This is the romantic moment a band member proposed to his stunned girlfriend during a Mannequin Challenge.
Hull band Bud Sugar organised for the challenge to be held in the city but was secretly using it as a ruse for band member Stan to propose to his girlfriend.
Following a call out on social media for volunteers to take part in the recent craze, which sees people standing as still as they can in different positions, they staged the scene in St Stephen’s Shopping Centre.
But while Stan Hill, the guitarist of the band, was in the middle of pretending to play his ukulele, he broke ranks and produced an engagement ring to his shocked girlfriend Amy, 26.
“At first I was more confused that he was moving during a mannequin challenge, I thought: ‘We’re going to have to do another take now’. I was beyond shocked and it took me a few seconds to catch up.”
The couple met in their late teens and fell “deeply in love”.
Even when Amy’s family decided to emigrate to New Zealand, Stan decided to move with them and lived there for two years.
Issues with his visa meant Stan had to leave the country without Amy but even living on the other side of the world was not enough to stop the young couple’s love.
“It was a life-changing experience,” said Stan, who is 27.
“Due to visa issues I had to fly back alone after being there for two years, and we began a long distance relationship. We would save all year so we could visit each other.
“I remember in the early days of the band, we would have a gig on the Friday night and I would be up at 3am on the Saturday morning to go work a 12 hour shift in a cake factory.
“Amy moved back here two years ago and lived with us in the band house until we got our own place.
“But it was that level of determination that got us where we are today, engaged to be married.
“We would like to return to New Zealand and get married.”
The band had already decided to stage a Mannequin Challenge, so Stan took the opportunity to create his unique proposal.
Bacary Bax, the band’s frontman, said: “I had already set the Public Bus Mannequin Challenge in motion when Stan messaged me saying: ‘You got anything specific in mind because I’m thinking of proposing to Amy’.
“I was shocked, happy and inspired and immediately set about putting the proposal version together.
“I knew it would be a surreal moment to have us all remain mannequins while Stan proposed and even had two random people ask to join in.
“Stan’s parents were there and didn’t even know what he was planning, I had to tell them.
“We gathered all the extras before she arrived and told them the plan five minutes before it happened. It was nerve wracking for me even though I was just an extra.”
While Amy usually does not like being on camera – she got caught up in the romance and forgot about the cameras – Stan’s nerves were very much there.
He said: “I was very nervous, which seems like a strange thing to say when you’re used to getting up on stage and performing for hundreds, sometimes thousands of people, most nights. But I was all alone during that walk and all eyes were on me.
“It didn’t help that I decided to put the ring in my top pocket, then struggled for what seemed like an eternity to get it out.”
The mannequin video features the band’s own song Side That’s Ugly.
You can follow the band, who describe themselves as “one part ukulele, one part drum machine, cross it with an acoustic up funk, add powerful Codhead vocals, infuse it with a uk rap edge and garnish with a touch of electronic noises” on their Facebook and YouTube pages, and watch their unique music videos.
