Ellie Kemper Hilariously Recalls How Her Husband Botched His Proposal at Least Three Times

Actress Ellie Kemper stopped by the Today show on Friday, August 25, and held nothing back while recalling a series of botched marriage proposals from her husband Michael Koman.

“I love my husband,” Kemper, 37, said. “Michael, I love you, [but] you did not propose well.” The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt star then explained how her screenwriter husband attempted to pop the question multiple times before getting it (somewhat) right.

“Three times, the subject of marriage came up… The first time he was like, ‘I don’t have the ring, but one day maybe we’ll get married,” she said. “It was weird… I was like, ‘Am I supposed to say yes to that?’”

Koman’s next attempt failed—despite him presenting a ring. “It was this beautiful [ring], his grandmother’s ring,” Kemper shared. “He was like, “I’m not asking… I mean, we can get married at some point.’ It kept being put off.”

The final proposal was fairly straight-forward. This time, however, Koman’s timing was the problem. “He asked me as I was leaving for New York from Los Angeles,” Kemper explained. “He asked me to marry him [and] I got on a plane and left for a week. Again, I love him, but that was not a proposal.”

True to her upbeat nature, Kemper chooses to focus on the positive. She said, “Don’t they say, ‘Bad proposal, great marriage?’”

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Today show anchor Sheinelle Jones followed up with a story of the time she was sure her now-husband Uche Ojeh would propose. “I thought it was happening. We were on vacation in Mexico,” she said. “Then it was the last day, and we flew back and I was like, ‘I guess it’s not happening.’”

Kemper had a similar experience, in which she admitted to Koman that she was hoping to get engaged during a getaway. “He was like, ‘Oh, I’m sorry.” She added: “Bad proposal, happy marriage. It all works out.”

Kemper and Koman celebrated five years of marriage last month. They were married on July 7, 2012, in a traditional church wedding in New York City. The planning process proved difficult for Kemper and made her appreciate the 2011 film Bridesmaids, in which she starred alongside Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy and other notable actresses. "Now I really understand why a movie about this topic was made!" she said in the midst of planning. "Everything I said about being really flexible and loose about everything is not happening."

See the interview below.