EastEnders' Shona McGarty splits from fiancé 18 months after proposal
She was engaged to Ryan Harris
Popular EastEnders actress Shona McGarty has revealed she's split from her fiancé Ryan Harris, just 18 months after he popped the question on her birthday.
Shona, who plays the role of Whitney Dean on the soap, announced her sad news to the Daily Star, saying, "We just grew apart. Nothing bad happened, it was all very amicable. We were together for a long time, but it just wasn't meant to be."
The actress later revealed she's enjoying some time on her own and has no plans to get back into the dating game anytime soon.
She added, "I'm not ready to date anyone else at the moment and I think it's really important to have some time by yourself. As I've got older it's refreshing because I no longer care what people think of me any more. I'm definitely older and wiser.
"And EastEnders has been a great place to grow up. I've been so lucky to have so many wonderful people around me.”
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Ryan proposed to Shona on her birthday back in 2018, placing the ring box inside of her cake! Announcing details to OK! Magazine at the time, Shona said, "Ryan asked me to cut the birthday cake and I was like: 'Why? We’re not getting married!."
"But I did it and there was a box on the top of the cake and Ryan asked me to open the box. When I opened it there was a ring inside and I turned around and Ryan was down on one knee and I started crying."
You can see Shona play the role of Whitney Dean in EastEnders.