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Buzz Feed
30-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
Celebrity Couples Who Got Engaged Quickly
They say that when you know, you know — and for some couples, that happens surprisingly quickly! However, they don't always make it down the aisle. Here are 21 celeb couples who got engaged at the speed of light: In 2013, Kaley Cuoco and Ryan Sweeting met on a blind date. Three months later, he proposed. She told Ellen, "I had kind of an interesting situation over the summer, and I was kind of in a weird place and a very close mutual friend [of] ours said, 'Oh my god, have you met this guy Ryan?' I was just not in a good place to meet anyone. I said, 'I'm not ready. I'm taking time away from love for a while.' I was very sad. And they said, 'You know, he's coming to town. You've got one day to meet him, have a drink, and meet him.'" She continued, "I was putting it off and really nervous about it and just not wanting to do this. And so they gave him my number and he texted me. He was like, 'I'm coming to LA.' I'm like, 'Oh my god, so now I have to see this guy? Do I have to hang out with him all weekend? Is he going to be here for, like, days?' ...We're still on our first date. He never went home!" They got married in December. On the Late Show With David Letterman, Kaley said, "It all did move quite fast on paper, but we really did know... I'm totally married. I know you're all thinking, 'She's nuts!' I swear I'm not nuts! We were throwing a New Year's Eve party anyway, and I was like, 'Let's throw a ceremony in the party and not tell anybody.'" However, in 2015, she filed for divorce. Ahead of her wedding to Karl Cook, she told Cosmopolitan, "I honestly thought I wouldn't get married again. My ex ruined that word for me. I married someone the first time who completely changed. The person I ended up with was not the person I originally met. And that wasn't my fault — that was his. I knew how much I had to give and how much I wanted to receive. I knew I just had to be patient…I had to go through a lot of things, but it brought me to Karl." She divorced Karl in 2022. In 2018, Julia Fox and Peter Artemiev dated for a month before getting engaged. On her podcast Forbidden Fruits, Julia said, "At the Little White Wedding Chapel [in Las Vegas], nobody knew, I was dressed like a cowgirl. And [Peter] wore cowboy boots. We looked so fucking cute. We were so in love. I literally dreamed him up and manifested him, like as a city girl from Manhattan, I always wanted to date a Russian guy from Coney Island. I was single for like four years prior to [dating him], and no guy could even get close to me. That man fucking locked it down and married me in a month." However, Peter filed for divorce in February 2020, and their split was finalized in July. In March 2023, Lukas Gage and Chris Appleton publicly confirmed their relationship. Just a few weeks later, they were engaged. And a few weeks after that, they tied the knot at the Little White Chapel in Vegas with Kim Kardashian as their officiant. Their wedding was filmed for The Kardashians. Chris told Bustle, "I met him at a party five years before. I had a partner at the time, and he said something to me drunk. I remember thinking like, Oh, fuck off. But anyway, I didn't forget him. Then, five years later, I saw him on my Explorer page, and I DMed him. I just said, 'Boo!' Like the ghost emoji... It's almost like that kind of childlike kind of innocence to our relationship, and I think that's really special and rare. I don't really talk about relationship stuff with Kim normally, so the fact that I was talking about it, she knew [it was serious]. Then I said, 'You could be the flower girl.' Then I rang her back, and I was like, 'Oh my God, you should marry us. How fucking hilarious would that be?'" However, after six months of marriage, Chris filed for divorce. Lukas later told Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, "I had a manic episode for six months. Those furry jackets... I don't know what literally went through my head, but we live, and we learn... That's how I roll. I'm a little impulsive. But that was probably one of the most unhinged things I've ever done in my life, and I'll probably have six other marriages." After a few years of casually seeing each other on and off, Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin officially started dating in June 2018. A month later, they were engaged. On Instagram, he said, "Gods timing really is literally perfect, we got engaged on the seventh day of the seventh month, the number seven is the number of spiritual perfection, it's true GOOGLE IT! Isn't that nuts? By the way I didn't plan that, anyways My goodness does feel good to have our