RUGBY star Gavin Henson is ready to marry his girlfriend Charlotte Church - but it seems that he is eager for her to be the one to pop the big question.
Last night Henson spoke of his love for the singer and said he thought they were likely to tie the knot one day.
"We're good for each other, it's really good. She'd love to (get married) - maybe we will. We'd love a family together," he told chat show host Jonathan Ross.
Dressed in a dark suit with an open- necked white shirt, and with his slicked-back gelled hairstyle jettisoned in favour of his trademark three-inch spikes, Henson spoke further about his desire to start a family with Charlotte, who he started dating a year ago.
But he also said that he would feel more comfortable with her taking the lead.
"I hope she'll ask me, but I suppose I'd better do it," he said.
Tradition states that women can only propose to their men on February 29 - in leap years.
Henson's penchant for shaved legs might not mark him out as much of a traditionalist, but if he's a believer in this particular rule, he might not be tying the knot until at least 2008.
With Church having previously expressed her desire to marry her rugby-playing boyfriend, she'll presumably be thinking that he had better get on with it.
But according to relationship psychologist Alex Gardner, the idea of a female popping the question is becoming more and more acceptable.
"It's such a different society from the old traditional way, where the man went to the father of the bride to ask for her hand, and then pledged his undying love to her, before ending up in the divorce courts seven years later," he said.
"The situation now with cohabitation and with much more sexual interchange before marriage, it just becomes about whether they do or don't get on rather than a huge romantic gesture. It's more about making a public statement.
"Many people, particularly those who live together, are already married in all but law anyway, and they just want to make a public statement that they want to legalise their relationship."
Asked about the possible reasons for Henson's reticence, Mr Gardner speculated that it could be linked to his girlfriend's wealth - not that the Ospreys fullback can be short of a bob or two given his array of commercial tie-ups.
He said, "If someone is marrying a person with a lot of money, and he asks the question, then I would imagine people saying he was only doing it for the money.
"But if she asks him, then that factor is out of the equation."
Source
Last night Henson spoke of his love for the singer and said he thought they were likely to tie the knot one day.
"We're good for each other, it's really good. She'd love to (get married) - maybe we will. We'd love a family together," he told chat show host Jonathan Ross.
Dressed in a dark suit with an open- necked white shirt, and with his slicked-back gelled hairstyle jettisoned in favour of his trademark three-inch spikes, Henson spoke further about his desire to start a family with Charlotte, who he started dating a year ago.
But he also said that he would feel more comfortable with her taking the lead.
"I hope she'll ask me, but I suppose I'd better do it," he said.
Tradition states that women can only propose to their men on February 29 - in leap years.
Henson's penchant for shaved legs might not mark him out as much of a traditionalist, but if he's a believer in this particular rule, he might not be tying the knot until at least 2008.
With Church having previously expressed her desire to marry her rugby-playing boyfriend, she'll presumably be thinking that he had better get on with it.
But according to relationship psychologist Alex Gardner, the idea of a female popping the question is becoming more and more acceptable.
"It's such a different society from the old traditional way, where the man went to the father of the bride to ask for her hand, and then pledged his undying love to her, before ending up in the divorce courts seven years later," he said.
"The situation now with cohabitation and with much more sexual interchange before marriage, it just becomes about whether they do or don't get on rather than a huge romantic gesture. It's more about making a public statement.
"Many people, particularly those who live together, are already married in all but law anyway, and they just want to make a public statement that they want to legalise their relationship."
Asked about the possible reasons for Henson's reticence, Mr Gardner speculated that it could be linked to his girlfriend's wealth - not that the Ospreys fullback can be short of a bob or two given his array of commercial tie-ups.
He said, "If someone is marrying a person with a lot of money, and he asks the question, then I would imagine people saying he was only doing it for the money.
"But if she asks him, then that factor is out of the equation."
Source