Mariah Carey Connection

With the help of pop diva Mariah Carey, a Toronto couple took centre-stage and may have made same-sex marriage history with a public proposal in Las Vegas over the weekend.

Maurie Sherman, 31, known as Planet Maurie on the Breakfast Show with Mad Dog & Billie on Toronto’s Virgin Radio, popped the question to his very surprised boyfriend, Matthew Almeida, 26, Saturday night at Carey’s concert at the Palms resort.

While gay marriage may be outlawed in Nevada, there’s nothing stopping a gay proposal. And with Carey in your corner, the whole thing came together like a sweet, sweet fantasy that’s now a popular YouTube video and making news around the world.

While Sherman had been planning the proposal for months, he had no idea Carey was onboard until five minutes before the concert.

“At which time I peed a bit,” he said yesterday with a laugh.

In the midst of the concert, staff pulled the couple backstage, handed Sherman the microphone and brought them before the audience.

Pulling out a ring made of candy — just like Carey’s husband, Nick Cannon, gave her — Sherman told the crowd his boyfriend said the only way he could propose was if he introduced him to the songstress.

“Matthew, Mariah, Mariah, Matthew,” Sherman said. “I’m hoping that my Mariah will accept his Nick Cannon.”

Sherman then got down on one knee and officially asked Almeida to marry him.

He said yes.

Almeida, a self-confessed obsessed Carey fan, told the Sun the perfect proposal came as a wonderful shock.

“To me it’s a story not just about an engagement but it’s also a story about making dreams come true and making it happen, to quote Mariah’s song,” he said.

Sherman said he believes it’s the first public gay marriage proposal in front of a concert audience.

“It’s so great for gay marriage and gay lifestyle in general to have something like this happen on a world stage,” Sherman said.

The Los Angeles Times and many U.S. entertainment websites were making mention of Carey’s starring role in the gay couple’s engagement.

Celebrity gossip queen Perez Hilton saluted the proposal and Carey’s help.

“Mimi, always the diva, but with a heart of gold!” Hilton wrote on his website.

The couple haven’t set a wedding date but aren’t ruling out inviting Carey.

“I’d love to, I doubt that will happen but who knows,” Almeida said. “I never thought this would even happen so there you go.”

Source: The Toronto Sun