Entertainment

Ricky Martin Is Engaged!

by Daniela Cabrera

Growing up, Ricky Martin was every young Latina girl's dream man. He was in Menudo, he danced, he was perfectly chiseled and tanned. And while I've grown up, his career and life have matured too. And things have gone pretty well for him in the romance department. Martin was in a long-term relationship with businessman Carlos Gonzalez Abella, but in the last year, he became linked to a new man. In an interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show this week, Martin revealed that he is happily engaged to Jwan Yosef, so who exactly is this guy?

Well, other than being a very lucky and extremely good-looking man, Yosef is an accomplished artist in his own right and it was his art that brought the two men together. Duing his appearance on Ellen, Martin was very clearly besotted with Yosef and shared adorable details of the engagement, even showing off his ring for the audience. It looks like these two fell in love very quickly, considering Martin shared that they only officially started dating in January of this year.

Here are some facts about Yosef for those wondering how he snagged one of the biggest Latin pop stars in the world.

He Is A Conceptual Artist

Yosef is a painter and known for working with plastics, particularly perspex. A piece in Beat Magazine described his work: "Geography, religion, tradition and belonging all feed into his images on canvas and perspex, creating portraits that are as much absent as present, capturing fleeting glimpses of the dualisms and uncertainties of the 21st century." This man is deep.

His Art Introduced Them

According to his Ellen interview, Martin is an avid art collector and was interested in buying one of Yosef's works. He said, "I saw his art and I went crazy ‘cause I really love what he does. Really original. And I contacted him... I had no idea what he looked like and then I saw what he looked like and I’m like, ‘Yeah.’” Love at first sight? I wouldn't doubt it.

He Is Of Syrian Heritage

Yosef was born in Syria to a Kurdish family. He told Beat of his heritage, "My heritage and history is filled with a sense of not belonging. Not necessarily in a way that is sad but more so in a position that is constantly standing outside, there’s a lot of freedom in being an outsider."

He's Studied At The Finest Art Schools

According to his site, after getting his Bachelor's in Art in Stockholm, he went to London to get his masters in Fine Art at the legendary Central Saint Martins.

He Is A Humanitarian

Earlier this year, Yosef and Martin went to Lebanon with Unicef to help out in the Syrain refugee camps. There they worked with children and supported the efforts with the Beyond Association.

He Is Based in London

His family immigrated to Sweden, but he is currently based in London, England, where he is a founding member and studio holder at The Bomb Factory Art Foundation, according to its website.

Well, it looks like they are both lucky to have found such talented and accomplished partners in each other!