Kristen Doute and Luke Broderick Say They’re ‘Putting a Baby First’ Ahead of Wedding Planning (Exclusive)

Kristen Doute and Luke Broderick are loving being engaged, but don’t expect a wedding just yet.

While speaking exclusively to PEOPLE at the DirecTV Gets Real party hosted by DirecTV, PEOPLE and Entertainment Weekly on Thursday, Sept. 26, The Valley costars opened up about their journey to parenthood and upcoming wedding after Broderick popped the question on Sept. 4.

Doute, 41, revealed they’d been “really busy” over the last couple of weeks. “I mean, we wrapped The Valley, been working on our fertility pregnancy journey… relaxing, relaxing as much as possible. But enjoying being engaged,” she told PEOPLE.

When it comes to wedding planning, the reality stars are in no rush. Broderick said, “I think we’ll start next summer,” as his wife-to-be agreed.

“We’re putting a baby first. We’re putting family first,” he added at the event, which was hosted by Ariana Madix at The Aster in Los Angeles.

“But there’ll be parties down the road,” Doute promised, as Broderick admitted, “There’s so much stress involved with planning a wedding. I don’t think it’s necessary.”

The couple’s comments follow PEOPLE confirming they’d gotten engaged earlier this month after Broderick proposed while they were filming the second season of The Valley in Maui, Hawaii.

Doute shared multiple images of the boat proposal on Instagram on Sept. 6, writing, “I’m wrapped around your finger like this ring i’m wearing 💍 🤟🏽 out of the all the fish in the sea, you chose me 🥹.”

The Vanderpump Rules alum also gave a shout-out to the couple’s “bestie” — jewelry designer Kyle Chan Design — for “creating the most beautiful ring” in the caption.

 

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Doute and Broderick met at a friend’s wedding where he was a groomsman in June 2022, two weeks after her split from her ex Alex Menache.

The duo kept their romance under wraps for several months, before starting a joint podcast together called Balancing Act with Kristen Doute and Luke Broderick in November 2022.

Doute confirmed the relationship the following month during an episode of the podcast.

The duo have been open about wanting to start a family together. In November 2023, they revealed on their podcast that they’d experienced a miscarriage at six weeks.

In May 2024, Doute then told PEOPLE they were ready to start trying for a baby again following the pregnancy loss.

“I mean, that does give us hope,” she said. “I think it’s not a false sense of hope. We, at that point, had only been trying for a couple of months and we were fortunate enough.”

“So we’re just back on the train trying and fingers crossed. We’re doing right every month exactly how we should be doing it. So yeah, we’re just hopeful,” Doute added at the time.

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