Ashley Everett says that fairytale-esque onstage proposal during Beyoncé’s Formation World Tour in 2016, the one where her then-dance captain Ashley Everett’s boyfriend, fellow dancer John Silver, got down on one knee during “Single Ladies,” wasn’t all sunshine and roses. In fact, she says she was “livid”!
Looking back, Ashley recently revealed on the “Mic’d Up On a Tuesday” podcast with Dexter Carr that the grand gesture was far from a dream come true for her.
“The proposal was the beginning of the end, baby,” she admitted, dropping a truth bomb that probably has a lot of people’s jaws dropping.
According to Ashley, “That was a proposal done for him, not me.”
Host Dexter Carr hit the nail on the head, asking if it was “a grand gesture for his ego more than anything?” Ashley’s response was a resounding “Yeah!” She went on to explain the immediate aftermath, saying, “Literally as soon as it happened, he was like, ‘We went viral. Yes!’ It wasn’t planned. We didn’t talk about it. I was looking at [another dancer], I was like, ‘Who allowed this? Who allowed this? Why didn’t you tell me? Why is he up here?’ I was livid. I was livid now, looking back.”
Adding another layer to the unexpectedness, Ashley even pointed out, “Also, if you watch back, I never say yes. I go [nods head].”
For those who need a refresher, Beyoncé, mid-performance in St. Louis, Mo., stopped the music, saying she needed to “bring” someone on stage. She then handed the mic to John Silver, who proceeded with the very public proposal to Ashley. She nodded, they hugged, and then Beyoncé, ever the professional, seamlessly finished “Single Ladies.”
While the proposal went viral and seemed like a romantic highlight, Ashley and John, who had been together for six years prior, ultimately broke up three years later.
In a 2019 interview with Essence Magazine, Ashley hinted at her true feelings about the proposal, saying, “I’m pretty low-key, so I don’t need big gestures all the time. I’m happy with one little rose on Valentine’s Day, not a house filled with flowers. The big grand gesture, I felt, wasn’t necessarily for me.”
This proposal!!! Congrats to Beyoncé's dancer @AshleyCMEverett who got engaged during "single ladies"
— xoNecole (@xonecole) September 11, 2016pic.twitter.com/fDGUE7FUSK
As time went on, Ashley admitted to finding excuses not to plan the wedding, eventually realizing she needed to be honest with herself. “‘Do I really want to be married, or do I even want to marry him? Am I really happy? Do I need to work on me before I take this leap?'” she recalled questioning. The distance that came with their demanding work and travel schedules also took a toll. “We could go a day or two without talking, and I just felt like we weren’t on the same page anymore.”
Despite the public spectacle of their engagement, Ashley Everett ultimately prioritized her own happiness.
“I did start to think, ‘Am I letting people down? Beyoncé gave me such a huge platform for our engagement.’ But things happen, and life happens,” she concluded.
