Shannon Noll’s face lights up with a smile as he gazes at his wife Rochelle, and reveals why he’s planning to marry his soulmate for the second time after surprising her with a spectacular new engagement ring.
“I just wanted to do something really special for the woman I love,” he says.
“I love surprises and I wanted to surprise Rochelle, and I caught her totally off guard when I proposed on stage at a Christmas party in Newcastle. We’re even more in love now than we’ve ever been. It’s a beautiful thing.”
The former Australian Idol star, who has occasionally hit the headlines for the wrong reasons, has found a new peace, spending much of the last year at the small farm in NSW’s Southern Highlands he shares with Rochelle, their four children, two horses, four dogs and 30 chooks.
These days Shannon, 45, is far more likely to be found tending his incredible vegie patch or cooking up a storm in the kitchen than partying like a rock star.
”I can make a pretty good lobster mornay, and I make a lot of hearty stews, casseroles and curries,” he says.
After one cancelled renewal due to the pandemic, the couple plan to renew their vows later this year.
(Phillip Castleton)Even before the pandemic hit and robbed Shannon of his beloved touring, he’d had an epiphany about his life and relationship with Rochelle, 46, and their kids, Cody, 19, Blake, 18, Sienna, 14 and tearaway two-year-old Colton.
When he was reunited with his family in South Africa in 2018 after spending 49 days away from them while competing on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!, Nollsy, who admits he hates getting emotional in public, had to choke back tears.
“It was a beautiful moment,” he says, adding cheekily that “miracle baby” Colton was conceived in the fortnight after he left the jungle, despite doctors telling him he’d be unable to have more children after a freak ute accident in 2010.
It was after I’m A Celeb he decided he wanted to renew his wedding vows, with the devoted couple planning to take the kids to Hamilton Island in Queensland to tie the knot in a beautiful little hilltop chapel overlooking the sea.
Shannon and Rochelle are more in love than ever!
(Phillip Castleton)“We just wanted to do something for each other, and we’d been talking about renewing our vows,” he says.
“We really got a new lease on life when the little fella came along, and it reminded us to refocus on each other and the family.
“We’d planned the whole thing out in our heads. The two older boys were going to be my groomsmen and Colton the ring bearer. Sienna was going to be the matron of honour. It was going to be a beautiful family affair. “
Then the pandemic struck, ruining their second wedding plans, and Shannon was forced to delay the intimate ceremony he had planned.
So when the singer dropped to his knee and proposed to Rochelle in front of hundreds of fans three months ago, she was lost for words.
The pink sapphire and diamond halo ring is from Simon Curwood Jewellers.
(Phillip Castleton)“He really did surprise me, and I was absolutely thrilled,” Rochelle says, showing off the “vintage-inspired pink sapphire and diamond halo ring, set in white and rose gold”, which she thought she merely had on loan from renowned Aussie jeweller Simon Curwood, who later designed a new collection inspired by their love story.
Rochelle and Shannon regularly embarrass their kids with little stolen moments and kisses, but Rochelle says she firmly believes you need to put in a concerted effort to keep the spark alive, and communicate constantly with your partner.
Long-lasting love: The pair met 24 years ago.
(Getty)“You always have to find new ways to make things exciting, and I honestly believe that’s where people go wrong,” she says.
“No matter what’s going on we always have a date night or just make time once a month to check in on each other and talk about any issues we have.”
She met Shannon 24 years ago when he was playing AFL with her brother in Sydney, and years before he decided to try his luck on Idol.
They first married in 2004.
(Supplied)He’d realised how much music meant to him after forming a cover band with his brothers in his home town of Condobolin in NSW’s Central West.
“It was pretty much an instant attraction,” reveals Melbourne “city girl” Rochelle, who moved out to the red dirt plains of Condobolin just three months after their first date.
More than two decades on, she still finds Shannon every bit as “sexy” as when they first met.
“I want to be with him for the rest of my life, and he feels the same,” she says.
