Idris Elba Engaged To Sabrina Dhowre
The Wire star is celebrating Valentine's Day a bit early this year!
According to E! News, Idris Elba just got engaged to his model girlfriend, Sabrina Dhowre. He proposed on Saturday, Feb. 10, 2018, at the premiere of his directorial film debut, Yardie, at the Rio Cinema in London.
"Another @riocinema first!" the venue's official Twitter account announced. "Still 5 days to Valentines Day but @idriselba went down on one knee and proposed to his girlfriend live on stage this morning before a preview of his film #Yardie."
The movie theater added, "She said yes and there was much clapping and cheering."
One theater-goer, talent agent David Marsden, shared a video of the romantic moment on Instagram. "When you turn up to the #Yardie screening with @sainoutalent clients @adnanmust & @akin.gazi and the director @idriselba steals the show with a #marriageproposal," he wrote in the caption. "#congratulations #love #marriage."
Elba and Dhowre met while he was filming 2017's The Mountain Between Us in Canada. As the British actor told People in September, "Falling in love while making a movie about falling in love is pretty special."
Around that time, the notoriously private pair had made their red carpet debut at the Toronto International Film Festival. "It definitely got noticed because I try to keep my personal life different," Elba continued. "I think it's an interesting space, especially for her. She'd never done a red carpet before and I tend not to do that. It was nice actually."
According to People, the 45-year-old actor shares 15-year-old daughter Isan with makeup artist Hanne Norgaard, with whom he was married from 1999 to 2003. He later tied the knot with lawyer Sonya Hamlin in 2006, but the two called it quits after six months. Elba, who also shares 3-year-old son Winston from a previous relationship with Naiyana Garth, recently swore off marriage.
"Am I ever gonna get remarried? I don't think so," he told Essence magazine in July 2017. "Yeah, I don't think so. Marriage is an institution of sorts. And I've done it. It's not for everybody. It's not my life's calling."
It sounds like he's had a change of heart. Congratulations to the happy couple!