Jimmy Fallon and his wife, Nancy, told the long and complicated story of how they got engaged on Tuesday’s episode of “The Tonight Show: At Home Edition.”
The couple took a walk down memory lane — and around their neighborhood — for a segment called “Ask the Fallons,” in which they answer fan questions.
“Weirdly, I had the ring from Neil Lane, who is now ‘Bachelor’ famous,” Jimmy said. “Then, what happened was, you messed everything up for me.”
He had already asked her father and brother’s permission and was all set to propose when Nancy threw a curve ball.
“You answered the door and you said, ‘I have a surprise for you,’ and I said, ‘I hope it doesn’t mess up my surprise,’” he recalled. “You go, ‘I got us reservations at Per Se!’ — this amazing restaurant in New York. I was dying to go to Per Se. I go, ‘Oh my gosh, this is a big deal, I really do have to go to Per Se.’ But I didn’t want to get engaged at the restaurant, I wanted to get engaged at Gramercy Park or something that would always be around, classic. Cause what if in 30 years the restaurant changes hands, then it’s like, ‘Kids, this is where your mom and I got engaged, at the lazer tag place.”
So they went to dinner at Per Se, which to a non-New Yorker sounds like it would be something like Dorsia, the extremely exclusive restaurant in “America Psycho.” But after a giant and delicious meal, Nancy just wanted to go home, watch TV and go to bed, foiling Jimmy’s proposal plans.
Four months went by before Jimmy tried again.
“I was just trying to find the right place to do it — I know, I know, I know — but I’m very particular, I gotta make sure it’s the right spot,” he said.
He ended up proposing on the dock on the edge of Lake Winnipesaukee at sunset.
“I played Harry Nilson, and I said, in my head, ‘Ok, don’t cry, let her cry first.’ Because I hyped it up in my head, I get very emotional. I’m Irish, a very emotional person. As soon as I pull the ring out of my pocket, I start crying. I get down on one knee, I’m shaking,” he said, mimicking himself trying to speak while crying.
“And then I just said, ‘Hey, will you marry me?’ And you said yes,” he said.
“And then the whole family started cheering from inside the house,” Nancy said.
To illustrate the point about Jimmy being very, in his words, “particular,” Nancy asked him to name three — only three — of his biggest pet peeves.
“I don’t even know if I have pet peeves,” he said.
Her response: “Oh really?”
“Well, I dont’ like soft cheese,” he confided.
“And almost anyone even eating soft cheese is repellant to you,” she said.
“No, no, I’m totally fine with anyone doing what they want, and glopping it in their mouth,” Jimmy joked. “I can’t think of any other pet peeves right now.”
“You have so many, but I will just let that one ride.”
Isn’t love grand?