ROMANCE filled a Southend shopping centre as a professional dancer proposed to his girlfriend with a flash-mob style performance.

Joe Livermore, 31, of Pall Mall, Leigh, got down on one knee to pop the question to Billie Toms, 26, in front of crowds of their friends and family.

Billie was duped into thinking she was going to see her fiancee’s young break dance crew, Mini Methods, in the Victoria Shopping Centre.

But instead, as she sat with her future father-in-law Norman Livermore, in the Birdwood Bakery café, Joe’s mum’s choir, 4&20 Blackbirds, appeared from nowhere singing the John Legend song, All of Me.

The choir soon made way for beatboxer ‘Petebox’ to take over while Mini Methods and Methods of Movement performed for the assembling crowd.

As they dispersed, the choir chimed back in and the dancers formed an aisle down which Norman walked Billie to be met by Joe and their children, five-year-old Seph and one-year-old Soul.

Billie said yes and afterwards admitted that she had no idea of what was going to happen.

She said: “I had no clue, I only twigged when I saw the aisle and Norman asked me to walk with him.

“I felt like I was going to throw up!

“We’d talked about him proposing before and I said that if he ever put a ring in a cake or a glass of champagne then I’d say no, but this was just amazing.

“I work in the bridal industry and have been writing a blog for six months so I’ve seen lots of proposal videos, I think mine will beat them though.”

Joe, with the help of his brother Rik, had been planning the event for a couple of months but had never had the chance for everyone to get together for a full rehearsal.

He said: “My legs still feel like jelly, even though she said yes.

“I think if I had have done something normal then she would have been annoyed, because that wouldn’t have been me. No-one expected anything less from me really.

“I don’t know how to describe how I feel other than amazing.”

Billie had been told that she was going to see the children dance and then go for dinner.

Norman accompanied Billie down the aisle and afterwards said that he was proud of the couple.

He added: “She did not expect it at all.

“Joe’s brother was dancing and my wife was singing so walking Billie down the aisle they just gave me the least demanding job – I was just babysitting really.”