Suburban Atlanta woman Melanie Hudson was unable to resist the creativity of her estranged husband, Richard, and agreed to a divorce, in front of 16,000+ fans at Philips Arena during last night's Orlando Magic-Atlanta Hawks game.
"Melanie, Will You Divorce Me?", read the message flashed on the JumboTron scoreboard during a timeout in the second quarter. As the fans cheered and chanted, "YES! YES!", Melanie turned to the man she's been married to for six years and separated from for three months and, tears welling, cried, "I WILL!" before flinging herself into the arms of her friend, Gabrielle Malvais. Richard Hudson was then seen pumping his fist as the crowd roared.
"It was soooo sweet," gushed fan Cynthia Betters, who was sitting several rows behind the unhappy couple. "To think that that woman, Melanie, had been suffering through a bad marriage for so long, then to have her dreams come true, in front of all these people ...," Betters said before being overcome with emotion.
Overcome with emotion, Melanie Hudson cries on the shoulder of friend Gabrielle Malvais after estranged husband Richard's divorce proposal flashed on the scoreboard at Philips Arena
Melanie Hudson, who friends say has been threatening an end to her marriage for "several years now", agreed to attend the Hawks game with her soon-to-be-ex only under the condition that she be allowed to bring Malvais, and that they drive separately, along with the stipulation that Richard leave the arena with six minutes left in the fourth quarter, and that he not know where Melanie parked. After satisfying those demands, Richard satisfied one more.
"He nudged her and pointed to the scoreboard," Malvais told reporters. "Melanie scowled at him, because another condition was that he not touch her. But he pointed again, and when she finally turned her head upward and saw the letters in lights, she lit up brighter than that darn scoreboard!"
After Melanie emphatically agreed to the divorce to the cheering crowd, Richard Hudson then produced pre-drawn up divorce papers that he had picked up from his attorney's office on the way to the game.
"It was a complete surprise. He really pulled it off," Malvais added.
The non-fairy tale marriage will officially end this Friday, when the paperwork is filed.
Neither Melanie nor Richard Hudson were available for comment, under a gag order.
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