future secured! WERE GONNA BE BETTER AT 70 BABY HERE WE GO!" They had a secret courthouse wedding two months later, and around their first anniversary, they had a big traditional wedding. In the docuseries Justin Bieber: Seasons, Hailey said, "We wanted to move in together, and we didn't believe in doing that until we were married, so we got legally married. Moving in together and living together, and getting to share space with each other and just keep learning more about each other, just took away all the pressure of the scary part of getting married." In 1994, Drew Barrymore told bar owner Jeremy Thomas — whom she'd been dating for six weeks — that she wanted to be with him forever. He replied, "That's wonderful. When?" She answered, "Now. Let's do it right now.' So, a little after 5 in the morning, they threw an impromptu wedding in his bar. The ceremony was officiated by a psychic/private detective/minister they found after calling the wedding hotline 1-800-I MARRY U. At the time, Drew told People, "I know people will think I've slipped, that they will pass judgment and won't understand. But I've never been more in control of my life than I am now." However, their marriage only lasted 19 days before they divorced. Drew later referred to him as "the devil" in a Rolling Stone interview. After dating for around four months, Demi Lovato and Max Ehrich announced their engagement in July 2020. In a since-deleted Instagram post, Demi said, "I knew I loved you the moment I met you. It was something I can't describe to anyone who hasn't experienced it firsthand but luckily you did too. I've never felt so unconditionally loved by someone in my life (other than my parents) flaws and all. You never pressure me to be anything other than myself. And you make me want to be the best version of myself... I'm honoured to accept your hand in marriage. I love you more than a caption could express but I'm ecstatic to start a family and life with you. I love you forever my baby." However, two months later, they called it off. At the time, Max alleged that he found out "through a tabloid" (though a source denied this to People). And in Demi's Instagram comments, he accused her of "using [their] breakup for clout." Later, at the 19th Represents 2021 Virtual Summit, Demi said, "Going into March of 2020, I was starting to identify as nonbinary. Then I met someone and I got into this straight relationship, and that was great, but that led me to ignore all the parts of myself that I didn't think were digestible for my partner at the time — who ended up becoming my fiancé. In hindsight, the dissolvement of that relationship was actually probably the best thing that's happened to me, because of what that led inside of myself. I was able to stand on my own two feet without needing someone else to validate me or to make me feel accepted. When I said goodbye to that relationship, I also said goodbye to everything that was holding me back from being my most authentic self." Similarly, in their 2021 docuseries Dancing with the Devil, Demi said, "I think I rushed into something that I thought was what I was supposed to do. I realized as time went on that I didn't actually know the person that I was engaged to. I think I rushed into something that I thought was what I was supposed to do. I realized as time went on that I didn't actually know the person that I was engaged to." Only a few weeks into their relationship in 2018 (like literally less than a month after going public), Pete Davidson and Ariana Grande got engaged. Pete told GQ, "The day I met her, I was like, 'Hey, I'll marry you tomorrow.' She was calling my bluff. I sent her a picture [of engagement rings]. I was like, 'Do you like any of these?' She was like, 'Those are my favorite ones,' and I was like, 'Sick.'" Similarly, Ariana told The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon that she "had the biggest crush in the world on him" after she hosted Saturday Night Live two years prior. She said, "I jokingly said to my tour manager — I was like, 'I'm marrying him 100 percent.' I was like, 'I'm literally marrying him.'" However, five months later, they ended their engagement. Discussing "Thank U, Next," Ariana told the Zach Sang Show, "In my relationship at the time, things were so up and down and on and off, and so I didn't know what was gonna happen. Then we got back together, so I had to make a different version of it. And then we broke up again so we ended up going back [to the original version]... There's a version where I was getting married [to Pete], a version where I'm not getting married. But we all knew that the first version was gonna be the version that we ultimately went with. I just wanted to cover all the bases." And on SNL, Pete said, "The