Michael Clarke & Lara Bingle Engaged
CRICKET star Michael Clarke and his model partner Lara Bingle are engaged to be married after the test player popped the big question while holidaying in the US.
Clarke, who turns 27 next week, asked Bingle to marry him in New York's Central Park - offering a five carat pear-shaped diamond ring, reportedly valued at $100,000.
The news comes just one month after the stunning pair were forced to quell reports they were getting married.
The couple - touted as Australia's version of Posh and Becks - have reinvented themselves since they started dating early last year.
Clarke was last week named as one of Who magazine's 25 most beautiful Australians and although Bingle, 20, missed out on the gong, her career has been revived by the relationship - recently securing an endorsement for swimwear brand Speedo.
Clarke, affectionately nicknamed Pup by his cricketing mates, has also signed with fitness brand Slazenger.
The couple's representative Chris White, from International Quarterback, reportedly confirmed the engagement, saying the couple called family and friends over the Easter break with the good news.
This announcement is a complete backflip from what the management company's Lisa Stallard said last month.
"The story (that they were engaged) was absolutely inaccurate - they're not getting engaged, there is no engagement pending and there has not been any magazine deals done to announce it," she said.
The pair are believed to be still in New York and it is unknown when they will return home to celebrate the good news with family and friends.
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