“Now that we’re engaged, we can say that we are the perfect pair!”

My Kitchen Rules stars Michael Edelberg and Rielli Portegys are engaged, New Idea can exclusively reveal.

The opinionated couple have caused quite a stir on the Channel Seven show, but sadly went home during Monday night’s elimination against Danielle and Marko.

However, the sad turn of events has been short-lived for the couple, as they are now celebrating their engagement.

Michael, 30, popped the question to Rielli, 29, over the weekend during a romantic outdoor proposal in New York, a city that holds a special place in their hearts as it played a part in how they first met.

Michael planned a romantic day of activities for Rielli before getting down on one knee in Central Park, though he admitted it didn’t go exactly to plan as the weather took a turn for the worse.
My Kitchen Rules stars Michael and Rielli are engaged! (Credit: Supplied/Victor Nechay)
“I planned an amazing day for Rielli,” Michael told us. “I took her out, got her a designer bag, we went and did a tour with one of my cousins of the UN headquarters, and I somehow got her convinced that it would be OK to go into Central Park while it was not the greatest weather, it was pretty windy and rainy.”

He secretly arranged that photographer Victor Nechay would be waiting in the park for them, and he was able to capture the emotional moment that Michael got down on one knee, to Rielli’s total surprise.

“I had a photographer there waiting and I asked him if he could take a photo of us, and Rielli obviously didn’t know that he was a photographer for us and it was all preplanned,” he continued.

“Then I proposed, and we followed it up with dinner at one of New York’s [nicest restaurants].”

Michael might be known for his brazen attitude on MKR, but Rielli insisted that he was so nervous before popping the question, and even accidentally slipped over when getting on one knee amid the bad weather.

“He’s playing it down as cool, calm and collected! I’ve never seen Michael so nervous or less talkative in my life,” she told us.

“He was a bit suss all day and when he got on one knee to propose, he basically slipped down the hill because it was so muddy! It was weird to see Michael in such a nervous state because Michael does not get nervous at anything!

“It was really sweet. I was like ‘oh my God, Michael there’s a photographer taking photos of us while you did it,’ and he was like ‘yeah I obviously organised that’.”
Michael popped the question during a romantic holiday in New York over the weekend. (Credit: Supplied/Victor Nechay)
Despite Michael being “on edge” all day because he thought Rielli had figured out his plans, she insisted she had not suspected a thing and was completely shocked.

“I was completely surprised! But he had totally convinced himself that I knew all day, but I was too busy thinking, ‘What am I going to wear to this? What am I going to wear to that?’” she added.

Michael admitted he did think about postponing his proposal plans when the weather went awry, but decided to plough on because he wanted to propose in New York, a place where Rielli used to live and describes as “one of her favourite places in the world”.

“New York has got special meaning for us,” he explained.

“Rielli lived there, and my auntie used to live there, so I’ve been there like 10 or 20 times, and without Rielli going to New York, we never would have met.

“It’s got a bit of sentimental value because she was about to move there and one of our friends introduced us for me to give her a bit of background on New York and what to expect, and that was actually how we met.”
The proposal didn’t go to plan because of the weather, but Rielli still said that all-important yes! (Credit: Supplied/Victor Nechay)
Needless to say, she said “yes” to the all-important question and has been proudly showing off her gorgeous ring, which Michael bought from Cullen Jewellery, joking that Rielli had been sending him ring design hints on Instagram for “a year and a half”.

“I’m just like a Type A person that obviously likes to control everything and be perfect, so I was like ‘we need to go in to make sure the ring fits and I like the shape of it and everything’,” Rielli said of joining Michael at a ring fitting.

“I said, ‘as long as I’ve got that, you’ve got full reign from the other settings and how big it’s going to be.”

Michael said he spent around four months planning the proposal, and has been ready to pop the question for quite some time, and had a very different venue in mind originally.

“I was ready to propose at the start of this year, but obviously we had My Kitchen Rules and our lives have been so busy, and I think this has just been our first holiday that we’ve had in probably a year,” Michael added. “So I thought the timing would be perfect, and it just worked with New York meaning so much for us.”

The self-proclaimed “Meat Master” had actually planned to pop the question on MKR, proving fans were almost correct in thinking the couple might tie the knot on the TV show.
He bought Rielli a stunning ring from Cullen Jewellery. (Credit: Supplied/Victor Nechay)
“It’s funny because I actually spoke with the producers when we first began casting, and I asked them, I was going to propose on MKR at our Instant Restaurant,” he dished. “But I’m so glad that I didn’t, because wow, we got such bad scores!”

“Imagine, just like ‘you got a three, will you marry me?’ like,” Rielli said with a laugh.

Their Instant Restaurant was called Perfect Pair and was even wedding-themed, providing Michael with the perfect, romantic occasion to get down on one knee.

“I think it would have been too predictable,” Michael insisted.

But will they be taking any decor inspiration from their Instant Restaurant forward to their wedding day?

“Oh my God, absolutely not,” Rielli quipped. “Nothing of the sort! That colour scheme is traumatic now, I can’t even!”

Instead, Rielli is looking to have a luxury Sydney mansion wedding, though the couple are not in any rush to walk down the aisle.
The couple are in no rush to walk down the aisle, but will be inviting their MKR co-stars to the big day. (Credit: Supplied/Victor Nechay)
“We’ve kind of been in this love bubble, we obviously haven’t told anybody [yet], so we’re just enjoying this part,” Rielli said.

“There’s actually no rush at all to get married. I just want to ride this wave of being engaged.”

“I feel like a lot of people get engaged and get married straight away, but we want to just enjoy the engagement stage,” Michael added.

But Rielli dropped an exciting hint about their nuptials, as she quickly added: “In saying that, I am thinking of somewhere like a mansion in Sydney somewhere, black tie, oysters, that’s what I’ve got so far!”

Despite their on-screen drama, Michael and Rielli plan to invite their MKR co-stars to their wedding, joking that they might rope judges Colin Fassnidge and Manu Feildel into catering the big day.

Rielli said she has “no doubt” that their MKR rival teams will be there, before Michael added, “We might have to get Colin and Manu in for a bit of a catering deal.”

“Justin and Will messaged us and were like ‘we’ll be your bodyguards at the wedding’ and we’re like ‘mate, you’re going to be the caterers’,” Rielli added.
Their engagement was nearly very different, as Michael had planned to propose on MKR. (Credit: Channel Seven)
However, it remains to be seen whether all of their MKR co-stars will get an invite, as Rielli told us that their on-screen tension with Mark has continued into the real world.

“I feel like off-screen, you have a bit more respect for all the other contestants. You can give them a bit of grace because when you’re filming, it’s quite high intensity,” she dished.

“But, I feel like Mark has taken it too far off-screen and in interviews, so it’s kind of rubbed us the wrong way. But Tan’s great, we love Tan.”

While they aren’t heading down the aisle any time soon, the couple are now enjoying settling into their new home in Cairns with their cat, and focusing on their jobs, with Rielli excitedly looking ahead to opening her very own bakery.

“Now that we’re engaged, we can say that we are the perfect pair, right?” Rielli added.