African dancer Vusi Muzi Mtola is so smitten by his colleague that he took advantage of his tribal right to propose marriage to her in front of the audience at Cirque Surreal in the big top at Roundhay Park.

After the show's finale, Vusi climbed a rope ladder to reach his would-be bride to pop the question.

Apart from a small group of fellow performers, no one knew about his romantic intentions.

Vusi – an elder of the Mtolas of Mzimkulu, in South Africa, had told his close friends that he wanted to make the proposal yesterday as it marked a significant day in his tribal calendar.

It was the start of the ninth phase of the moon and once every nine years an elder can propose to a woman he admires the most – but the proposal must be made before sunset.

So in the best traditions of the circus, he climbed the rope to pop the question at the end of the tea-time performance before darkness fell.

But it was not quite the fairy tale Vusi was hoping for.

Anna, unaware that she even had a secret admirer, seemed either too shocked to give an answer or maybe just wanted to let her
friend down gently.

Once back on solid ground, Anna told the YEP: "I'm still thinking about it."

The pair have been in Leeds for the past fortnight as part of the internationally-acclaimed show providing thrills and spills for all ages, with death-defying aerial acts to astounding acrobatics, gravity defying balancing to incredible juggling.

* The Cirque Surreal will be at Roundhay Park until Sunday, September 16.