truth is it's nobody's business, and sometimes things just don't work out. And that's okay. She's a wonderful, strong person, and I genuinely wish her all the happiness in the world." In 2018, Nick Jonas popped the question to Priyanka Chopra on her birthday after two months of dating. Priyanka later told Elle UK, "I didn't expect the proposal at that point... It was two months! I thought it would happen, but it was still a complete shock. I relinquished control, and I just went with it. We were just sporadically meeting for about two years [before we started officially dating]. We were texting and stuff, and there may have been a part of me that wanted something serious. But I was taking a hiatus from guys at that point. I didn't want anyone romantically." She continued, "But there's always been something about Nick, which is why we always ended up staying in touch, no matter where we were. One thing to know about my husband is that when he makes up his mind, he'll get what he wants! When he knows, he knows. There's such a sublime confidence to it that you can't help but be like, 'Okay.'" They got married that December. The couple had two wedding ceremonies — a Christian ceremony and a Hindu ceremony. In 1993, Julia Roberts and Lyle Lovett were in a serious relationship for about three or four weeks before they decided to take the next step — a spontaneous wedding! They planned the entire ceremony in less than 72 hours, choosing a church in Marion, Indiana, because it was between stops on Lyle's summer tour. However, they divorced in 1995. Julia told the LA Times, "It's actually ridiculously amicable. You'd think people who could be that nice to each other would probably be a couple, but it just sort of wasn't the way it was intended to be. We found our little niche and then overstepped it a little bit. In fact, I think it can just as often be the weaker choice to stay." In January 2004, Britney Spears flew Jason Alexander (her childhood friend, not George Costanza) to Las Vegas, where they had a spur-of-the-moment wedding. An infamous 55 hours later, the marriage was annulled. According to court documents, she "lacked understanding of her actions, to the extent that she was incapable of agreeing to the marriage." In her 2023 memoir The Woman in Me, Britney wrote, "People have asked me if I loved him. To be clear: he and I were not in love. I was just honestly very drunk — and probably, in a more general sense at that time in my life, very bored." Jason later alleged that "party favors" contributed to their decision to get married and that Britney's team said he'd be allowed to date her if he signed the annulment paperwork. In Toxic: The Britney Spears Story, he said, "They told me if I would sign the contracts — the annulment — they would let me and Britney continue our relationship, and if we felt the same way in six months they would give us a proper marriage. They were allowing Britney and I to still have phone communication. So we were talking every day, and I still believed the story I was told, that they were going to let us continue to talk and then we would have this marriage … in the future if we felt the same way." He claimed her phone number stopped working after 30 days. Unfortunately, that wasn't the last Britney heard from him. When she married Sam Asghari in 2022, Jason allegedly tried to crash the wedding. On Instagram Live, he reportedly said, "Britney Spears invited me here. She's my first wife. My only wife." He was arrested, and Britney and Sam were granted a restraining order against him. Charged with aggravated trespassing and battery, he was sentenced to 128 days in prison. Britney and Sam divorced in 2024. Britney Spears and Kevin Federline met at a club in the summer of 2004. Within months, she proposed, but he declined because he thought he should be the one to propose. Per Us Weekly, he said, "It wasn't like a 'Will you marry me?' It wasn't that straightforward. The way she said it was kind of beating around the bush. Still, I was taken by surprise. I thought the guy was supposed to ask the girl. So a couple of minutes went by, and then I asked her. I wasn't really thinking about asking her right away, but I did without reservation. I'd known for a while that she's The One." Three months after their relationship began, they had a surprise wedding at their small engagement party. Britney told People, "I just thought it would be too much if we had done it when we were supposed to. It became this huge thing, and I was like, 'What are we waiting for? We know this is the real thing, why not just do it now?' That's why I wanted to sneak and do it our little way." However, Britney filed for divorce in 2006. In The Woman in Me, she wrote, "Again and again in my life, I've seen fame and money ruin people. And I saw it happen with Kevin in slow motion." Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon first met at the 2005 Teen Choice Awards. Three years later, she cast him as her love interest in her "Bye Bye" music video. That April, Mariah's rep denied dating rumors to People. However, while they were keeping their relationship secret from the public, things were moving rather quickly behind the scenes! Nick proposed to her twice — once with a 17-carat pink diamond ring hidden inside a Ring Pop, and once during a NYC helicopter ride. Less than two months into their relationship, they were married. Mariah told People, "We really do feel we are soulmates. I never felt a love like this was in the cards for me." They divorced in 2016. Nick later told the Ray Daniels Presents podcast, "I got married in my 20s to the biggest star in the world. I would lay up at night thinking, 'Is this who I am? Am I Mariah's man? Is that what my life's supposed to be?' There's nothing wrong with it. And I got really comfortable in it. She got islands. I'm waking up at noon, and I'm being served steaks on a platter... Then when you have children and the hierarchy of man shit is like 'Wait, I'm carrying the purse, the diaper bag, and I'm standing on the corner waiting.' She's rocking being all the alpha that she is..." He continued, "And the love kept me there because I was like, 'You need somebody. You need a support system. You need somebody that don't want you for your money. You need somebody that's sincere. You need somebody that's ready to build a family, raise some amazing kids together. And that was my goal. But then there was something constantly in me like...' ....I was wearing suits every day cause I'm trying to prove that I'm a man. The inner adolescent in me, I'm trying to prove that I'm a man because I'm standing next to a woman." Khloé Kardashian and Lamar Odom met at a party in August 2009. Just a few weeks later, they got engaged. Lamar later told Playboy, "Most people don't want to get married. Being married, that's a responsibility. I always used to tell that to women. I don't want a girlfriend because that means I've got a responsibility. I have a responsibility to call you. I have a responsibility not to be with another woman. I have a responsibility to be there on time when you need me. With her I was like, If I do what I normally do, I'm going to lose her. And if I lose her, I think it's going to hurt a lot. Right then and there I knew. We were together every day." Then, on the one-month anniversary of the day they first met, Khloé and Lamar tied the knot. It was filmed for Keeping Up with the Kardashians, leading to speculation they rushed the wedding to boost ratings. However, Lamar denied it was "PR stunt," telling Playboy, "That's just how gossip works, you know? You can't stop it. Because at the time, with us being so successful — me in basketball and her show doing so well — it was too big. It was too huge. It caught people off guard. It looked as though we had too much to gain. That let me know, damn, it's a big deal. Even the wedding was big. The list of her family [and] friends was crazy. Those were her people showing up, showing their love. For some people, that was too much to even think about. And it was quick. I guess that just added to the speculation — 'Why can't they wait?' I didn't want to wait." Ultimately, Khloé filed for divorce in 2013, and it was finalized two years later. She told Complex, "When you genuinely feel like that was the right relationship, you're supposed to give it all you can. That's what marriage is about. It's not, 'Let's see if it works, if not, we always have divorce.' I am not one of those girls. You took a vow before God, and you're supposed to abide by that... Lamar is genuinely one of the best people I've ever met, and everyone says that when they meet him. I think Lamar's going to always be that person [for me], but that's what made it so special. Even if I had it for five years or whatever, it was the best ever, and I'm grateful I did." In early 2010, a talent agent introduced Elsa Pataky and Chris Hemsworth. By September, they were publicly dating. Chris told Elle, "There was no light-bulb moment. From the first time we met, we just made sense. She's fun. She's outgoing, and she has a sense of humor and a passionate attitude toward life, which is nice to try to keep up with." Over Christmas, they spontaneously got engaged — and married — in Indonesia. On Good Morning Britain, Chris said, "There was no great plan to any of it, to be honest. We were on holiday, and we said, Why don't we get married too?' There probably should have been some planning, but it all worked out. Honestly, we had both our families on holiday at the same time, just randomly, and we said, 'This is a good opportunity with everyone together,' so we just did it." Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee first met at a club on New Year's Eve in 1994. Six weeks later, they went on their first date in Cancun. Just four days into the trip, they tied the knot. However, Pamela filed for divorce in 1998 after Tommy pleaded no contest to felony spousal battery. He was sentenced to six months in jail. In 2001, he was released, and they briefly got back together. They reunited for a third and final time in 2008, ultimately parting ways in 2010. In 2013, George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin met through a mutual friend in July and kept in touch via email until going on their first official date in October. In April 2014, he asked her to marry him. George told CBS This Morning, "I knew fairly quickly that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Amal. When I asked her, we had never talked about it. There wasn't like, 'Maybe we should get married.' I dropped it on her!" They got married in Venice in September 2014. In 2011, Nikki Reed and Paul McDonald got engaged after two months of dating. Responding to criticism of their quick timeline, Nikki told People, "I love him, and I don't care. I've never met anyone like him. I've never met anyone who has such a good, solid heart and comes from such a good, solid family and is just a genuine person. We have the exact same sense of humor. I've never laughed so much with anyone as I do with him." Four months later, they got married on a Malibu ranch. They told Us Weekly, "We couldn't be happier! [We were] surrounded by our family and friends. We're so glad this day has come!" However, they separated in 2014 but released their debut album as a duo later that year. They finalized their divorce in 2015. Nikki Reed went on to experience a friends-to-lovers romance with Ian Somerhalder. They started dating in July 2014 then got engaged six months later. A source told Us Weekly, "They were friends before; the groundwork had been laid before. They had always been attracted to each other, but always in another relationship. It may seem quick, but they knew it was right. They believe in the same things. They are dedicated to their work and helping others." Three months later, they got married at Topanga Canyon in Malibu. In February 2004, Nicolas Cage met server Alice Kim at an LA restaurant. Two months later, they got engaged. Since Nic was filming Lords of War in South Africa, he and Alice decided to go ahead and get married that August so she could travel with him — and because they "loved each other." He told the Guardian, "I made a very clear decision to marry out of my own zip code. I mean, way out of my own zip code. I married into another culture, and it's interesting because in Korea they call me the Son-in-Law." However, in 2016, they separated. He told the Guardian, "It was a shocker for me – I definitely didn't see it coming... She was quite young when I married her, and I don't really have any ill will towards what happened. That's all I'll say." In 2012, Avril Lavigne and Chad Kroeger met while working on her album together. A month and six days into their relationship, he proposed by taking a picture of himself with the ring, slipping it into a scrapbook she had at the studio, and spelling out, "Will you marry me?" in stickers. He told HELLO! Canada, "I knew I was falling for her. It was incredibly powerful and something I'll never forget." She told On Air with Ryan Seacrest, "We started dating, and the next day, he's like, 'You know, I'm going to marry you.' And I said, 'I know.' It was just one of those things we knew." In 2013, they got married at a castle in France. However, they announced their separation in 2015. On Instagram, Avril said, "Through not only the marriage, but the music as well, we've created many unforgettable moments. We are still, and forever will be, the best of friends, and will always care deeply for each other. To all our family, friends and fans, thank you sincerely for the support." And finally, we'll end on a really wholesome one: Amy Schumer and chef Chris Fischer met when she visited his family farm in Martha's Vineyard with his sister, who's also her assistant. They were just friends until she got him to help her with the food at a friend's birthday party. While getting things ready together, something shifted between them. They were first romantically linked in November 2017, and they made their relationship public in February 2018. Shortly after, they got married. Amy told the Howard Stern Show that they planned the wedding in only three or four days. She texted her loved ones, "I'm getting married on Tuesday. I hope you can come."
