Tasma Walton proposed to Rove with a painting. Source: Supplied

Speaking to Show + Tell’sMonty Diamond, the 41-year-old said she proposed to Rove in 2009 after he arrived home from an overseas trip.

“I’d done this little painting that said ‘Marry me?’ on it and he said, ‘You’ve got to ask me properly’ and I was like ‘I can’t, I can’t, just marry me would ya!’

“It was really, really unromantic.”

The former Blue Heelers actress described the moment as an “out of body experience”.

Walton talks to Show + Tell’s Monty Diamond. Source: Supplied

“I have what I call wide shot moments, where you go out to the wide shot and you see yourself and the other person in the situation and you’re like ‘what the hell am I doing, this is crazy!”

Walton says she still has the painting but “it’s not very good”.

The actress, who gave birth to the couple’s daughter Ruby in January this year, says there were two reasons she chose to ask Rove herself.

“It was important for me to do it,” she said, “for a couple of different reasons, one because I never thought I would ever get married and so the fact that I had arrived at a place where I was certain that I wanted to do this, it made sense for me to initiate it and two, it was the first time that I had seriously considered children.”

Tasma Walton and Rove McManus with their daughter Ruby. Source: Supplied

Walton says she called his mother and asked her for permission to marry Rove, rather than ask his father, adding that she feels the mother should always be consulted before a proposal.

“I first asked his mum for permission ... well she did carry him around for nine months and bring him into the world.”

In the candid interview, Walton also opened up about how she didn’t instantly feel ‘in love’ with her daughter when she was born.

“It’s impossible to explain to somebody that hasn’t experienced it what those first few days and few months will be like.

Tasma and Rove’s beautiful baby Ruby. Source: Supplied

Tasma Walton and Ruby. Source: Supplied

“You are in the trenches. There is this compulsion that you have to take care of this creature. There’s a sense of awe about them, but love? That ‘in love’, kind of thing?

“It was almost like all those other lovely warm ‘love’ feelings — I just didn’t have the energy for it. It was just more like, ‘This is the job I’ve got, but it’s going to take all of the energy I’ve got to get it done and to do it as well as I can.’”

Walton said that while she felt very protective of her daughter, it’s only now that she’s started to feel the traditional feelings of “love”.

“I would not let anybody hurt them. [But] the love has started to kick in as she is engaging more and more with me and with the world.”

Tasma Walton is best known for her role on Blue Heelers. Source: News Limited