Backstreet Boy Howie Dorough and his longtime girlfriend, Leigh Boniello, are engaged. They plan to marry later this year.
- Aug 20, 2007
AceShowbiz - Howie Dorough, one of the Backstreet Boys, is engaged to marry his longtime girlfriend, Leigh Boniello. The singer popped the question at a family New Year's Eve party on December 31, 2006 at Boniello's family home in New Jersey. The couple planning to walk down the aisle later this year.
"She wasn't expecting it, and I was quite nervous, more nervous about proposing to her in front of 40 family and friends than about performing in front of 400,000 people on-stage," the boy-bander told People adding that he had managed to keep the engagement to his "soul-mate" secret for more than seven months.
Dorough presented Boniello, a film-exec-turned-real-estate-broker, with a three-diamond ring set in platinum that he had designed himself, about which he revealed he looked at "at least 40 or 50 diamonds" before popped the question.
Dorough and Boniello first met in 2000 when she was working as the Backstreet Boys' Webmaster. The couple reportedly is planning on hosting 250 guests on their big day, which is being held at an undisclosed location. Among those 250 will be the Backstreet Boys members, including Kevin Richardson.
While remained tight lipped on their highly anticipated wedding, Dorough tells People he and Boniello were "very careful" to keep their engagement private at first, but finally feel the time has come for them to share the good news with public, and they are "very, very excited" about it.
