Happy: Stephen wrote on his blog last year about feeling lonely after splitting with his partner but Elliott, right, has been praised by friends for putting a smile on his face
Stephen Fry said today he is 'very happy' after he announced he will marry his 27-year-old boyfriend following a whirlwind romance.
See more story after the cut.
The 57-year-old QI presenter and comedian was first pictured Elliott Spencer in November, but the pair are understood to have become a couple over the summer.
Just before Christmas they registered to marry in Norfolk, where Fry grew up.
He tweeted today: 'Oh. It looks as though a certain cat is out of a certain bag. I’m very very happy of course but had hoped for a private wedding. Fat chance!.
'Thank you all SO much for your kind congratulations. Deeply touched xxx'.
The engagement came less than three years after he tried to kill himself during an unhappy spell in his life where he struggled to cope with fame, loneliness and the break-up of his previous relationship.
Mr Fry, who suffers from bipolar disorder, revealed that in 2012 he tried to kill himself with a cocktail of vodka and pills, and was only saved by a producer who discovered him.
Friends have credited the young stand-up comic, who is 30 years Fry's junior, with putting a smile back on the actor's face following a crippling battle with depression.
It appears they may have become engaged just before Christmas as they have given formal notice at a registry office in Dereham, Norfolk, on December 23.
They have a year to marry before it expires.
Mr Spencer's father Robert, who at 57 is the same age as Fry, or his wife Melanie, 52, declined to comment.
However, friends have spoken of the joy that the young man has brought to Fry's life, with one telling The Sun: 'Since Stephen met Elliott, it is like he has a new lust for life.
'We've got the old Stephen back. He has found new hope in Elliott and they thrive off each other.'
Starstruck: Mr Spencer, a stand-up comedian, has tweeted pictures of him meeting 'heroes' Jimmy Carr and David Mitchell in the past year
After the pair were seen eating at a restaurant together in November - Fry looking carefree and smiling - they were also reportedly pictured hanging out at his West London home.
They were also been reportedly seen together at Ascot racecourse in Berkshire, UK, and London's Savoy Hotel.
A source told The Sunday Mirror: 'Stephen and Elliott get on brilliantly together. It's fantastic to see Stephen with a smile on his face again.
'He has been very, very open about his battles with drugs and depression,' the source continued.
'Elliott seems to have given him the confidence to live his life again. It's great to have the old Stephen back.'
Fry separated from his partner of the past 14 years Daniel Cohen in 2010, a man who he credits with 'saving' him.
The salesman, who was 12 years Fry's junior, claimed in the aftermath of the split that he was finding it increasingly hard to come to terms with the actor's new relationship with Steven Webb; 27 years younger than Fry.
However, Fry appeared to be single again by June 2013 when he opened up in a bold and honest blog post about loneliness.
The broadcaster said: 'Loneliness is the most terrible and contradictory of my problems. I hate having only myself to come home to.'
Boost: The 27-year-old, believed to be from Southampton, is said to have been Fry 'the confidence to live his life again'
All by himself: Stephen once said that 'Loneliness is the most terrible and contradictory of his problems'
Secret pain: The actor has been a figurehead for fighting suicidal depression, having spoken in the past about two failed suicide attempts
He went on to say: 'It’s not that I want a sexual partner, a long-term partner, someone to share a bed and a snuggle on the sofa with – although perhaps I do and in the past I have had and it has been joyful.
'But the fact is I value my privacy too. It’s a lose-lose matter.'
As a public figure, the actor has spoken openly about suicidal depression, having admitted to two failed suicide attempts.
In the post, Fry said that while he may be luckier than most that he was 'lonely in a crowd of people who are mostly very nice to me,' he reassured readers that 'you are not alone in your being alone.'
Last year he also spoke openly about his battle with drugs and claimed he took cocaine at Buckingham Palace.
Opening up about a 15-year addiction to the Class A drug, the comedian details dozens of respected institutions where he says he took it. The list included the House of Lords, the House of Commons and BBC Television Centre.
In his latest autobiography, More Fool Me, published in September, Fry wrote: ‘I take this opportunity to apologise unreservedly, to the owners, managers or representatives of the noble and ignoble premises and to the hundreds of private homes, offices, car dashboards, tables, mantelpieces and available polished surfaces that could so easily have been added to this list of shame'.
Following on from 2010’s The Fry Chronicles, which touched on his drug use in its closing pages, his new book sees the presenter speak in detail about the habit that cost him hundreds of thousands of pounds.
It also reveals his brushes with the law and how he narrowly escaped drug charges after being stopped by police while in possession of cocaine.
This third instalment of his autobiography follows Fry through the 1980s and 90s after he had found fame through shows such as A Bit of Fry and Laurie, Blackadder and Jeeves and Wooster.
He recalls the ‘momentous night’ in 1986 when he first took cocaine with an unnamed actor friend and admits that he never saw himself as an addict as his dependency spiralled out of control.
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