Cosmopolitan
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Cosmopolitan
The Summer I Turned Pretty Cast, Including All the New Characters
The Summer I Turned Pretty has officially returned for season 3 on Prime Video, reuniting us with our favorite TV drama cast as we (hopefully) finally get answer to one of the Internet's favorite love triangles. Yes, it's time, will Belly end up with Jeremiah or Conrad? And as well as being reunited with the likes of Lola Tung, Christopher Briney and Gavin Casalegno, the new season also introduces to a bunch of new characters who already play a pretty big role in the events of the new season. In just the first episode alone (which dropped yesterday btw) we met five new characters including Conrad's new bestie Agnes, and Lacie, the woman Jeremiah cheated on Belly with. If you want to know everything there possibly is to know about The Summer I Turned Pretty cast then here's your full rundown, including what to know about the new additions. The series lead is Isabel 'Belly' Conklin who is played by Lola Tung, 22. As we head into season 3 Belly is finishing her third year of college, and dating Jeremiah. However, when an opportunity to travel abroad comes up and a secret confession from Jeremiah occurs, is everything about to change for Belly? Lola, who is Cosmopolitan UK's August/September cover star opened up about playing a new phase in Belly's life explaining: "It did feel like there was a shift. Four years ago was when I got cast in the show and since I started, so much has happened [to me, personally]. So it was really cool to get to explore that. To see the growth and the maturity and get to play that." As well as being Belly in TSITP Lola is also known for performing on Broadway in Hades Town and will star in the upcoming horror movie Forbidden Fruits. Conrad Fisher is the eldest of two brothers Belly has grown up going to the summer house of. He's played by Christopher Briney, 27, who has also starred in the 2024 Mean Girls movie. As we go into season three, Conrad is thriving at medical school in Stanford and just gets offered a new research job. He's also still very much navigating his feelings for Belly. Jeremiah is the younger Fisher brother who Belly has grown up with and who she is now in a four year relationship with as the new season kicks off. But with his own struggles this season, what does the future hold for their relationship? He's played by Gavin Casalegno, 25, who has also been in the movie Queen of The Ring. Steven is Belly's older brother and as season 3 kicks off he's graduated early from Princeton and is now doing an internship working for Conrad and Jeremiah's dad. He also has an on again/off again relationship with Belly's best friend Taylor. Steven is played by Sean Kaufman, 25, who has also had roles in Netflix's Manifest and FBI: Most Wanted. Rain Spencer, 25, plays Belly's best friend Taylor who she is currently in college with. Taylor is thriving in her sorority and has a boyfriend, but is also sleeping with Steven on the side. Rain did a few short films when she was younger and has also appeared in the movie Good Girl Jane. Laurel is a writer and Belly and Steven's mom. Her best friend was Susannah, the mother of Conrad and Jeremiah. Since Susannah's death in the series, Laurel has taken on more of a motherly role for the two boys. Jackie Chung plays the role of Laurel and over the years she's had roles in Grey's Anatomy and Station 19. Agnes is a new character for season 3 and is one of Conrad's close friends who also got the research program with him, she also crucially gets him to reveal his feelings of love for Belly during the first episode. She's played by Zoé de Grand'Maison, 30, who is best known for her roles in Riverdale as Evelyn Evernever and in Orphan Black as Gracie. Denise is Steven's boss at his internship and she's played by Isabella Briggs. Briggs, 25, previously appeared in the 2023 series Fatal Attraction and an episode of Sugar and Evil. Anika is one of Belly and Taylor's new friends in college and appears to be a core part of their group. Sofia Bryant, 25, is best known for her roles in I Am Not Okay With This and The Girl In The Woods, amongst other roles. Lacie is one of Taylor's sorority friends, however she has a much bigger role to play when it's revealed she slept with Jeremiah while they were in Cabo together for Spring Break. She's played by Lily Donoghue, 27, who previously appeared in two episodes of Prime Video's Daisy Jones & The Six. She's also had roles in Dirty John and Jane The Virgin. Redbird is one of Jeremiah's frat bros, who Belly is less than keen on. He's played by Tanner Zagarino, 26, who is best known for previously appearing in Apple TV+'s Shrinking. The Summer I Turned Pretty season 3 is available on Prime Video now.
