ABC News' Jennifer Ashton Is Engaged to Tom Werner

Photo: Jennifer Ashton and Tom Werner

Jennifer Ashtongot a happy surprise on New Year’s Eve — a proposal!

The ABC News chief medical correspondent and doctor, 52, is engaged to television producer and businessman Tom Werner, 71. The couple has been dating for a year.

“From the moment they met they were soulmates,” a close friend of the couple tells PEOPLE.

“I said yes!” Ashton shared on Instagram Jan. 3 along with a photo of the happy couple.

Werner is a father to three adult children from a previous marriage.

As for wedding plans, the newly engaged pair hope to make their union official with a small, intimate ceremony later this year. They are aware the COVID-19 pandemic may alter their plans. For now, they are monitoring the pandemic and its implications on social gatherings.

For Ashton and Werner, the most important thing to both of them is simply being together. “Even if it was just the two of them it wouldn’t matter,” says the close friend. “They are so in love.”

source: people.com