Former Bachelorette Andi Dorfman Is Engaged to Boyfriend Blaine Hart: 'I Finally Found Love'

"Blaine visited my parents in Atlanta to ask both of them for their blessing and even called my sister to ask for hers as well. That just epitomizes the kind of man Blaine is," she tells PEOPLE exclusively

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Published on March 30, 2022 10:00 AM

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andi dorfman, Blaine Hart — Photo: Stephanie Kleinman / SDK Photo and Design

Andi Dorfman has found her happily ever after!

PEOPLE can exclusively reveal that the season 10 Bachelorette is engaged to her boyfriend, Blaine Hart. The romantic proposal occurred on the beach at sunset, which Dorfman recalls being "really great and intimate."

"Blaine told me he made dinner reservations and asked if I wanted to do sunset cocktails on the beach, which is something we do all the time here in L.A.," the 34-year-old Bachelor alum tells PEOPLE exclusively.

"We get down to our spot, pour some wine, walked toward the water and when I turned around, he was on one knee," she continues. "I don't even remember what he said, I just remember hugging him and crying. I didn't even remember seeing the ring at first. And then after, the best part was, he told me instead of dinner we were going to stay the night at Hotel Bel-Air. So we drove home to pack a bag and when I opened the door to our home, both of our families and my closest friends were there to surprise me. That's when I really started bawling."

Adds Dorfman, "My nephew and niece were there and came running up to us. It was adorable. And turns out, Blaine had been planning with our families and my friends for a month to get it all organized and I had absolutely no clue!"

Prior to her beau's romantic proposal, the newly-engaged couple picked out the stunning diamond ring together. They used the same jeweler who made an engagement ring for Dorfman's mother almost 40 years ago — an element that made it all "really special," the reality star says.

"I love that it is more traditional with the halo and split shank but mostly, I love that I look at it — and as cheesy as it sounds — it symbolizes so much love and happiness," she continues. "I love, too, that Blaine visited my parents in Atlanta to ask both of them for their blessing and even called my sister to ask for hers as well. That just epitomizes the kind of man Blaine is."

Even though the pair just got engaged, they already have an idea of what they envision for their special day. "I think we would love to do a wedding in Italy where we rekindled our relationship last summer," she teases.

"I'll be honest, the idea of planning a wedding is overwhelming for me but I joke with Blaine that I want to play the role of the groom during the wedding process and maybe he can narrow every option down to three and I'll choose from there," she adds. "We'll see if that happens."

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Before her romance with Hart flourished last year, Bachelor Nation witnessed Dorfman fall in love on TV.

After eliminating herself from Juan Pablo Galavis' season airing in 2014, she became the Bachelorette for its milestone 10th season. She got engaged to winner Josh Murray later that year but they announced their split in early 2015.

Dorfman has kept her relationship with Hart more private.

"I wanted to protect Blaine a bit from the world of the public eye and I didn't want that to play a role in our relationship," she explains. "But it's fun for me to share it now, and it makes me feel really good to see that people are truly happy that I finally found love."

Compared to her past relationships, Dorfman says her love with Hart "is completely different."

"Not only do we love each other tremendously, but we like being with each other," she continues. "We both just want to make the other happy and in turn our relationship is a lot of fun. That's the word I'd use to describe our relationship: fun."

"It's not about it being easy or hard — that's not our barometer," she adds. "I knew Blaine was different and I remember just hoping that the shoe wouldn't drop and this was the real deal and it turned out it was!"

Updated by

Brittany Talarico