TAMPA - For Victor Dimaren and Emma Eldridge, their love story began at a pool party in Tampa.
Fast-forward a few years, and the pair just got engaged in the middle of Bad Bunny’s halftime performance at the Super Bowl with millions watching.
"I already had planned a formal engagement this year, but the way the world works, it just all lined up and, yeah, it ended up being amazing," Dimaren Eldridge told FOX 13.
The backstory:
The St. Petersburg College grad saw a vague casting call for a mystery gig that happened to be on the date of the Super Bowl.
But Dimaren Eldridge, a dancer and mode, said he’s been in the industry for a while, and he knew it was for Bad Bunny’s halftime performance. He just didn’t know what the role was exactly.
It wasn’t until later did he learn it was for an "engagement scene."
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But Eldridge, a Freedom High School alum, was kept in the dark a little longer. During some of the first rehearsals, the couple practiced with a necklace or bracelet. A ring wasn’t introduced until closer to the big game.
"She started to get the idea that something was up, kinda like midway through rehearsals," Dimaren Eldridge added.
Dig deeper:
In the performance, Bad Bunny grabbed the ring from a jeweler. And, after shaking his head, handed it to Dimaren Eldridge.
As if nerves over proposing on such a national stage weren’t enough, Dimaren Eldridge was also worried about making sure the ring box was facing the correct way when he opened it.
"It's live. It's a one-and-done shot," Dimaren Eldridge said of the televised moment. "So I definitely was nervous about that. I was practicing it up until five minutes before we touched the grass. I was handing the ring box to people, and I was like, ‘Hand this to me.’ Let me see if I can get it right."
Despite the nerves, the moment was seamless. The ring is real, and so was the emotion.
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To clarify: The Tampa couple got engaged during halftime and is different from the couple who got married during the performance.
The newly engaged couple later celebrated backstage with Bad Bunny himself.
"Benito, he's such a sweet guy," Dimaren Eldridge said. "He’s very down-to-earth. He’s very hands-on with the project."
What's next:
While the halftime engagement was 100% real, Dimaren Eldridge hinted that his "secret" plans aren't quite finished.
The couple, who are currently based in Las Vegas, said they can’t wait to come back home, as an engaged couple, and visit their families, who still live in the Bay Area.
"I just want to give a huge shout-out to my fiancé, Emma — I love her dearly. I met her in the Tampa Bay area, so shout-out to the city. Shout-out to my boy, Josh, who threw the pool party because if that pool party never happened, we would never have met each other," Dimaren said.
The Source: Information for this story came from an interview conducted by Fox 13's Ariel Plasencia.