Melissa Rycroft Announces She's Engaged to Tye Strickland

June 30, 2009 — -- "Good Morning America" special contributor Melissa Rycroft, who famously had her heart broken on "The Bachelor," has found her happily ever after. And, instead of a rose, this time it was a ring.

Rycroft, 26, announced live on "GMA" today that she and boyfriend Tye Strickland became engaged this weekend in Texas.

"Sometimes, the stars align," the "Dancing With the Stars" alum told "GMA" anchors Diane Sawyer and Robin Roberts," "and the clouds part and everything works out the way it should."

The engagement took place in private, she said, and then "we went and met up with our parents and friends."

The couple met three years ago at a mutual friend's party and had dated on and off before reconnecting after Rycroft's appearance on "The Bachelor."

In March, "The Bachelor" Jason Mesnick stunned viewers when he ended his relationship with Rycroft and rekindling his relationship with the first runner-up on the show.

Mesnick proposed to Rycroft during the finale of the reality love competition. During a reunion special that followed the finale, Mesnick initially sang the praises of Rycroft, a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader.

"She is incredible, sweet, beautiful and everybody's been watching and I lived it," a somber Mesnick said in an audienceless studio surrounded by candles. But, he said, "Since this all ended, things have been different."

Then, he told Rycroft that his heart truly belonged to department store buyer and runner-up Molly Malaney and that he was ending their courtship.

Rycroft bounced back and went on to appear on "Dancing With the Stars," where she finished third.

'The Bachelor': A History of Changed Minds

The drama that unfolded around Rycroft on "The Bachelor" wasn't new. Mesnick appeared on "The Bachelorette" during the 2008 season as a contestant vying for the attentions of bachelorette DeAnna Pappas. He made it to the final two.

Pappas would later claim that she, too, had made a mistake in choosing professional snowboarder Jesse Csincsak over Mesnick during the season four finale.

And, during the 2007 season of "The Bachelor," Brad Womack didn't choose either of his two finalists during his final rose ceremony.

Indeed, in all the incarnations of the popular show, only one couple has made it down the aisle. Trista Rehn, who came in second on the first season of "The Bachelor" and was the original "Bachelorette," married her pick, Ryan Sutter.

Today, the couple has two children.

All's well that ends well, and Rycroft was ecstatic to share her own happy ending.

The impending marriage wasn't her only announcement. She also said, "I went shopping this weekend and got a really good deal on shoes."