Tennessee news anchor surprised with a proposal on set

A Tennessee news anchor is now engaged to be married after unknowingly introducing her own proposal.

Cornelia Nicholson was recording on set at NBC affiliate WRCB when her boyfriend, Riley Nagel, asked for her hand in marriage in a proposal designed to mirror a news segment.

Video of the special occasion, which has gone viral on TikTok, showed a confused Nicholson introducing her own proposal before Nagel appeared with a bouquet of flowers for the “very special report.”

“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?”

“I’m going to cry!” Nicholson said in response before happily saying yes.

Nagel said the pair met in Montana nearly four years ago while working at a different news station. He “was very drawn to” her when they first met, and the two eventually began dating.

“You have such an amazing personality,” Nagel said during the proposal. “You’re so bright, and you always light up a room when you come in, and make everyone laugh.”

Nagel also praised his now-fiancée for being “incredibly talented, especially in news.”

“You’re one of the reasons, or pretty much the main reason I’m still in news today,” he said in the clip. “You’re always pushing me to do better in news and in other aspects in my life.”

The reporter then got down on one knee and popped the question, leaving Nicholson speechless.

In a segment from a subsequent newscast, Nagel quipped, “They don’t call me the romance reporter for nothing!” while his coworker wiped away a tear. 

Nagel said Nicholson “had some hints” about what was going on, but ultimately had no clue that she would be introducing her own proposal.

In the caption of her TikTok post, Nicholson said she was “still at a loss for words” over the surprise segment.

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