Couple goes to Zion National Park. Then he fake proposes throughout the trip, except no one thinks it’s funny: ‘Clearly intentional to upset you’

Falling in love and getting a marriage proposal can feel as breathtaking as the vistas of Zion National Park. They can also feel like an absurd joke the universe is playing on you.

For cheerleader Ella Hodson (@ell.hodson), love is both of those things and more. At least judging from her TikTok content. There, in addition to lots of cheer-centric content, she regularly posts about her long-distance boyfriend. They’ve just celebrated their first anniversary.

What Happened At Zion National Park?

Perhaps in acknowledgement of this milestone anniversary, the couple went hiking in Zion National Park. Acknowledged as one of the most stunning landscapes in America, it is one of the perfect visual (and emotional) backdrops for a marriage proposal.

Or not.

Those sweeping vistas and sandstone cliffs are the perfect backdrop for something else: a running joke. In her caption to the TikTok, which has been viewed over 2 million times, Hodson writes, “He joked about proposing ALL weekend [deliriously happy emoji].”

Cut to the video itself, and she’s filmed the couple holding hands and smiling into one another’s faces. Framed against the rugged red landscape against a blue sky with puffy clouds, he starts to go down on one knee. The instant he starts trying to “get into position,” she yanks him back up to standing.

They collapse against one another, smiling, clearly enjoying an inside joke together. But he might not be smiling quite so broadly if he knew what text she’d add to the video: “Top 5 horror movies: 1. my boyfriend faking me out on our trip to Zion.”

There are no more entrants on her list, so it seems these “proposals” are her worst nightmare.

Tears and Sulking, The Reasonable Response?

Though everyone in the video is having a good time with fake proposals and real red rocks, the internet is not.

“I would start crying and not talk the rest of the trip,” admits Kenz (@ken.zi.e1).

Then CJB (@weeyoo.wagon) offers an armchair psychoanalytic take: “Him joking about it once is fine. All weekend is very clearly intentional to upset you.”

Hodson replied, “The amount of times I’ve joked about and brought up engagement is way more than he has. We’re just fine!”

But perhaps the most appropriate comment award goes to LB (@threatlevel_midnyte) who says, “I’d fake breakup numerous times.” Check and mate indeed.

Shining Rocks Versus Towering Ones

Zion National Park is the kind of place that rewards the work it takes to get there. Towering sandstone cliffs and narrow canyons make this environment look like a Surrealist landscape come to life. Almost since it came to the attention of the federal government in 1908, it has been a protected place.

“The natural splendor of the region so struck the surveyors that they encouraged President Taft to protect it,” reports the National Parks Service’s site.

A photographer who is often hired to capture a couple’s special moment speculates why Zion National Park is host to so many proposals: “Zion has a way of making everything feel bigger—and smaller—all at once. The towering cliffs make you feel tiny in the best way, while the quiet desert can make a single moment feel like it lasts forever.”

So, the good news is that even after her “not proposal,” Hodson posted another video with her boyfriend. It seems the internet’s snark couldn’t dent their love. The only thing he’s really in competition with? Her degree, per her own confession.

In her most recent video, she’s wearing her graduation gown and holding on to her degree. She’s captioned it: “Looking at my degree knowing I’ll never love something more than this.”

At least she’s seemingly not a candidate for Alpine divorce.

@ella.hodson

he joked about proposing ALL weekend?

♬ The One That Got Away – Katy Perry

The Mary Sue reached out to Ella Hodson via TikTok direct message and with a comment.

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