Wells Adams was terrified of losing Sarah Hyland's engagement ring before he proposed.

Sarah Hyland and Wells Adams

Sarah Hyland and Wells Adams

The 34-year-old star popped the question to the 'Modern Family' actress on vacation in Fiji and admitted he'd been "freaking out" at the thought of the one-of-a-kind oval cut Lorraine Schwartz sparkler going missing, either while travelling or once they'd got to their idyllic holiday spot.

He said: "Guys, for the most part, are not used to having expensive pieces of jewelley around them.

"So, it freaks us out just in general. Also, for me, we were travelling across the ocean, so that's even more stress of like, 'What happens if someone steals my bag or something?'"

"Everyone is like, 'Are you so happy?' And I was so happy but I'm also so happy I'm not in charge of that very nice ring. There's too much pressure!"

The former 'Bachelorette' star admitted the 28-year-old actress was expecting a proposal - but his "frumpy" outfit that evening "threw her off" the idea it was imminent.

Speaking to his co-host Brandi Cyrus on their podcast 'Your Favorite Things', he said: "I think she thought it was happening and then right before we left, I was dressed pretty frumpy.

"I was like, 'Is this t-shirt OK?' And she was like, 'You're wearing a t-shirt?' That threw her off a little bit. Listen, Sarah's a smart girl. She knew what was happening."

Wells whisked Sarah off to a private island to propose and had the ring hidden in a drone, and also had something else concealed - a photographer, who was waiting to capture the big moment.

He said: "All of a sudden. He f***ing scurries out from the bushes and he's like, 'Snap, snap, snap, snap, snap!' Sarah is like, 'What is happening!? Then all of a sudden we were in a cool engagement shoot."

While their engagement may not have come as a shock, the couple are not planning to rush into getting married.

Wells said: "We haven't figured out anything. Phase one was just, like, get engaged. We're still in Phase one."