Who Is Fox News Host Pete Hegseth's Wife, Jennifer Rauchet? Rumors About Their Marriage Are Messy

Donald Trump's new cabinet is scrambling to inflate his overblown ego, with Fox News host Pete Hegseth being the latest confusing addition to the team of sycophants vying for the president elect's attention. Trump has appointed Hegseth, a man who believes that germs are not real because they cannot be seen with the naked eye, as his Secretary of Defense. The Fox News host has made plenty of headlines over the years, mostly for openly philandering with another woman while still married. In 2017, word got out that Hegseth was having an affair with fellow married colleague Jennifer Rauchet. Rumors had been swirling for quite a while that something untoward was going on between the two, and it was finally confirmed when Rauchet gave birth to her and Hegseth's child that year. He was still married to his second wife, Samantha Deering, when the baby was born, but divorce proceedings quickly followed within the same month.

Rauchet has been a Fox News mainstay since 2006, long before she and Hegseth became acquainted. She was a familiar face on "Fox & Friends" in particular, alongside Hegseth, but was moved to the show's "Watters World" segment after their relationship became public. It's worth noting that, just like Hegseth, Rauchet was a married mom of three when she started a romance with him. After the initial brouhaha surrounding the couple's affair died down, they tied the knot at Trump's New Jersey golf club in 2019. Rauchet hasn't exactly managed to live down the controversy, and some on X, formerly known as Twitter, even refer to her as the woman "who broke up Pete's second marriage."

When controversial former Fox News firebrand Tucker Carlson was fired from the network in 2023, speculation mounted that Jennifer Rauchet had something to do with it. Word on the street was that Rauchet, who was working as Fox Nation's executive producer at the time, had prohibited Carlson from running a certain segment on his hit show. Furious, Carlson, who'd already racked up an impressive net worth during his time with the controversial network, packed his bags and left — or so the story went at the time. What some thought all too convenient, however, was that Rauchet's colleague and husband, Peter Hegseth, was next in line for Carlson's job. 

To pundits and critics alike, this seemed too much of a coincidence to be ignored. The rumor mill churned relentlessly on social media, so much so that Hegseth eventually took to X to address the situation, writing simply: "The fakest news I've ever seen. My amazing wife @JennyHegseth had absolutely nothing to do with anything. Not one iota. Like everybody else, we love Tucker." He also replied to a series of tweets by internet personality Stew Peters, who was spreading the rumors in earnest. "Hey @realstewpeters, you need more credible sources," Hegseth proclaimed. "My wife has nothing to do with Tucker's show & was not involved at all in any aspect of the decision." 

The Fox News host also added, "Someone who knows nothing started this rumor. Hit me up if you want to discuss." The reports might have been nothing but scuttlebutt after all, though, since Rauchet's husband notably didn't end up getting Carlson's job.