Fox News Host Pete Hegseth Has Had A Messy Love Life

Pete Hegseth, a longtime host of "Fox & Friends Weekend," was named as Trump's pick for Secretary of Defense days after the 2024 election. People were quick to note that Trump's cabinet choices seemed hand-selected to inflate his already overblown ego but also couldn't get over Hegseth's gross on-air confession about his lack of hand hygiene or the twists and turns of his romantic past. The TV host has been married three times, starting in 2004, when he married Meredith Schwarz. The couple's relationship started early in high school, and they married five years after graduation. In 2008, however, Schwarz filed for divorce. 

They spent a lot of time apart in college, and this pattern continued after they were married, living and working hours away from each other. To make matters worse, "She was gaslighted by him heavily throughout their relationship," an insider claimed to Vanity Fair in December 2024. Beyond allegations of emotional abuse, there were allegations that Hegseth cheated. According to APM Reports, one of these relationships involved someone Hegseth knew from work.

Hegseth reportedly informed Schwarz that he had several extramarital relationships, including one with Samantha Deering, Hegseth's future second wife. A month after she learned about Hegseth's behavior, Schwarz started divorce proceedings. Hegseth and Deering were both working with the group Vets for Freedom in 2008. The first of their three children arrived prior to their wedding two years later.

Pete Hegseth married Samantha Deering in 2010. Four years into their marriage, Hegseth started his job at Fox News. Hegseth's shift in employment also led to complications in his love life, when he got involved with Jennifer Rauchet, an executive producer at the network. "People very much started to notice she had more than a professional interest in his performance," one source divulged to the Daily Mail.

To further complicate matters, Rauchet was also married at the beginning of her relationship with Hegseth, and they reportedly kept their infidelity under wraps. However, in 2017 the situation became public knowledge. Hegseth was already a father of three kids with Deering, and, in 2017, he and Rauchet had a child together. Both Rauchet and Hegseth began divorce proceedings with their respective spouses this same year.

For Hegseth and Deering, the divorce process was particularly fraught as they dealt with co-parenting arrangements. During this time, Hegseth's mother reprimanded his treatment of both Deering and his first wife, Meredith Schwarz. "Your abuse over the years to women (dishonesty, sleeping around, betrayal, debasing, belittling) needs to be called out," Penelope Hegseth stated in a 2018 email published by The New York Times. She also claimed her son emotionally manipulated Deering in a similar way to how he was said to have acted towards Schwarz. "Sam is a good mother and a good person," Penelope asserted. "For you to try to label her as 'unstable' for your own advantage is despicable and abusive."

In August 2019, Pete Hegseth and Jennifer Rauchet got married at Trump's New Jersey golf resorts. Sporting MAGA-esque hats that said "Make Marriage Great Again," Hegseth and Rauchet shared a photo of their massive blended family of seven kids. The couple had announced their engagement two months earlier.

Although Hegseth's first two marriages ended years ago, judging by social media posts, his infidelities remained on people's minds even before his cabinet nomination prompted scrutiny of his past. In 2020, Hegseth posted an emotional tribute on Instagram, writing, "Thank you for changing my life — and loving me so soulfully." Some followers weren't so charmed, however, and began questioning his treatment of his two former wives, as well as questioning if he would be getting divorced and married again in the future. When Hegseth posted birthday wishes for Jennifer Rauchet in 2023, his phrase "the love of my life," attracted some sarcastic comments. "The *third* love of your life," corrected one commenter on Instagram.

Ironically, Hegseth himself has said he's not in favor of divorce. "The focus on family policy should instead be on strengthening families and creating good citizens by preventing divorce of parents with kids," he wrote in his 2016 book, "In the Arena" (via American Public Media). To further illustrate how much changed in his second marriage over a few years, in a 2012 video for Hegseth's U.S. Senate campaign his father Brian Hegseth said about his son and Samantha Deering, "He's just devoted to his wife."

The year 2017 was particularly messy for Pete Hegseth. Beyond the dissolution of his second marriage, Hegseth faced something even more controversial — allegations of sexual assault less than two months after his child with Jennifer Rauchet was born. Hegseth's alcohol use had reportedly caused concern before, and alcohol was involved during this incident. Although Hegseth claimed their activities were consensual, the woman asserted his behavior was forceful.

While no formal charges occurred, Hegseth faced potential legal consequences over two years later. Eventually, he settled with the woman out of court because he was purportedly worried about losing his job. "Hegseth strongly felt that he was the victim of blackmail and innocent collateral damage in a lie that the Complainant was holding onto to keep her marriage intact," Timothy Parlatore, Hegseth's lawyer, explained to The Washington Post. In December 2024, after Hegseth released her from a nondisclosure agreement, Parlatore warned the woman of potential consequences when discussing the incident. "If she doesn't tell the truth, if she repeats these false statements, then she will be subject to a defamation lawsuit," Parlatore declared on CNN (via ABC News).

In light of Hegseth's Secretary of Defense nomination, his mom Penelope Hegseth has been outspoken about her disbelief concerning the sexual assault allegations. She's also recanting her 2018 email with its scathing reprimands of his marital behavior. "I wrote that in haste," Penelope recalled to Fox News. "About two hours later, I retracted it with an apology."

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).