All you gals out there who have been waiting 15 or more years for your tomcatting boyfriend to propose, take heart. All the incentive he needs to walk down the aisle is a brush with death and a popular reality show to propose on.

King tomcatter Bret Michaels proposed to his girlfriend and mother of his children, Kristi Gibson, on Monday’s episode of Bret Michaels: Life As I Know It.

Bret has had one heck of a year. He had several medical emergencies, yet still went on tour, was implicated in the breakup of Billy Ray Cyrus’s marriage and won The Celebrity Apprentice. Now he’s ready to get married, eventually.

The rocker had been thinking about proposing but couldn’t seem to find the right moment. It seemed like everyone was geared up for it to happen at the anniversary dinner the night before at Mastro’s, but Michaels, 47, felt like there were too many waiters and other patrons milling around.

“I wasn’t ready there because I felt really strange,” he says. “It would’ve been like, I’m in the middle of proposing and oh, by the way, there’s a Cobb salad coming.”

The real moment, filmed a couple weeks ago, came spontaneously instead, in the middle of a heart-to-heart with Gibson on the balcony of their Arizona home, says Michaels.

“In my mind, it wasn’t supposed to happen like that – I wanted it to be a little more like the movies, where the white horse gallops up and all that stuff,” he says. “But when Kristi said, ‘I don’t need this ring, I don’t need the piece of paper, I love you no matter what,’ she took the pressure off.”

“She used reverse psychology on me,” Michaels says, “and it worked!”

“After that, I was so in the moment, I didn’t feel like there was anyone around us,” says Michaels, who laughs at how their daughters Jorja, 5, and Raine, 10, responded when they heard the news.

Says the rocker: “They were like, ‘What? Who? What’s going on?'”

Gibson is elated, too.

“I love him for him,” says Gibson, who turns 40 Dec. 25. “I’ve been through everything with him. A ring and a paper wouldn’t make me love him more. I’m just happy he’s alive.”

“But this is the best birthday and Christmas present ever,” she says. “We’ll be virgins stepping into the whole engagement and marriage thing. And with our girls growing up, we’ll all have the same last name.”

[People.com]

People magazine named Bret the Ultimate Survivor.

Q: After recovering from a brain hemorrhage in April, what’s the main life-lesson you’ve learned?

A: Enjoy the moments you have left. Do what rocks your world….I don’t want my legacy to be a hemorrhage. I want it to be: I’m a fighter. I’m passionate, I’m hardworking, and I love music.

Q: Have you had any false alarms where you thought you were having another hemorrhage?

A: Yes, I’ve had two severe headaches where I thought I was, but I wasn’t. The doctors told me it’s to be expected.

Q: Is there anything you still can’t do?

A: I’m only 85 percent back, so I can’t kickbox. I have short-term memory loss, so I have to repeat things to myself over and over. And I haven’t had a good night sleep’s since. My goal next year is to rock harder and sleep more!

[People, print edition, December 27, 2010]

The accompanying picture is of a shirtless Bret surrounded by four nurses/strippers. Why would a girl wait 15 years to marry this guy?

I saw Poison on tour way back when they were on the way out, in the early 90s. Bret is an engaging performer, if I recall correctly. Warrant was the opening act. I guess Bret deserves credit for finding a way to make himself relevant 20 years later when most of the other hair band members are probably bald overweight real estate agents.

Bret’s next reality show is called Bret Michaels: Love Guru, where he’ll give out relationship advice (seriously). He still has bus parties to let fans have a nothin’ but a good time, although he says he’s stopped drinking alcohol. And for the true fan, there’s the Bret Michaels Super Cruise to Cozumel.

Bret Michaels, Kristi Gibson and their two daughters are shown on 7/13/10. Credit: Fame Pictures. They are also shown on 7/12 outside the Late Show. Credit: WENN