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March 28, 2019
In the lead-up to her performance on Monday night’s edition of American Idol, contestant Johanna Jones said she wished her boyfriend, Matt Zavoral, could have been there. He was buried in final exams at Brigham Young University, and couldn’t get from Provo, Utah, to Hollywood in time for the taping — or so she thought.
“I don’t want to get ahead myself, but he’s probably the one,” she said in a wonderful foreshadowing of what happened next.
Jones, a 23-year-old fast food cook from Las Vegas, earned a standing ovation for her unique and soulful interpretation of Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game.”
While judges Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan applauded the young singer, Zavoral emerged from backstage and joined his girlfriend in the spotlight.
With his hands gripping a ring box hidden behind his back, Zavoral said, “I couldn’t be here this week because of exams, but I couldn’t wait another day.”
Then he went down on one knee and said, “Johanna, you are the love of my life. Will you marry me?”
Johanna said, “Yes,” and Zavoral placed a halo-style diamond ring on his girlfriend’s finger.
Jones’ dad, who was watching with his wife from the audience, shouted, “He did ask me first. He got the thumbs up!”
Meanwhile, Perry was crying buckets of happy tears, collapsing to the floor behind the judge’s table.
“Why won’t someone love me like that,” she weeped.
The comment seemed odd because Perry accepted an equally romantic proposal from actor Orlando Bloom on Valentine’s Day. What we didn’t realize is that the taping of the show predated her proposal. Perry cleared up the details in a Twitter post.
The cameras followed Jones and Zavoral backstage where the couple continued their celebration.
Zavoral explained that he had taken six exams the day before and then traveled 11 hours starting at the crack of dawn to make it to Hollywood just in time for his girlfriend’s performance.
“Matt is the most amazing man I’ve ever met,” said Jones. “No matter what happens, I’m going to go home smiling.”
Jones certainly has a few busy months ahead of her and she advances to the next round of Idol, while preparing for a June 2019 wedding.
Check out Jones’ performance and the romantic aftermath in the video below. The proposal starts at the 2:15 mark.
Credits: Screen captures via YouTube.com/American Idol.
