LOCKDOWN has not got in the way of love for one North Wales couple.

Rhydian Jones, from Wrexham, and Katherine Jones, from Mold in Flintshire, who both work in children’s social care, have played several quizzes through the app Houseparty with their friends during the Coronavirus restrictions.

The couple decided to host the next one on May 8 – but Rhydian had already planned ahead and prepared a surprise ending to the game that Katherine did not see coming.

Katherine told the Leader that “We put a lot of effort and enthusiasm into doing things” so she thought nothing more when Rhydian suggested they create a poster for the quiz night to get their friends excited.

The Leader:

Friends revealed their signs to spell out 'Katherine, Will you marry' before Rhydian revealed the final part of his question

They also made an extra effort to get dressed up as hosts, took the time to get lights set up and got the right angle on their camera to capture the room.

Little did Katherine realise that this was all part of Rhydian’s plan to set the scene and make the moment more special.

After four rounds of quizzing, Rhydian then introduced a quickfire question round and asked the couple’s friends to write down their answers on paper. Rhydian said he distracted Katherine by tasking her with keeping a look out for anyone cheating.

After all the questions had been read out, Rhydian then asked if anyone got the first one correct and to reveal their papers.

The Leader:

Rhydian and Katherine Jones share their lockdown proposal story

Katherine said: “I was surprised to see my name appear, beautifully written. The answers slowly spelt out ‘Katherine, will you marry’. As I turned around Rhydian was down on one knee, holding up a heart shaped ‘me?’ sign.

“For the first time in my life I was truly speechless after realising what was happening and of course I said yes! I was totally oblivious to the whole surprise, I am absolutely over the moon about it.”

Rhydian had tried to get a bottle of champagne on standby by telling Katherine they should get one as a prize for the quiz winner – but clueless about her upcoming celebration Katherine said a bottle would be difficult to deliver – especially if their friend who was playing in France won!

Rhydian says that his plan had been in the works for several weeks before he got down on one knee to put the question to his partner.

The Leader:

Rhydian and Katherine hosted a virtual quiz which ended with their engagement

He said: “I got all of our friends on the app a week before we hosted the quiz to practice with the signs.

“Before the last round when I was going to propose, I snuck upstairs pretending to need a toilet break and that is when I had to get my sign ready without Katherine seeing it. I ended up trapping it under my arm and it was under my suit jacket until I asked the all-important question.”

Katherine explains that her thoughts of getting married one day was well and truly non-existent – which made the gesture take her by surprise even more.

She said: “When weddings came up in conversation Rhydian would repeatedly tell me, we will get married later on in life and that ‘later life weddings are all the rage these days’. So little did I expect a proposal was on the cards as I actually believed him”.

Rhydian shared with the Leader that his first plan would have been to just wait for a right place and time in nature on their camper travels, which they had planned in Europe before the coronovirus outbreak, but he said “he did not want lockdown to get in the way”.