and Alexis are happily engaged and look forward to their long future together as husband and wife.”

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Alexis Bellino and John Janssen are all smiles in a photo she shared on their engagement day.

Alexis Bellino/Instagram

News of Bellin and Janssen’s pairing was first exclusively reported by PEOPLE in early December 2023. The duo met weeks earlier, on November 18, during a meeting with mutual friends at The Quiet Woman restaurant in Orange County.

“We tried to fight the feeling after the second week, John and I knew this was it,” she explained further RHOC earlier this season.

Both have recently come out of long-term relationships. Bellino and her ex-fiancé Andy Bohn called off their engagement in September 2023, three years after he proposed in December 2020. Janssen has since split from Bellino now RHOC actress Shannon Storms Beador for the first time in late 2022 after a three and a half year relationship and again in September 2023, shortly after her arrest for alleged DUI and hit and run.

That shared experience helped Bellino and Janssen bond more deeply. “The two have been supportive friends as they navigate their new single life,” an insider previously told PEOPLE. “This shared background paired with mutual attraction made it easy for Alexis and John to form a natural connection.”

Alexis Bellino and John Janssen, in a photo shared with PEOPLE as they confirmed their relationship.

Nydia Alvarez

Alexis Bellino shows off ‘Promise’ ring given to her by boyfriend John Janssen: ‘I love you’

Since going public with their romance, Bellino and Janssen have made no secret of their feelings for each other, sharing glimpses of their time together on dates, boat trips, vacations, romantic getaways, and combined family trips with their children (they each have three from previous relationships).

Janssen even gave her a promise ring for Christmas 2023. “Words can’t. Actions can,” Bellino captioned a photo of the gold and diamond band on Instagram. “I won’t feel guilty anymore. I won’t apologize. Love will create its own story. I love you Johnny J. 🎄♥️.”

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Alexis Bellino shows off her “promise” ring given to her by John Janssen.

Alexis Bellino/Instagram

John Janssen says he ‘never felt truly loved’ until girlfriend Alexis Bellino said: ‘She’s an amazing person’

In March, the duo made their red carpet debut at the DIRECTV Streaming with the Stars Oscars viewing party, holding hands all night at Spag in Beverly Hills, Calif., and posing for photographers with their arms around each other.

“I keep telling her she’s perfect and she’s perfect for me,” Janssen said of Bellin during an interview with Reality with the king podcast released on August 1st. “She’s confident. She is and it’s an overused phrase, but she’s absolutely as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside and she brings out the best in me.”

“I’ve never felt truly loved until Alexis and I’ve never felt more loved,” he added, noting that Bellino has become his “true partner in life.”

But not everyone accepted their relationship.

The couple is hit by a sea of ​​negativity from Housewives fans over the past nine months, fueled by what Bellino claimed were false narratives about Storms Beador’s Janssen over the years. Bellino, who returned to the Bravo series after a 10-year absence, spent Season 18 trying to defend Janssen, though her impassioned remarks sometimes soured things online and left many of her exes and current RHOC stars divided.

No matter how difficult it was, they remained an inseparable couple.

“I would say it was bad, but at some point you become numb and then you make a decision not to look at it,” Janssen told PEOPLE in March. “You don’t have to watch it. We’re focused on each other.”

“One hundred percent, I couldn’t have said it better,” Bellino agreed. “We’ve been kind of slow going, as far as wanting America to know exactly where we are. And now we’re at a point where we’re focused on the future and moving forward. You can take it or leave us; you either accept that we’re dating or you hate it, then swipe left on Instagram — don’t turn the other way I don’t like it, because we’re here.”

The Real Housewives of Orange County airs Thursdays (9 p.m. ET) on Bravo.

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Source: HIS Education