The Truth About Betty White's Marriage To Allen Ludden

With two failed marriages under her belt, Betty White was unsure she wanted to take the plunge again with Allen Ludden — especially since he lived in New York when they began dating, while she was content with her life in California. A smitten Ludden proposed multiple times, only to be rejected by White.

"In love as I was, nonetheless marrying and moving east was still not in the equation," White once said, per Closer Weekly. It was a stuffed bunny that finally changed her tune. On Easter, Allen sent his lady love a stuffed white bunny with flower-shaped sapphire, ruby, and diamond earrings. The sweet gift included a note that said: "Please say YES."

"It wasn't the earrings that did it," White revealed. "It was the g*ddamned bunny. I still have it."

While the couple enjoyed a happy marriage, Ludden's stomach cancer diagnosis at age 63 cut their lives together way too short. The TV host died 20 years after first meeting the sitcom legend. "I spent a whole year, wasted a whole year that Allen and I could have had together, saying, 'No, I wouldn't marry him. No, I won't. No, I won't leave California. No, I won't move to New York,'" White once told talk show host Oprah Winfrey on Oprah: Where Are They Now? "I wasted a whole year we could have had together."

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