Justin Long and Kate Bosworth Confirm Engagement, Share 'Loving' Proposal Story

About a month after the two hit the red carpet together at the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party -- where Kate flashed a giant rock on that finger -- the duo confirmed their engagement on the latest episode of Long's Life Is Short podcast.

The news comes less than a month after Bosworth finalized her divorce from ex-husband Michael Polish, to whom she was married from 2013 until their split in 2021. She and Long met while filming the 2021 movie "House of Darkness."

"We are embarking on a new chapter," Bosworth said on the podcast.

"Yes we are. People have been asking because Catherine wore a ring that I gave to her when I asked her -- not when I asked her, but shortly after I asked her -- to marry me," Long said, noting the photos from the Oscar bash.

"We just decided we're gonna live our lives and I'm gonna wear the ring and we're gonna celebrate our love and there will be photos out there, hopefully people will know," said Bosworth, who acknowledged the red carpet moment instead just led to "a lot of speculation," which she hoped to clear up by appearing on her husband-to-be's podcast. Saying Long initially had a whole plan on how he was going to propose, she added "life had a different route for us in store than we had thought, so the plan was amended."

"I did have a thing planned, but it didn't feel natural. That's not me either," said Long, after she said over-the-top "spectacle" proposals really aren't her thing. "I did have a special thing planned around your birthday and about a month before that, life, like we were talking about, things change, and sometimes they change pretty drastically without any warnings."

Long said they were going through something "very, very deeply, profoundly personal," saying they were dealing with a "very difficult thing" shortly before popping the question. Bosworth apologized for being "vague referencing this hard thing," promising they'll talk about it "one day," before sharing how he proposed.

"But we had just gone through this really hard thing and we had spoken to a therapist and we were trying to move through things at the time and she gave us a really great piece of advice which was: Make sure that you're pretty consistently asking the other what you need, or asking the other what they need," she shared.

"I remember waking up not so many mornings after that therapy session and I looked at Justin and I said ... I remember, I smiled at you, and I said, 'What do you need?' And he, like, really looked at me and he said, 'To spend my life with you,'" she recalled. "And I smiled and I said, 'Well, yeah, you have that. Oh my gosh, you have that,' and he said, 'No, I mean I really want to spend my life with you.'"

"It was the easiest ... the words just came out so naturally," he added, as she called it "the most romantic and honest and loving proposal."

Long added that he did ask her father for his blessing, which he received.

"The irony was like, I had labored over [the proposal], this other way I was going to do it," he said. "It should just spill out, it should happen that naturally."

The pair went on to say they will always love one another, as Bosworth said "there's safety in this union." She concluded, "You, in all sincerity, make me feel like my best self, every day. I love you."

After the reveal, Bosworth announced it on Instagram as well, sharing a carousel of PDA photos with Long -- and adding, "If life is short, find the one who brings you endless peace and radical wonder. ✨ @justinlong I am so grateful it’s you."