Richard & Sarah engaged; wedding soon?

Now it can be told: Richard Gutierrez must have been feeling high when he proposed to his long-time girlfriend Sarah Lahbati at Mt. Matterhorn in Zermatt, Switzerland, last March. As is the tradition, Richard fell on his knees and asked Sarah, “Will you marry me?” as he slipped a diamond-studded ring into Sarah’s finger.

“I wanted to do it in Zermatt because that place is just natural,” Richard told Preview magazine which has him and Sarah on the cover of its latest issue. The couple has a son, Zion, who has just turned four years old.

Calling the place “magical,” Richard recalled that he and Sarah visited the place when Sarah was heavy with Zion.

“Zermatt is the place where Sarah was born and where her father is based,” added Richard.

“It’s the most beautiful place on earth,” said Sarah.

According to the Preview story, Richard waited for a few days for the weather to clear before he proposed to Sarah. When the sun finally came out, they decided to hike, with no particular spot where to do it. He lugged his video camera to record the event.

“We found a restaurant bar in the middle of the Alps,” related Richard. “It was an iconic mountain in Switzerland, then the tip of Matterhorn was right behind us. It seemed like a good spot at first, but the restaurant wasn’t as romantic as they expected. They were playing rock music, like alternative rock, and I was complaining about it every minute.”

So they set off to find a better spot behind the restaurant.

”You just walk a little bit and there’s like the perfect place overlooking the mountains,” continued Richard. “So I told Sarah, ‘Let’s stop over there.’ I set up my camera and tripod. I told Sarah, ‘Play your own music, whatever music you like.’ So Sarah obliged, and funnily enough, she chose to play The Weeknd’s I Feel It Coming.”

And that was that. (For the full story, get your copy of Preview.)

The sweethearts formally revealed their engagement Monday night at Ibiza Club-BGC during the presscon announcing the fifth season of the family show It Takes Gutz To Be A Gutierrez effective next Monday night, Aug. 7, 8:30 on E! A teaser was shown, leaving precious details (when the wedding will be, etc.) for you to find out.

“My life with Sarah is better and happy. We’re living our lives as a married couple and I can’t wait to start a new chapter of our lives together,” Richard told the press.

Sarah, on the other hand, said, “We thank everyone for being here tonight and celebrating this special moment in our lives. Chard is the love of my life and we’re eeeeeengaged!”

“I’m so happy. Have a wonderful life together and I wish you both a long and happy life,” said Sarah’s father Abdel Lahbati in a video message from Switzerland.

“Our heartiest congratulations to Richard and Sarah,” said Scott Mackenzie, Vice President of Channels Asia, NBCUniversal International Networks, “We can’t wait to see what the power couple has in store for us on the fifth season of Gutz.”

Other exciting highlights fans can look forward to this season include a growing family with a new baby, Raymond’s new life after his #RevengeBody experience and Richard’s adjustment to fatherhood following his return to local TV and a peek at Ruffa’s gorgeous new house.

Present during the event were Richard’s parents Annabelle Rama and Eddie Gutierrez, sister Ruffa with daughters Lorin and Venice, twin brother Raymond, brother Elvis with wife Alexa and their daughter Aria, and David Gutierrez. Also present were Sarah’s mother Esther Lahbati.

E! is seen on Sky Cable Ch. 57, Cignal Ch. 61, Cablelink Ch. 33 and other cable operators nationwide

(E-mail reactions at [email protected]. For more updates, photos and videos, visit www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on Instagram @therealrickylo.) - Photos by VER PAULINO