'Pants man' gets pop star message

The happy couple plan to get married next summer

A man who hired a cinema in Bristol to show a film of him dancing in his underpants ahead of him proposing has received his own surprise at work.

Pete Simson, 26, who works for BBC Somerset, hit the headlines after his performance to a Daniel Bedingfield ballad in front of local landmarks.

Producers at the radio station wondered what Mr Bedingfield thought of the video and tracked him down.

Speaking live from Los Angeles, the singer said the film was "very funny".

"Your pants are hilarious - they are better than any pants I've ever owned and the video is probably better than the original."

'Real honour'

Mr Simson's nearly naked performance to the song If You're Not The One had the desired effect, as his girlfriend Hannah McDonagh, 25, accepted his proposal.

The five-minute video was made by his flatmates, a builder and a car insurance salesman, in their spare time.

"They deserve to make videos for a living," Mr Bedingfield said.

"It's magnificent - this really is part of the big world of user media.

"It's a most exciting thing for us musicians to see people doing creative things to our music.

"It's a real honour."

When Mr Bedingfield was asked if he would perform a few songs from his new album at Mr Simson's wedding - in his underpants - the musician said it depended on whether he got an invitation or not.

A week ago Mr Simson, a sports reporter at the Taunton-based station, hired the Watershed cinema in Bristol to propose to Ms McDonagh.

After the lights went down and the adverts finished, the camera revealed Mr Simson in his underpants miming to the music.

The couple, who live in the Bedminster area of Bristol, are due to get married in August 2009.