A candlelit proposal in Tagaytay City last December stayed a private matter between Chloe San Jose and Carlos Yulo until Monday, September 28, 2026, when the couple finally took their engagement public.
San Jose was the first to post, sharing photos and video of the proposal on her social media accounts. She wrote that the two had spent nine months “treasuring this beautiful secret between us,” and traced their story back to a simple message she once sent him as a fan.
According to KAMI, the setup was arranged by event stylist Gideon Hermosa and filled with pillar candles.
Yulo followed with a Facebook post of his own, confirming that San Jose had accepted his proposal nine months earlier. “Blessed to have you as my fiancé and, soon, as my forever,” the gymnast wrote.
Addressing her directly in Filipino, he added: “Mahal ko, pangako kong aalagaan, mamahalin, at poprotektahan kita sa lahat ng panahon. Sa hirap at ginhawa, sa saya at pagsubok, pipiliin kita araw-araw.”
The announcement landed just days after the 26-year-old came home from Japan with two gold medals from the 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya. Yulo topped the men’s floor exercise on Thursday, September 24, delivering the country’s first gold of the Games, and returned the next day to win the vault with an average of 14.599. He had nearly missed the vault final after a fall in qualifying.
The results made him the first Filipino gymnast to win an Asian Games medal, and repeated the floor-and-vault double he pulled off at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The couple’s wedding plans have drawn public attention for months. Fastbreak reported that Yulo said in a recent interview that his estranged parents, Angelica and Mark Andrew Yulo, will not be invited. The family rift became public in 2024, when his mother accused San Jose of driving a wedge between the Olympian and his relatives. He has stayed close to his siblings.
Appearing on “Fast Talk with Boy Abunda” in March, the pair, who have lived together since 2023, answered in unison that they did not need their families’ blessing to marry. San Jose said involving too many people would only complicate matters, while Yulo said what counted was that he and San Jose understood each other.
