NORTH-EAST Pop Idol Zoe Birkett is to walk down the aisle with second series finalist Mark Rhodes.

The pair have become engaged after a four-month romance and will be the first reality TV pop stars to say "I Do".

Nineteen-year-old Zoe, from Darlington, who made it to the final four in series one of Pop Idol, plans to move to Wolverhampton to be closer to her fiance's family.

Mark's mother was diagnosed with lung cancer in May.

The couple have not set a date for the wedding but hope to marry next year.

Zoe said: "We're really happy to have got engaged and our family and friends are too.

"It's likely to be a long engagement - so no wedding bells just yet - but we're looking forward to the future together."

Her management company, 19, said the couple met in April at the firm's 19-year anniversary party, where they were both performing. Twenty-two-year-old Mark - best known for his duos with Pop Idol's Sam Nixon - popped the question last week.

Zoe is still hoping to repeat the chart success of her debut single, which reached number 12 in the charts.

But 19 is remaining tight-lipped about her future music projects.