Summer House: Martha’s Vineyard Star Preston Mitchum announces engagement to Donald Cooley

Preston Mitchum from Summer House: Martha's Vineyard and his partner of three years, Donald Cooley, are now officially engaged. On April 11, 2024, the Bravo star made the announcement in association with People Magazine on Instagram.

Preston's proposal was less surprising for fans because he had been planning to marry Donald for a while now. Many of his social media followers commended him for his grand gesture.

For the unversed, Preston Mitchum gained fame after his debut on Summer House: Martha's Vineyard because fans found out about his empowering activism for the LGBTQ community. The 38-year-old lawyer now has a hoard of fans who support and appreciate his efforts towards awareness.

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Preston Mitchum from Summer House: Martha's Vineyard proposes to boyfriend Donald Cooley

People Magazine reported that the awaited proposal went down when the couple was on a trip to Europe. Preston Mitchum had made secret arrangements beforehand for the moment to be captured perfectly. The proposal happened when they were touring Madrid, and had gone to a restaurant called Ramón Freixa to have a ten-course meal.

Mitchum had already made the full camera crew sit at the restaurant. When he went down on one knee after the dessert, the cameramen got up and clicked the perfect moment. Talking about Donald's reaction, the Summer House MV star said that he was "genuinely shocked." It made Preston feel better because he thought that Donald had suspected something earlier.

The camera crew who encapsulated the grand moment in a picture, also clicked the ring as seen in their announcement post. It was a band with three rows of black diamonds encrusted on it, with a unique blend of dull silver. According to People, the ring is called 'Streamline Three Row Band Ring' and is from the luxury ring brand, David Yurman.

The couple wrote in the caption of their Instagram post:

"In a world where love between Black queer men isn’t always acknowledged or celebrated, we stand proudly together on this beautiful road together."

They continued:

"Our journey is a testament to the beauty and strength of love in all its forms and a commitment to always love and learn from each other. With hearts full of gratitude, we look forward to writing the next chapter of our lives together."

In the same interview with People, Preston Mitchum also spoke about why he thought Madrid was the best destination to pop the question. He said that they generally take two international trips every year, but this one just felt right for the proposal. He also said that they didn't want their proposal date to coincide with other special days such as birthdays or holidays, so it made even more sense.

Preston Mitchum then recalled the story of how they met. He said that they first came across each other on a gay dating app called Jack'd. Mitchum said that he doesn't get why some people don't like dating apps because he found the love of his life there.

He said when Donald matched with him and sent him a message, Mitchum checked his page. He thought Donald was a very "chill and fun" person and got interested in him.

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New episodes of Summer House: Martha's Vineyard come out every Sunday at 9 pm ET, on Bravo.