Ainsley Earhardt shines as the “morning sunshine” on Fox & Friends while also navigating life as a mother to her 9-year-old daughter, following a divorce and the heartbreak of losing her mom

A Morning Wrapped in Sunshine

It’s just after 9:30 a.m., and Ainsley Earhardt’s workday is nearly over. The Fox & Friends co-host has been on air since 6 a.m., after rising at 3:30. At 48, she trades her slimline cornflower blue outfit for a comfortable boucle jacket and cream pants.

Outside Fox News’ Midtown Manhattan headquarters, Earhardt greets fans with the same high-wattage smile viewers know from TV. Moments later, she slips into the backseat of her black SUV, heading to her Park Avenue apartment. Her phone rings. “Sunshine!” booms a familiar voice—it’s Sean Hannity, her fiancé.

Hannity, 63, calls at this time every day. He explains the nickname to the Daily Mail: Earhardt “wakes up America” and always carries a radiant smile.

Beyond the On-Screen Persona

Yet there is more to Earhardt than her morning cheer. In a candid interview, she opens up about the grief of losing her mother and the pain of her divorce from Will Proctor, father of her nine-year-old daughter, Hayden.

“Even in the bad times, I saw God,” she says. “I knew He was with me. His presence lifted me and carried me through.” Her story blends faith, resilience, and the unexpected joy of new love with a man she describes as someone she’s “just crazy about.”

Reflections on Love and Loss

In her Manhattan apartment, adorned with scarlet, fuchsia, and purple peonies, Earhardt reflects: “Nobody walks down the aisle planning for a divorce. I wanted a lifelong marriage. Life didn’t work out that way.”

Her divorce from Proctor finalized six years ago. They met on a blind date in 2012 and married the same year. While her career flourished—joining Fox News in 2007, landing Fox & Friends First in 2013, and moving to the main Fox & Friends sofa in 2016—her private life faltered.

“I’m grateful to Fox for putting me in a position many women don’t reach,” she says, as her miniature poodle waddles by. “I never wanted to stay in an unhappy marriage because of money. I wanted my daughter in a happy home.”

Motherhood and Moving Forward

Hayden, born in 2015, brought joy and purpose. Divorce followed in 2018, finalized in 2019. Co-parenting in Manhattan, Earhardt and Proctor share responsibilities: he takes Hayden to school; she picks her up in the afternoons.

“I learned not to judge. Life throws punches, and you adapt,” she says. “I had financial independence and could create a happy home for my daughter. That decision changed my life for the better.”

Love Rekindled

Earhardt’s smile returns when she talks about Hannity. They were friends at Fox News before discovering shared experiences with divorce. In 2020, Hannity asked her out. “We asked our boss first,” she recalls. “I really wanted support because I was crazy about him. He was there for me during a hard time. I fell in love with him.”

Two days before Christmas last year, Hannity proposed at their church near his Palm Beach home. Surrounded by Christmas lights and candles, he knelt with a ring. They plan a small, private ceremony with their children as witnesses.

The couple maintains separate homes. Earhardt works in New York Monday through Thursday, joining Hannity in Palm Beach for casual weekends. “It’s not conventional, but when you love someone, you make it work,” she says.

Roots and Resilience

Earhardt grew up in Columbia, South Carolina. Her father, Wayne, was a college basketball coach working three jobs to support his children. Her mother, Dale, taught kindergarten for 33 years. Ainsley is the middle child, with an older sister and younger brother.

Dale was diagnosed with diabetes at 39 and suffered a stroke in 2017. She passed away in October 2022 at 72. Earhardt cared for her mother during her final years. “We all took turns,” she says. “When my mom passed, I went to work Monday. She would have wanted me to.”

Her mother instilled a love of classic movies and performance, inspiring Earhardt’s path in journalism. She studied at the University of South Carolina, reported for WLTX before graduation, and anchored at KENS in Texas. In 2000, she moved to New York City for Fox News.

“I was terrified,” she admits. “I didn’t know politics, but I learned by asking questions.”