Jimmy Fallon Reveals Wife Nancy Juvonen Thought He Was ‘Having A Stroke’ When He Proposed

After more than 10 years of marriage, Jimmy Fallon still remembers the day that he proposed to his wife, Nancy Juvonen — and, apparently, the night he originally hoped to get down on one knee didn’t go according to plan! Jimmy recalled his funny first proposal attempt and their actual engagement during a recent PeopleTV interview with Jess Cagle. 

During the sit-down, Jimmy explained that his now-wife once came to visit him in NYC and he wanted to surprise her with a romantic proposal during the trip. But everything soon changed when she got them a reservation at the French restaurant Per Se.

“I wanted it to be romantic and perfect. I didn’t want to propose in Per Se because what if one year it moves locations, and years later I’m going to have kids and go, ‘Your mom and I got [engaged here]. I know it’s a laser tag place but at one point it was a very fancy restaurant,'” the 43-year-old comedian explained. 

Unfortunately, Jimmy didn’t get the chance to ask Nancy, 51, to marry him that night because they ordered too many courses that came with too much wine. “Cut to 14 courses later, I was bombed out of my mind. Wine came with every course… So I waited another three months,” he shared.

The Tonight Show host later asked Nancy to be his wife when they visited her family’s summer home in New Hampshire. Jimmy wanted the moment to be perfect so he tried to stay as calm as possible.

“I went out to the dock and said [to myself], ‘Don’t cry. Let her cry first.’ I’m a pretty mushy guy… and I just wanted it to be perfect. I got down on one knee and I immediately [started weeping],” he revealed, adding that Nancy thought he was having a stroke. “She’s like, ‘Are you having a stroke?’ My face was like I was smelling burnt toast.”

Once Nancy realized that Jimmy was fine, she gave him her long-awaited answer. “She said yes and we celebrated and it was fun,” Jimmy gushed. “The rest is history.” The couple — who tied the knot in December 2007 — are now parents to two adorable daughters, Winnie Rose, 5, and Frances Cole, 3.