SCRUBS - SCRUBS STAR ENGAGED

SCRUBS star JOHN C MCGINLEY is engaged after proposing to his yoga teacher girlfriend NICOLE KESSLER on Saturday (19JUN06) in Malibu, California. MCGinley, who plays DR PERRY COX in the Emmy-nominated show, popped the question in the couple's seaside garden. He tells American publication People, "At about 9.30 am I asked Nicole to come down to the lower part of the garden with me in Malibu. I wanted to show her some different flower ideas I had. "And I had the rock in my pocket. I told her, 'Sit down here to see the view of the ocean' and I said, 'Will you marry me?' and I took out the rock." The couple first met through MCGinley's son MAX, nine. MCGinley explains, "My son walked up to Nicole on the beach and I was throwing the ball for the dogs in the ocean. "I was like, 'Max, you get the dogs. I'll talk to the hot blondes.' And so we switched." The 47-year-old says that Max, who has Down's syndrome, will be a part of the wedding in "one way or another". The couple have not set a wedding date yet. Kessler adds, "We haven't gotten that far. It's still that trembling, 'oh-my-God-we-got-engaged' stage."