George Clooney says his proposal to Amal was a 'disaster'

George Clooney Amal — (Image credit: Getty)

We always imagine celebrity proposals to be slick and romantic - but George Clooney has admitted when he proposed to Amal it was a 'disaster'.

The Ocean's 11 star told Drew Barrymore about why it was so awful as he appeared on her show, claiming he had 'planned it all out' - but it didn't quite go to plan.

The star, who has been married to human rights lawyer Amal since 2014, also went on to admit that he was nervous when the couple, who now have five-year-old twins, found out there would be two babies, instead of one.

George, who recently opened up about his 'terrible' parenting, told Drew about the proposal: "I planned it out. I'm not stupid. I planned the whole thing out. I've got, like, I've got a playlist with my Aunt Rosemary singing.

"And I'm going to get down and I'm gonna give her the ring right at the song, 'Why Shouldn't I?' Which is ‘Why shouldn’t I take a chance when romance passes by?' It's a great song. So I've got it all planned out."

He went on to explain how it got confusing for Amal, who recently gushed that George was the 'greatest love of her life': "We've been having dinner and the song starts and I go, ‘You know, I think there’s a lighter to relight the candle — which I blew out — relight the candle. I think there's a lighter in that little box behind you."

"She looks at it, and she's like, ‘There’s a ring in there,' like somebody left a ring there three years ago, you know?" George, by this point, had got down on one knee and was worried about his health, joking to Amal, before she accepted: "Listen, I’d really like to marry you, but I also am not young and I've been on my knee now and I could, like, lose a hip, you know?"

In the same interview, George admitted he was nervous about having twins, Ella and Alexander, who are now five.

The Up in the Air star admitted: "I was like, ‘Are you kidding me?'

"Now it's the greatest thing in the world. I was terrified then. Well, I was 56 years old and that just sounded terrifying to me."

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Sarah is a freelance journalist - writing about the royals and celebrities for Marie Claire, fitness for Women's Health and Tech Radar and travel for the Evening Standard and Woman & Home. She covers a variety of other subjects too and loves interviewing leaders and innovators in the beauty, travel and wellness worlds for numerous UK and overseas publications. Sarah can normally be found trying out the latest fitness class or on a plane to an exotic destination - and of course, writing about them.