Jesse Tyler Ferguson recently shared a story from his life that was supposed to be romantic but didn’t go as planned at all. The ‘Modern Family‘ actor opened up about his proposal to Justin Mikita and how things slowly began to slip out of control.
As it turned out, Ferguson had planned a special moment during their Mexico vacation and waited for the perfect time to ask the big question. But just when everything seemed right, something unexpected happened, which completely changed the situation and forced him to rethink his plan.
Jesse Tyler Ferguson Struggled To Plan The Perfect Proposal
Jesse Tyler Ferguson shared the full story on his Dinner’s on Me podcast while talking to Heather Graham. He went back to 2012, when he proposed to Justin Mikita during their vacation in Mexico.
Instead of a ring, Ferguson chose a diamond Rolex watch. He said Mikita “would always borrow” his Rolex, so he wanted to give him something meaningful. He even added a special message on it that read, “spend all your time with me.”
But hiding the watch proved to be a big challenge. It was large and easy to notice. “I could not hide it from him. So, I kept it in my pocket most of the time,” Ferguson said. At one point, he even hid it “inside the tube of toilet paper” because he was running out of options.
After waiting for the right moment, Ferguson finally thought he found it. One night in Tulum, after dinner, they walked along the beach. The setting felt perfect. “I had the watch with me… and I was like, ‘Okay, this is the moment,’” he said.
He added, “The moonlight was hitting the beach; it was so beautiful,” and he was ready to propose. But suddenly, he noticed something in the sand. Small sand crabs were moving all around them in the moonlight. Before he could react, Mikita saw them too and panicked. Ferguson added, “He started screaming and, like, running away.”
Ferguson Had To Rush The Proposal The Next Day
After that, Ferguson felt the pressure building. It was already “like night three” of their five-day trip, and he didn’t want to leave without proposing. So the next day, he didn’t wait for another perfect moment.
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While Mikita was sitting on their balcony having coffee, Ferguson simply went for it. “I basically got down on one knee. I was like, ‘Here’s the watch,’” he said, even joking that he “threw it at him” before asking, “Will you marry me?”
He admitted the moment felt rushed and unplanned. “I was stressed out. It wasn’t like I had a speech or anything prepared,” he said. It wasn’t romantic, but it was real. A year later, the couple got married on July 20, 2013, in New York City, which was one of the few places where same-sex marriage was legal at the time.
Their story didn’t stop there. On July 7, 2020, they welcomed their first son, Beckett Mercer. Then, in May 2022, they announced they were expecting again, and on Nov. 15, 2022, they welcomed their second son, Sullivan Louis.
Today, Ferguson calls the proposal story “crazy” and admits there was “zero romance,” but it still became the start of everything they have built together.
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