Block judge Neale Whitaker is engaged to longtime partner David Novak-Piper

The Block’s Neale Whitaker and her partner David Novak-Piper have announced their engagement.

The couple, who have been together for nearly two decades, shared the happy news on Instagram on Tuesday.

David posted a picture of himself and Neale and said he was ‘the luckiest and happiest man in the world’ to be able to marry the TV star in 2022.

David revealed in his message that he proposed to Neale.

“So I am the happiest man and luckiest man in the world today… @nealewhitaker said YES,” David wrote.

He added: “It means we’re getting married in 2022 ….. yes, that gives me enough time to paint everything white and bleach my hair.”

Although they want to plan a big wedding next year, the couple are already legally married in Britain.

In 2016, Neale told Yahoo Be: ‘I was allowed to get married in Australia, at the British Consulate General. ”

Same-sex marriage only became legal in Australia in December 2017.

Neale told Yahoo Be at the time how much a marriage meant to him as he advocated for marriage equality, saying, “ The older I get the more important it becomes. ”

He added at the time, before same-sex marriage was legalized, that not being able to legally marry in Australia was “ so badly ”.

The couple recently shared their romance with The Wedding Series, saying they met in Sydney at a cabaret charity event and it was love at first sight.

Neale said he was playing and David wanted to do his hair and that they ‘hooked up later that night’ and have been together ever since.

David, meanwhile, kindly told the post: ‘I fell in love with her beautiful pale blue eyes. I looked deep into his soul and we connected. I knew he was made for me. Easy.’

Neale also said the key to a happy, long relationship is knowing that they “ need to be worked on. ”

He also joked that they were already like “an old married couple”.

Neale and David recently moved to a gorgeous mansion in Bowral, leaving the bustle of Sydney behind.