ZOE Pepall told boyfriend Paul Wilkins he had to up his game before she would say “yes” to his marriage proposal.

But even she was surprised when the orchestra stopped and he walked out on stage at the Mercury Theatre with an engagement ring.

The pair were out for the night at a performance of Licence to Thrill.

Paul had only been given the green light from the theatre’s management just hours before.

Paul, 38, who lives in Colchester, said: “I’d got in touch with the Mercury a few weeks before, because I knewwewere going to the theatre.

“We were in the George, in High Street, a few hours before the show and I took a call from them saying ‘right, we’ve checked with everyone, you can do it.

“I was like ‘talk about notice’.

“But when I got on stage, I think everyone else was more nervous than me.

“One of the Mercury people said: ‘You do realise you’re going to do this in front of 300 people, don’t you?’ “I thanked him for the vote of confidence and went on stage.

“I said: ‘You said you wanted it done properly, well I’m going to do it here and now. Will you marry me, darling?’.”

When she screamed yes, the audience for Friday’s concert of Bond theme tunes erupted into applause.

Zoe, also 38, who splits her time between Colchester and London, added: “I really didn’t expect it, because he’s not very good with surprises usually.

“Even when the conductor welcomed the special guest (Paul) it still didn’t compute properly. I just thought ‘it’s quite a common name’.”

The couple had “agreed” to marry and had bought the ring together, but Zoe didn’t think much of Paul’s off-hand proposal.

She added: “I wanted to be asked properly. He definitely hadn’t asked me properly.

“I was so shocked and surprised, but I loved it.”

The pair, who met while walking their dogs in London more than two years ago, have not set a date yet.

They run a business together, called Paw Dog Training and Walking Services, which is now based in Colchester.