Food Network personality Ted Allen on
Wednesday announced that he's preparing to exchange vows with
long-time partner Barry Rice.
After the Supreme Court released two
cases related to gay marriage, Allen, the host of Chopped,
messaged that he would be celebrating the wins with a walk down the
aisle.
“Proud to announce on this historic
day that my partner of 20 years, Barry Rice, and I are engaged to be
married :),” the 48-year-old Allen messaged to his nearly 80,000
Twitter followers.
Allen and Rice met in Chicago, where
they both worked for a chain of community weekly newspapers; Allen
was part of the paper's “Famished Four” restaurant review team,
while Rice worked as the chain's entertainment editor.
Allen gained notoriety on a national
level in 2003 with the debut of the television makeover series Queer
Eye for the Straight Guy.
Chef Mario Batali tweeted his
well-wishes to the pair: “Yay!”
Also announcing an engagement on
Wednesday was Melissa Etheridge.
(Related: With
Prop 8 gone, Melissa Etheridge announces wedding plans.)