AUBURN — Ashley Vining loves her boyfriend and she loves Rachael Ray. But not even in her weirdest dreams did she imagine those two passions would share the same stage.

Enter John Sawyer of Auburn, the boyfriend in her life and a man who thinks big. When he decided to propose, he thought it would be a great idea to do it on “The Rachael Ray Show.”

Not that such a thing is easy.

“It was two and a half months of headaches and stress,” Sawyer said. “But it worked out perfectly.”

On Tuesday, Sawyer got down on one knee and proposed to Vining right there on Ray’s stage.

Vining didn’t suspect a thing until it happened.

“I was really surprised,” she said. “I was really excited and really nervous.”

For Sawyer, a sergeant in the U.S. Army, that’s mission accomplished.

He couldn’t have done it without Ray, the hugely popular chef, author and talk-show host. Ray agreed to invite the Auburn couple to her show under the ruse that she was preparing a Valentine’s Day special about couples and how they met.

That alone was exciting enough for Vining. It was a trip to New York and a chance to meet one of her idols.

While Vining and Sawyer sat in the studio audience, Ray displayed photos of the couple and told a story about how they had met. Routine stuff.

“Then,” says Brian Dumas, Ashley’s stepfather, “Rachael said, ‘We’ve got a surprise for you.'”

Vining and Sawyer went onto the stage. John dropped to his knee, displayed a ring and popped the big question.

Ashley said yes.

“It went really well,” Sawyer said. “Ashley was very surprised. And Rachael was awesome. She seemed so genuine, like just another person. She told me I had picked a stunning woman.”

No wedding date has been set. With all that planning and surprising behind him, Sawyer needs to regroup before he takes the next step.

“That was the preliminary round,” he said.

He’ll have no problem impressing his in-laws.

“John is my BFF,” Dumas said, using the Ray-esque term for Best Friend Forever. “We love him.”

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