'Superstore' Actor Nico Santos Proposed To 'Survivor' Star Zeke Smith At GLAAD Media Awards

The actor and reality star Zeke Smith and his sweetheart, Filipino-American actor Nico Santos recently got engaged, and their fans are super excited. The stars had known each other for four years before this, as they first met at the GLAAD Media Awards in 2018.

It was brilliant that their engagement was at the 2022 GLAAD Media Awards after the surprise proposal from Smith while the two were on stage. It was a truly beautiful moment that had the crowd cheering for the couple. Keep reading to find out how it went.

The 42-year-old took the bold step of getting down on one knee in front of the crowd at the 33rd Annual GLAAD Media Awards, held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills. He then asked Santos to marry him while they were presenting onstage. The 34-year-old said yes and got the already excited crowd cheering even more. 

For the special moment, Smith chose a fitting black suit from Bonobos, while Santos had on a Paul Smith burgundy suit that complimented it. Their outfits could be seen in the Instagram photo Santos shared of the moment Smith was down on his knee. He captioned the heartfelt photo, “I said yes, you have my heart forever.” 

Smith also told fans on Instagram, “He said yes, I’m the luckiest guy in the world,” “Thank you to @glaad and @tiffanyandco for making it magical,” he continued. Their relationship was confirmed in 2018 with a public announcement by Smith shortly after the GLAAD Media Awards that year.

Smith took to the streets of Twitter to confirm the rumors of his relationship status with Santos. He told fans about his new lover by tweeting about the then 25-year-old and tagging him, “I guess everybody knows about my hot little 25 year-old boyfriend now. Oh, haaayyy @nicosantos,” he said at the time.

In the comments section, fans responded in excitement and congratulated both Smith and the “Superstore” actor, Santos. While most fans know Santos from his six seasons on the 2015-2021 sitcom, he also gained many fans from his role in the 2018 blockbuster, “Crazy Rich Asians.” 

Smith is most famous for competing on a couple of seasons of the reality show “Survivor” in 2016 and 2017. They were themed Millennials vs. Gen X and Game Changers, respectively.

During his 2017 appearance on the reality series, Smith faced a little challenge as he was outed by one of the other contestants as transgender. This surprised fans since the contestant was also queer. 

Before this episode, Smith worked with GLAAD’s Transgender Media Program for several months “to ensure that Zeke would have the opportunity to speak for himself about his experience when the episode aired.”

However, he noted to People at the time that he didn’t want to be the ‘first transgender Survivor contestant.’” he explained that he’d rather have been known for his game than as transgender. “I’m not ashamed of being trans, but I didn’t want that to be my story ... I just wanted to go out on an adventure and play a great game. I just wanted to be known for my game,” Smith said.

In response to being outed by the other contestant, Smith explained that it was probably done out of transphobia. “I think [the other contestant] hoped others would believe that trans people are dangerous and fraudulent,” he said.

He then added, “That reasoning is infinitely worse than him outing me because it’s the same one used to discriminate against, attack, and murder trans people.” Smith proceeded to thank fans for ignoring the contestant and supporting him anyway. 

“What’s great is that nobody bought it,” he said, “It’s important people see he lost that fight. The message should be clear that hate will always lose.” Fans wish Smith the best and hope he has a good time with his new fiancé.