Finally, some answers about this new couple straight from the source!
When Aaron Rodgers announced he was engaged earlier this month — only days after we found out he was dating Shailene Woodley — we were all pretty shocked. After all, he had only broken up with Danica Patrick about seven months before, after dating for two years. And in the coronavirus era, when did Aaron and Shailene even have time to meet, let alone get serious enough for an engagement?! Needless to say, we had a lot of questions.
Related: Inside Shailene & Aaron’s Whirlwind Engagement
Luckily, the Big Little Lies star stepped in to answer them herself, along with flashing her shiny new ring. During an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Monday night, she confirmed the engagement — which has apparently been going on longer than we thought!
She said:
“Yes, we are engaged. But for us, it’s not new news, you know, so it’s kind of funny. Everyone right now is freaking out over it and we’re like, ‘Yeah, we’ve been engaged for a while.’”
Unfortunately, she didn’t elaborate how long “a while” is, so we’re still not totally clear on the timeline of this relationship. However, she did share:
“We got engaged a while ago, and it’s been — He’s, first off, just a wonderful, incredible human being, but I never thought I’d be engaged to somebody who threw balls for a living. Like, I never thought as a little girl, ‘Yeah, when I grow up, I’m gonna marry someone who throws balls. Yeah!’ But he’s really just so good at it. And I’m impressed.”
That might be rough to hear for her own ex, Ben Volavola, who has tossed around a ball or two in his day as a professional rugby player. The pair also dated for around two years before Shailene revealed their split in April 2020, remarking she wasn’t ready to “fully commit” to marriage and children. Which… again, kinda rough, considering where we are now!
The actress went on to say that her dog is thrilled by the romance, considering a game of fetch is a lot more exciting with a NFL player. She claimed not to be a fan herself, explaining:
“I still have never been to a football game because we met during this wacky, wacky time and all the stadiums were closed that he was playing in. So, I have yet to go to a football game, and before I met him I had never seen one football game before. I didn’t really grow up with sports, especially American sports, it was never really on my radar.”
Related: Shailene Reveals Previous Open Relationship: ‘There Should Be No Rules’
She joked that friends had encouraged her to watch her fiancé’s highlight reel on YouTube, but she didn’t really “get it.” She went on:
“Because I don’t know him as a football guy! I know him as like the nerd who wants to host Jeopardy! That’s the dude I know. He just happens to be very good at sports.”
(The 37-year-old athlete is guest hosting the iconic game show in April, and called the late Alex Trebek one of his “idols.”)
Well, as surprising as this romance is, we’re glad they found each other and are happy together. Congratulations you two!
Ch-ch-check out Shailene’s full conversation with Jimmy Fallon (below) and you can see more of her ring at the 6:16 mark:
[Image via FayesVision/WENN/News Pictures & The Tonight Show/YouTube]
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