Man bungles lakeside proposal as $1,200 ring falls in water

A mortifying video shows the moment a British man attempted to propose to his girlfriend on the dock of a lake — only for the $1,200 diamond engagement ring to pop out of the box and disappear into the water below.

Ross Bamber, 26, posted the humiliating footage to TikTok following his botched proposal to Geri Ashforth, 23, on June 15, with the clip quickly going viral.

“I heard it bounce, and thought, ‘Please, that can’t possibly be the ring…’ – my heart dropped,” Ashforth told the BBC in an interview on Tuesday.

Friends were subsequently called to the scene, where they donned swimming goggles and scoured the lake in an attempt to find the ring — to no avail.

“I literally couldn’t believe it,” Bamber told Southwest News Service. “I didn’t even manage to get down on one knee.”

“I took the ring out of my pocket and as I opened the box the ring fell out,” he further recalled. “It bounced a couple of times and then fell between the gaps of the decking.”

Bamber left no expense spared in the lead-up to his proposal to Ashforth, saving up for the diamond ring.

He then booked a private candlelight dinner at a lavish lakeside retreat in Watton, Norfolk, where he planned to pop the question.

The hopeful husband-to-be set up a camera in the hut where the proposal was to take place, ready to capture the romantic moment on camera.

Instead, video showed the ring flying out of the box, with Ashforth subsequently seen putting her hands over her eyes as she realizes what went wrong.

“Geri was quite upset about the whole thing,” Bamber stated. “She said to me when I dropped it ‘Tell me that wasn’t what I thought it was.’ I was like ‘Yes it was, I’m so sorry,’ and she said she didn’t want to look or even open her eyes.”

Despite the horror, Bamber improvised by proposing to Ashforth with a promise ring she was already wearing. The smitten healthcare worker had bought that ring for his ladylove 10 months earlier.

Ashforth said “yes,” before the pair called friends to come help them find the missing diamond.

With the engagement ring unable to be located in the water, Bamber went out the following day to fetch a new ring and re-create his proposal to Ashforth at the same spot the following day.

However, the husband-to-be hasn’t given up on still finding the original missing ring, saying: “I’ve spoken to the owner of the lake and he’s happy to help us find it.”