Melanie Lynskey says she didn’t know she was engaged after Jason Ritter proposal

Typically, marriage proposals elicit tears of joy, celebration, and unimaginable glee – not confusion.

However, when Jason Ritter proposed to Melanie Lynskey, the 46-year-old actress had no idea he was asking if she wanted to tie the knot. During a recent appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Lynskey candidly admitted her engaged status was news to her after not realising her husband, 44, was proposing.

Fallon pointed to the Yellowjackets star’s fresh engagement ring, prompting her to reflect on Ritter’s 2016 proposal. Lynskey explained that she unknowingly picked her own ring – a piece that looked like an engagement ring but wasn’t officially.

“I didn’t know what was happening … the day before I had been looking at rings and I tried one on and I was like ‘Oh, kind of looks like an engagement ring almost. I don’t think I’m going to get it,’” she said.

“So then, he got me this ring, so I was like: ‘Oh, thanks!’ It didn’t sort of cross my mind,” she continued.

Making matters even more confusing was the Gravity Falls actor’s speech. Lynskey described his speech as “strange,” noting that Ritter had paused The Bachelor on the TV after he handed her the ring.

She added: “I was just sort of like: ‘Oh, okay.’ And I was like: ‘We’re not breaking up?’ He was like: ‘No, No, No!’ So I said: ‘Okay,’ and then I was like: ‘Well, thank you … lovely, good chat!’”

This took place in 2016. Lynskey didn’t announce their engagement until 2017. According to the actress, it took her three days to figure out that she and Ritter had promised to marry each other somewhere between pausing the ABC dating show and putting a ring she’d liked on her finger.

“Then three days later, we went to meet his family for Christmas and he said: ‘We’re engaged!’ I said: ‘Are we? Oh,’” the Two and a Half Men favourite confessed. “It was so confusing. I didn’t know … I was like: ‘Do I tell my friends?’ And he said: ‘Of course!’

“But it was so confusing, and then I said: ‘That’s not usually what a proposal is like. People usually understand that it’s happening,’” Lynskey told Fallon.

The Ever After actress’ remark left an unexpected impression on her husband, who she married in 2020. Now, Ritter has proposed multiple times over, stopping to give romantic speeches and gifting her with sweet tokens.

The Hollywood pair met while filming in 2013 for their joint movie, The Big Ask. Five years later, Lynskey and Ritter welcomed their daughter.

In an interview on SiriusXM’s The Jess Cagle Show in 2023, Ritter spoke about their daughter’s future Hollywood career.

“She is watching her parents and she’s already showing signs,” he said. “I think you want to help your child be as fully who they are as they want to be. And you know, as we all know, the more you try to like control someone’s life, the more they rebel.”