Cosmopolitan
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Cosmopolitan
'It felt like a shift': The Summer I Turned Pretty's Lola Tung on Belly's new era in season 3, amid time jump
In the new issue of Cosmopolitan UK, Lola Tung reflects on entering a more mature era of Belly's life, in the hotly anticipated third and final season of The Summer I Turned Pretty. While gracing the cover of our August/September issue (you can read the full interview here), the 22-year-old opened up about the Prime Video series, which sees Belly in her final year of college and in a relationship with Jeremiah. "It did feel like there was a shift," Tung says of season three. "Four years ago was when I got cast in the show and since I started, so much has happened [to me, personally]. So it was really cool to get to explore that. To see the growth and the maturity and get to play that." This season also sees Belly figure out more about herself, revealing: "She's been in college for a while and has been able to figure out the things that she likes and the things that she doesn't, and what she wants to do with her life." Lola was cast in The Summer I Turned Pretty, an adaptation of Jenny Han's novel of the same name, back in 2020. The series follows Lola's character Belly, who has been best friends with two brothers - Jeremiah and Conrad - since she can remember. But one summer, everything changes, when she finds herself stuck in a love triangle with them both - with the story finally reaching its climax this season. Elsewhere in the cover interview, Tung opens up about why she doesn't share her private life online, what it was like working on a horror movie for her next project Forbidden Fruits, and her obsession with star signs and crystals. To read the full cover interview, buy the new issue here
What's On
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- What's On
Hidden Bar has relaunched in Abu Dhabi - and it's gorgeous
Plan your next evening out… Rosewood Abu Dhabi has just relaunched its popular Hidden Bar, and what once made every list of the best speakeasies in town, is now back in a brand new avatar (to us, anyway) – as a full-blown bar and lounge. Mysteriously tucked away behind newly-installed doors right off the hotel's main lobby, the lights are dimmer, the cocktail menu slicker, and it's the ideal spot for when you want to relax and have a catch-up mere minutes from the city. Image could be for illustrative purposes only 'It's always gin o'clock', the menu proudly proclaims, and rightly so. This classy drinking den on Al Maryah Island, which tends to takes centre stage during negroni week, still boasts the same gorgeous views of the Al Maryah canal, with outdoor terrace seating that you'll still be able to enjoy in the cooler months to catch that gorgeous Abu Dhabi sunset. Beverages we recommend from a quick try of their menu include Forbidden Fruits (Dhs75) with mixed berry and lime juice if you lean towards sweeter creation and the Coffee Negroni (of course). That said, there's over a couple hundred gin creations and other classic cocktails available at this super spot, as well as handy bar bites and premium wine picks. So with the weekend looming large, make sure to head over to the Rosewood Abu Dhabi and experience Hidden Bar 2.0. This is likely to become your next favourite bar in the capital – and yes, brand new imagery will be in soon. Stay tuned. > Sign up for FREE to get exclusive updates that you are interested in
Axios
26-03-2025
- Business
- Axios
How Dubai chocolate became Utah's hottest new cottage industry
Around Utah, small businesses are popping up and expanding thanks to one highly addictive food craze: Dubai chocolate. The intrigue: The pistachio-filled treats are in such overwhelming demand that tiny in-home confectioners have managed to seize on the trend without being eclipsed by bigger businesses. What they're saying:"I'm having to restock every other day," said Bayleigh Farris, who launched Enchanted Delights in Ogden last year to sell mini-cakes. "My cake business has turned into a chocolate bar business with how often I'm getting Dubai orders," Farris told Axios. Catch up quick: Dubai chocolate — milk chocolate filled with pistachio butter and crunchy phyllo dough — vaulted to culinary stardom in December 2023, when a UAE-based food influencer took to TikTok with an experimental candy bar she'd bought from a Dubai chocolatier. By fall 2024, the trend had captivated the sweet teeth of the world, spawning dupes and warnings of scams. State of play: That's when the mom-and-pops stepped in, learning recipes and advertising small batches online. Now customers are swarming them like sharks in a blood frenzy. "If I post that I have 60 chocolate bars, they're gone in 2-4 hours," said Emilee Citte, who plans to expand her Forbidden Fruits candies in Willard to meet the Dubai demand. "I honestly don't see an end of it any time soon. The hype just grows. It's been one of the longest trends I've seen." The big picture: Utah's famous taste for sugar supports a lot of small, by-the-order dessert shops, overwhelmingly founded by women who operate out of home kitchens and hustle between personal deliveries and farmers markets. The fine print: Utah has relatively flexible licensing for homemade food sales, allowing those businesses to pivot to the trendy new product. Meanwhile, some home cooks have gone into business precisely because their experiments with Dubai chocolate were so successful. Case in point:"It was the moment I tasted my first Dubai chocolate bar that something truly sparked," said Christine Rizzo-Thompson, who founded North Ogden's Chocobai in February, specializing in the pistachio candy after months of recipe-tinkering. "The Dubai chocolate bar is all about luxury, and that's exactly what I aim to provide — luxury chocolate right here in Utah," Rizzo-Thompson told Axios. Yes, but: Tiny startups are still getting more orders than they can fill as chocoholics declare their loyalties to their hometown dealers, Citte said.
