KUALA LUMPUR, April 2 — An exhausting climb up Mount Kinabalu in January culminated in a surprise proposal for actress Bella Astillah, who has now opened up about the emotional moment she accepted Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman’s hand in marriage.

“My emotions were all over the place because it was very cold and I was already exhausted,” Bella, 32, told mStar.

“When he proposed, so many thoughts ran through my mind. Alhamdulillah, I said ‘yes’ within just a few seconds.”

She also shared that her two children reacted positively to the news, a conversation initiated by Syed Saddiq himself.

“My children responded very positively. I wasn’t the one who told them about the proposal — Syed Saddiq himself shared the news with Ayden and Ara,” she said.

On March 28, the couple officially celebrated their engagement at a private ceremony in Kuala Lumpur. Bella, whose full name is Dayang Nabellah Awang Astillah, and Syed Saddiq exchanged trays of gifts, five from his family and seven from hers.

The event was themed around Mount Kinabalu, a symbolic nod to where their journey to marriage began.

Bella was previously married to Singaporean singer-actor Aliff Aziz in 2016, with the marriage ending in divorce on June 13, 2024.

They share two children, Ayden Adrean, 9, and Ara Adreanna, 6.