Melissa Rivers Reveals How Fiancé Steve Mitchel Asked Her Son Cooper's Permission Before Proposing
Forget the red carpet: Melissa Rivers is ready to walk down the aisle.
The Fashion Police alum is engaged to Los Angeles attorney Steve Mitchel after almost a year and a half of dating. And seeing how family is always close to her heart, Melissa's fiancé made sure to include her 24-year-old son Cooper Endicott, who she shares with ex-husband John Endicott, in the engagement journey. In fact, Steve even asked him for permission before popping the question.
"Cooper means the world to me and has always been the most important man in my life," Melissa exclusively told E! News Nov. 9. "So, it was really special that Steve called him to get permission. Apparently, Steve was more nervous asking Cooper than he was asking me."
The TV personality, who is the daughter of late comedian Joan Rivers, added that Steve and Cooper already "get along so well."
"I'm grateful that Cooper said yes and I now have two wonderful men in my life," she continued, quipping, "but Steve isn't delusional—he knows he will always be 1B."
As for the actual proposal? It happened in October during the couple's vacation in Mexico, though it was not without a few bumps.
"We were having dinner on the beach and there was a boat out in the water that kept turning on and off its lights," Melissa recalled to People. "I was totally absorbed in trying to figure out why the boat was doing this and not paying attention to my surroundings. Steve told me he loved me and wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. I told him the same, but I wasn't even looking at him."
The 55-year-old joked that Steve got "annoyed" that she was distracted the boat and simply place the engagement ring on the table, telling her, "I got you something."
"I turned around and the ring was on the table and that's when I went into full shock," Melissa remembered. "I was totally speechless when he prompted me with, 'Well?' I'm wearing the ring so obviously I said yes!"
And though Joan, who passed away in 2014 at age 81, is no longer here to celebrate Melissa's engagement, the Big Tease star noted that the comedy legend "would have approved of the ring. Oh yeah, and of Steve too!"
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