Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch dated actress Olivia Poulet for 12 years and has been linked to Russian model Katia Elizarova, Star Trek co-star Alice Eve, actress Liv Tyler, and socialite Lydia Hearst. However, the celebrated actor is finally ready to put an end to his life as one of the world’s most coveted bachelors, and has proposed to girlfriend Sophie Hunter after dating her for only five months.

“Without using words like marriage, children and family . . . put it this way, I hope I’ve got other people to look back with me [when I’m older]. I hope I’m surrounded by family,” Cumberbatch stated in a magazine interview last year, hinting for the first time that he was hoping to find a woman with whom he could finally settle down.

It seems he’s found this woman in Sophie Hunter, whom he met on set while he was dating his long-time girlfriend Olivia Poulet in 2009. The couple remained friends, and began seeing each other romantically this past summer. Rumors of their relationship began when the pair were spotted watching the French Open tennis together in Paris in June, and the rumors were all but confirmed after they were seen dining together in London and accompanied each other at the wedding of one of Cumberbatch’s schoolfriends in September.

‘It’s wonderful news and we are all thrilled for him. I’ve never known him happier, and she is a wonderful woman — very intelligent. They have known each other a long time, but the romance is recent. It really only took off over the summer, maybe even late summer,” a friend of Cumberbatch’s confirmed to Daily Mail. “It has moved fast, but when something works, it works. They are very good for each other and are very much in love. They have mutual friends and mutual interests in the theatre. It just works. They have clicked. It is lovely news.”

When Cumberbatch was seen in Edinburgh, the home of Hunter’s mother, last month, fans speculated that the Sherlock star was there to ask for permission to propose to Sophie. Cumberbatch’s anonymous friend denied this claim, stating that “they just got engaged this week. He didn’t go up to Edinburgh to ask her mum first. He asked her, I think, on Monday.”

The 38-year-old actor may have trouble finding time to tie the knot to Hunter, as he will be filming the next season of Sherlock in January, attending the Oscars in March, and performing as Hamlet at The Barbican for three months starting next fall. Sources claim that his schedule won’t clear up until several months into 2016, so it is likely his engagement will be a fairly long one.