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Bret Michaels Proposes to Longtime Girlfriend

Related: Bret Michaels

Entertainment Tonight, Tuesday, December 21, 2010, 4:08am (PST)

Bret Michaels asked Kristi Gibson to marry him on the season finale of "Bret Michaels: Life as I Know It," which aired last night on VH1.

Kristi accepted Bret's marriage proposal after a volatile 16-year relationship with the rocker.

"I want you to know that I love you, and you've been unbelievably a big part of my life," Bret told Kristi. "I want you to be my wife."

Kristi was shocked by the proposal and had difficulty communicating her emotions onscreen. "I'm speechless," she said. "I thought this day would never come and he doesn't realize how happy he's just made me."

Bret explained his hesitation in committing to marriage, saying, "All these years I have feared that if I got married I would have to give up my life on the road -- have someone try to change me, have someone trying to settle me, or maybe I would just fail at it," said Bret. "After 16 years of its ups and its downs I look around and I see who's still standing here and it's Kristi and she's the one who's put up with me."

In April, Bret suffered a brain hemorrhage and "warning stroke," leaving him in intensive care for over a month. Following his recovery, Bret won "Celebrity Apprentice" just two-and-a-half months later.

The couple has two daughters together: Raine, 10, and Jorja, 5.

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