Dillon Carmichael is officially engaged to his girlfriend of two years, Shayla Whitson. According to People, the singer proposed on Saturday during a photoshoot that Whitson thought was simply to commemorate their two-year dating anniversary. However, while the couple were taking photos on a lake dock covered with rose petals and candles, Carmichael got down on one knee. Whitson seemed ready for the question, as she responded before he even asked.
“As soon as I got down on one knee, she said yes,” Carmichael told the publication. “I was so nervous that I pretty much blacked out! I don’t remember anything after that.”
Although the couple just celebrated two years together, they have known one another for longer, meeting in December 2017 at a show Carmichael played in their home state of Kentucky. The “Hot Beer” singer admitted that he couldn’t help but stare at the “angel” he spotted across the room, and although he was too nervous to approach her, they thankfully ended up chatting that night.
“I even went over to my guitar player that night and was telling him about how beautiful I thought she was, right there in the middle of the show,” he said. “I thought there was an angel standing there.
“I was too shy to talk to her, so she came up and talked to me first,” he added.
Carmichael had instant feelings for Whitson, but the two were friends for a while before officially diving into a relationship. The lack of a label didn’t sway the singer, though — he knew she was the one and even shared that fact with her long before they were close to making that pledge.
“I had told my band I was going to marry her before we were even dating because I just knew it,” Carmichael said. “I would even tell her, ‘I’m going to marry you one day,’ before we started dating, which is kind of an absurd thing to say. But now that it’s actually happening, I guess it’s not that absurd.”
The couple will now turn to wedding planning, but just as they took some time before officially becoming a couple, they plan to spend time enjoying their engagement before saying, “I Do.”
“We will be shooting for a one-year or two-year engagement,” says the singer. “That will give us time to accomplish some of the goals we have before we get married. We’re not in a hurry. We have made a commitment to each other and now we can just take our time.”
Fans will recognize Whitson from the lyric video for Carmichael’s romantic song, “I Do With You.” In the video, the couple is seen enjoying time outdoors together as the song’s lyrics, about a man willing to make sacrifices for his woman, appear onscreen.