Justin Theroux, 53, lovingly shares snap of Nicole Brydon Bloom, 30, amid 'engagement'

Justin Theroux, 53, lovingly shared a picture of Nicole Brydon Bloom, 30, amid a blizzard of conjecture that the pair are engaged.

Nicole has poured fuel on the rumors by wearing a bauble on her left hand engagement finger while appearing with Justin on the red carpet this month.

A source claimed that Justin proposed to Nicole in Italy, which they visited to attend the Venice Film Festival in support of his new film Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

He is said to have presented her with a four-carat emerald cut diamond ring by by Stephanie Gottlieb, the insider informed People.

Neither Justin nor Nicole has publicly confirmed the speculation, but his latest Instagram post left no doubt as to his feelings for her.

He affectionately uploaded a picture of Nicole sitting alone on a bench, gazing at her phone - and used a black-and-white filter to add an extra patina of romance.

Justin popped the question to Nicole with a 'one-of-a-kind' ring featuring both their birthstones in the platinum band, which features a 18-carat yellow gold inlay.

The birthstones were incorporated into the design of the ring as 'a personal nod to the couple,' according to a press release obtained by Page Six. 

Justin is August-born - meaning peridot, spinel or sardonyx could be counted as his birthstone - while Nicole is March-born, represented by aquamarine or bloodstone.

She has been seen sporting the dazzling ring at two events for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice - its Venice Film Festival Screening this Wednesday, followed by its star-studded London premiere the following day.

The couple have only infrequently surfaced in public as a couple since they were first spotted together in February 2023. 

Nicole and Justin reached a milestone last December when he accompanied her as her date to her twin sister Chrissy's wedding.

She snapped a mirror selfie from the festivities that showed her and Justin beaming on a staircase amid a claque of loved ones including his dog Kuma.

Nicole, like her purported fiancée is a Hollywood performer - an actress known for Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes' new show The Gilded Age.

Justin also enjoys a famously amicable relationship with his ex-wife Jennifer Aniston, whom he was with for a total of seven years.

They announced their split in February 2018, and a few months later Justin told the New York Times how amicable the process had been.

'The good news is that was probably the most - I'm choosing my words really carefully - it was kind of the most gentle separation, in that there was no animosity.'

The Tropic Thunder writer added: 'In a weird way, just sort of navigating the inevitable perception of it is the exhausting part.'

Justin, who is three years younger than Jennifer, married her in Bel-Air in 2015 and they broke up about two years later.

Jennifer and Justin first started dating in 2011, having worked together on the film Wanderlust. He had carried on a 14-year relationship with costume designer Heidi Bivens that collapsed in 2011. 

At the time, a friend of Heidi's told E! News claimed that Heidi had been 'straight-up dumped,' though the outlet made sure to qualify: 'Not to say it's Aniston's fault, maybe the timing was just terrible?'

A source in Justin's camp insisted to Page Six: 'Things were already over between him and Heidi before he got close to Jen.'

Heidi's mother Marilyn spoke to Radar Online in 2016, claiming that Justin initially tried to persuade Heidi he and Jennifer were not an item.

Marilyn asserted: 'Heidi told me what Justin had told her, that something was going to be written about him and Jennifer, that something was going on between them and he wanted her to know that it was nothing, there was nothing to it.' 

In Marilyn's telling, Heidi allegedly ultimately discovered that the rumors were true, '[a]nd my sweet Heidi she calls me and says: "Oh mommy." I was going through cancer at the time. It was a time that hurt our family.'