Darius Rucker revealed he is engaged to his fiancée Emily Deahl. The Hootie & The Blowfish singer and Emily announced their engagement in joint Instagram posts on Wednesday.
In a black & white photo on his Instagram page, Darius dropped to one knee to propose to Emily. A color photo shows the couple hugging and Darius planting a kiss on her cheek.
He captioned the post: “Thank you for showing me a level of happiness I have never known. The day I met you I knew I didn’t want to go another one without you. Now I don’t have to.”
In her own post, Emily explained that she edited Darius out of her photos to keep their relationship a secret from her followers.
“I never intended on keeping this part of my life from you guys for so long, but somewhere along the way of loving him I discovered how sacred love is to me. And all I wanted to do was protect it. Damn I’m glad I don’t have to spend the time photoshopping him out of every photo now.”
Darius is pictured with the Black side of his family at his Music City Walk of Fame ceremony in Nashville, TN in 2023.
Darius, 59, was previously married to Beth Leonard for 20 years.
The country singer and Beth (right) divorced in 2020. They share daughter Daniella, 24 (left), and son Jack, 20. Darius also has a daughter Carolyn, 30, with his ex, Elizabeth Ann Phillips.
Darius told PEOPLE in October 2023 that while there were hard times in his first marriage, he and Beth remain “close friends and parenting partners.”
“That stuff hurts and you feel like a failure,” he said. “But we’re still a family—a piece of paper is not going to change that. We’re still a family, and that’s all because Beth is awesome. She knows it’s the best for the kids, and she’s a great human being.”
