Neighbours actress Nicky Whelan gets engaged (and you have to see the ring!)

Neighbours favourite Nicky Whelan has confirmed her engagement via Instagram.

Nicky, who is best known for playing Pepper Steigner in Australian soap Neighbours, said yes to her NFL footballer boyfriend Kerry Rhodes after he got down on one knee to ask her the big question.

In the sweet snap shared of the couple, Nicky is flashing a gorgeous pale yellow diamond, with the pair of love birds flashing equally as sparkly smiles.

And it isn't just any old diamond, it turns out Kerry chose one heck of a sparkler for his bride-to-be. The diamond is reportedly a rare canary variation and is a whopping 6.5 carats! According to online diamond Vendor James Allan, the average size of an engagement ring is around 0.9 carat, so it's safe to say Nicky is one lucky lady. The engagement ring was also designed especially for Nicky by master jeweller Gabriel Jacobs of Rafaello and Co Jewellers in New York. Naturally.

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[/Instagram] If all that hadn't cemented Kerry as a seriously romantic chap, he also apparently popped the question on Valentine's Day.

Along with her photo announcement Nicky wrote a brief caption, saying, 'He's the one ... #engaged @kerryrhodes 💍'. The couple are notoriously low key when it comes to their relationship, rarely appearing in public together and posting minimal snaps of each other on their social media profiles, but it looks like Nicky just couldn't keep this exciting news to herself.

Speaking to People Magazine the actress excitedly explained, 'I walked into our lounge Friday evening, and he was on his knee with a beautiful box in his hands.

'I saw the sparkle coming out of the box, so pure and perfect and simple. And very unexpected.'

Nicky briefly dated Chad Michael Murray back in 2014 but it looks like she's well and truly over that break up now. Congratulations to the happy couple! We can't wait to receive our invite to the big day...