Inside Fox News Host Pete Hegseth's Relationship History

Donald Trump wasted no time making key appointments following his 2024 election win. Not surprisingly, many of his choices were controversial. From Linda McMahon (yes, the wife of WWE CEO Vince McMahon) to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Dr. Oz, Trump made clear decisions to surround himself with eyebrow-raising supporters. One of his most divisive choices was decorated Army veteran turned Fox News host Pete Hegseth.

The Minnesota native has long been making headlines with his conservative beliefs, including that women shouldn't be allowed to hold combat roles in the military. Other controversial moments included his barring from protecting President Biden's 2021 inauguration as a National Guardsman after superiors thought his tattoos might be connected to extremist, racist groups. More recently, he's faced sexual assault allegations and despite being a proponent of traditional family values, his own love life has been anything but wholesome. Here's your look inside Pete Hegseth's shady relationship history.

Pete Hegseth has long been advocating for a return to a more traditional family unit, including bans on abortion, same-sex marriage, and even divorce. It's a belief he began pushing in the press as an Ivy League student at Princeton University. Hegseth was a regular contributor to the conservative student paper The Princeton Tory and was even its publisher for a year. In a 2002 issue, he wrote, per Princeton Alumni Weekly, that for America to prosper, it was imperative for the government to support "the traditional family unit [and] a return of the acceptability of the 'homemaker' vocation."

Two years after that proclamation, he tied the knot with Meredith Schwarz in 2004, but it seems he couldn't quite follow his own doctrine. Schwarz filed for divorce in December 2008 after Hegseth admitted to cheating with a coworker. According to the divorce judgment seen by APM Reports, it was concluded that "there exists an irretrievable breakdown of the parties' marriage relationship due to Respondent's infidelity."

Interestingly, Hegseth found a convenient way to consolidate his beliefs with his new reality by adding a helpful caveat to his previous statements. As he wrote in his 2016 book, "In the Arena," successful government policy should only focus on "preventing divorce of parents with kids."

Pete Hegseth first crossed paths with his second wife, Samantha Succop, when they both worked for Vets for Freedom. He was the executive director while Succop was a publicist for the political advocacy organization founded by combat veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The pair appears to have met around 2008, and given that timeline, she was likely the coworker at the center of first wife Meredith Schwarz's decision to divorce Hegseth.

Two years later, in 2010, Succop and Hegseth married and had three children: Gunnar, Jackson, and Boone. The aspiring politician openly gushed about his family and featured his wife and eldest son Gunnar in a 2012 campaign video for Minnesota's U.S. Senate seat. "I couldn't love them more," he enthused. "It makes getting up every day an easy thing to do." Succop appeared to be just as smitten. "Pete's a great dad," she told viewers. "He approaches fatherhood like he does everything else: hands-on and 100%." Over a decade later, Hegseth's feelings about fatherhood were just as passionate. As he tweeted in 2023, "Being a dad is the most important job I have."

Old habits die hard. Pete Hegseth's second marriage ended in much the same way as his first after he was unfaithful to Samantha Succop with a work colleague. The couple split in 2017, with Succop filing for divorce a month after Fox News producer Jennifer Rauchet gave birth to Hegseth's child – a daughter named Gwennie.

Gossip quickly surrounded Hegseth and Rauchet, and headlines were made all the more salacious by the fact that the infidelity wasn't one-sided. Mediaite confirmed that Rauchet was also married at the time of the affair and, just like Hegseth, had three children with her spouse. Around the time of Gwennie's arrival, she filed for divorce and moved into an apartment with Hegseth, according to the outlet.

As for Hegseth's 2016 stance that couples with children shouldn't divorce, he published a revised version of his book, "In the Arena," in 2017 to redefine his initial terms. The same passage now reads that government policy should instead work at "preventing wanton divorce," per APM Reports.

When Pete Hegseth and TV producer Jennifer Rauchet began their affair, they worked together at Fox News. Hegseth had been a regular contributor since 2014, but his new flame was determined to see more of him on air. According to CNN's Brian Stelter, an executive told him, "She kept putting Pete on TV." What's more, Stelter learned that they tried to keep their affair a secret for as long as possible. Indeed, they didn't tell management of their relationship until Rauchet became pregnant, after which she was swiftly moved to work on a different show.

Even so, the couple was surrounded by rumors of nepotism again in April 2023 following Tucker Carlson's sudden exit from Fox. Sources claimed that Rauchet played a key role in the departure, as Hegseth topped the list of potential replacements. "Pete Hegseth's wife was Tucker's hatchet lady," tweeted Stew Peters, sparking a response from Hegseth, who denied all allegations. "The fakest news I've ever seen," wrote Hegseth, adding, "My wife has nothing to do with Tucker's show & was not involved at all in any aspect of the decision."

Pete Hegseth has long been a supporter of Donald Trump, and it seems his third wife, Jennifer Rauchet, is too. In October 2017, the couple dined with then-president Trump in the East Wing, posting a photo to Instagram where they were all smiles.

It should therefore come as no surprise that when they tied the knot in 2019, they decided to keep the connection going and do so at Trump National Golf Club Colts Neck in New Jersey. While getting ready for the big day, Hegseth posted a photo from their rehearsal day to Instagram where he and Rauchet posed in a golf cart with all seven of their combined kids. The couple beamed as they wore matching red hats emblazoned with the words "Make Weddings Great Again."

While it's unclear if Trump was in attendance for the big day, photos from the wedding show Hegseth and Rauchet exchanging vows on the lawn in front of the clubhouse, as folks look on from the balconies. They later posed for official portraits on the green with Hegseth posting one snap to Instagram in which their kiddos are seen smiling and making silly faces. "This wedding photo fits the personality of each of our kids almost perfectly," he wrote.