InstagramCongratulations are in order for Claire Holt!
The former star of The Originals revealed late Monday that she is engaged to her longtime boyfriend Matt Kaplan. Sharing a picture of her diamond engagement ring and posing with her future husband, she wrote simply, "Yes."
The Instagram picture earned more than 77,000 likes in six hours.
Little is known about Kaplan, but as the 27-year-old Australian actress revealed to People earlier this year, he has helped to perfect her American accent. "My boyfriend—Matt Kaplan—is American, so any time I'm unsure of how to say something, I say, 'Hey how do you say this?' and he yells it out," she said while promoting NBC's Aquarius. "I think it's always going to sound funny to him and not quite right, but hopefully the public who watch it won't be able to catch on!"
Holt, who found fame as Emma Gilbert on the Australian series H20: Just Add Water, left The CW's The Originals in March 2014. She first played Rebekah Mikaelson on The CW's The Vampire Diaries in 2011 before starring in its spinoff.
Regarding reports that writers had run out of ideas for her character and forced her out of the show, Holt told BuzzFeed, "It's ludicrous. I want to be very clear that they didn't run out of material, I wasn't pushed out, I wasn't fed up with Rebekah, I didn't quit mid-season, there was no drama, there was no rift between cast members; it really came down to the fact that I completed my initial commitment and made a life choice, not a career choice."
Holt merely wanted to be able to spend more time with her family. Given that the series was filmed in New Orleans, traveling home was difficult. "This show has been so amazing for my career, and I've had such unbelievable material," she said. "It was just never my intention to be away from home this long."
"It was a tough choice that I didn't fully make it right up until the end, because I was enjoying myself so much. But three seasons later, I realized I hadn't been home to Australia in years, I hadn't seen my family, and I hadn't spent time with the people I loved," the Mean Girls 2 star continued. "But I want to make it so clear that this show has such a special place in my heart. I am so glad I was able to do The Originals, and I want to be a part of that family for a long time."
Holt could return, saying, "I am simply looking at this as a temporary absence."