Sean Hannity and Ainsley Earhardt announced their engagement over Christmas week

Ainsley Earhardt and Sean Hannity. Photo: 

Ainsley Earhardt/Instagram

Sean Hannity and Ainsley Earhardt have confirmed their relationship with personal news.

In 2020, a source told PEOPLE that the Fox News hosts had been quietly dating. Fast forward, four years later, Hannity and Earhardt announced their engagement on Dec. 26.

“We are overjoyed and so thankful to our families for all of their love and support during this wonderful time in our lives,” they told Fox News.

The TV personalities were both previously married. Hannity and his ex-wife, Jill Rhodes, divorced in 2019 after more than 20 years of marriage. Earhardt and her ex-husband, Will Proctor, wed in 2012 and finalized their divorce in 2019.

A year later, Earhardt opened up to PEOPLE about possibly remarrying. “I would love to find love again and I want to demonstrate a loving relationship for Hayden [her daughter] one day,” she said.

Here’s everything to know about Sean Hannity and Ainsley Earhardt’s relationship.

They’re Fox News hosts

Sean Hannity. ; Ainsley Earhardt.Chris McKay/Getty ; John Lamparski/Getty

Hannity and Earhardt have worked on Fox News for decades. Hannity started at the network when it first originated in 1996 and has hosted his commentary program, Hannity, since 2009.

Earhardt began working on early morning and weekend shows in 2007. Nine years later, she got promoted and replaced Elisabeth Hasselbeck on Fox & Friends.

“I’m so excited to wake America up everyday,” she told PEOPLE in March 2016. “This is the best time of my life. It just keeps getting better and better.”

During an October 2019 interview with PEOPLE, Earhardt spoke about her experience working at Fox. “I am just blown away that I ended up with a big job in New York City with my dream of a little girl,” she said.

Earhardt continued, “The most monumental parts of my life … have happened while I’m working at Fox.”

They quietly dated “for years” before publicly announcing it

Ainsley Earhardt, Clay Travis, Sean Hannity and Pete Hegseth.Ainsley Earhardt/Instagram

In June 2020, a source in the couple’s circle confirmed to PEOPLE that the Fox News stars had been “seeing each other very secretively for years.”

“He’s very private because he’s very famous and he’s very controversial but it’s been an open secret that they have been seeing each other,” the source said.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Earhardt reportedly rented a home near Hannity’s place and recorded at his home studio.

The source revealed, “They’re together all the time, but in private … for years, not just months.” They added that Hannity and Earhardt had been spotted “acting flirty in off-hours” and “getting cozy in the back of” an N.Y.C. bar.

After the news first broke, they denied their romantic connection. In a statement through a spokesperson, Hannity declared, “I do not discuss my personal life in public.”

Meanwhile, Earhardt said in a statement via a network spokesperson: “Right now I am focused on raising my daughter and I am not dating anyone. As anyone at Fox News will tell you, Sean is a wonderful person and whomever he chooses to date will be extremely fortunate.”

Hannity and Earhardt have complimented each other

Ainsley Earhardt hosts ‘FOX & Friends’ at Fox News Channel Studios on August 30, 2022 in New York City.Slaven Vlasic/Getty

In October 2021, Hannity appeared on Fox & Friends to celebrate Fox News’ 25th anniversary. Although Hannity and Earhardt did not confirm or deny their relationship during the segment, she appeared to hint at a special connection.

When one of the hosts, Brian Kilmeade, asked Hannity if he had a favorite Fox & Friends host, Earhardt chimed in. “Yes, he does,” she said. Hannity replied, “It’s between Steve [Doocy] and Ainsley, for sure.”

She also talked about Hannity later on in the conversation. “He’s the most generous person,” Earhardt said. “You’re just a really good person, Sean, and you’ve helped all of our careers.”

Hannity responded, “You’re nice to say that.”

Hannity and Earhardt have discussed their shared religious beliefs on the air

Ainsley Earhardt and Sean Hannity on ‘Ainsley’s Bible Study.’.FOX

In December 2019, Hannity was a guest on Earhardt’s program, Ainsley’s Bible Study. On the show, the host “talks faith, family, trials and triumphs with guests from all walks of life,” per Fox Nation.

Hannity opened up about the role Christianity plays in his life during his appearance. “My faith actually has gotten stronger as I’ve gotten older,” he explained. “I would say I realize more than ever that I not only need, but I want, God in my life.”

Later on, Earhardt shared words about his on-air work.

“You know, you’re very good on your show about saying, ‘I’m not perfect. I need God. I’ve made a lot of mistakes,’ ” she said. “And I think people love that about you.”

They have traveled together

Sean Hannity. ; Ainsley Earhardt.Sylvain Gaboury/Patrick McMullan/Getty ; Jared Siskin/Patrick McMullan/Getty

In August 2019, Hannity and Earhardt went to their coworkers’ wedding together, and they arrived together in Hannity’s helicopter, per Vanity Fair.

They took the Hannity host’s chopper to Trump National Golf Course in Colts Neck, N.J., where Fox & Friends weekend host Pete Hegseth and Fox producer Jennifer Rauchet tied the knot.

The wedding was reportedly not the first time the couple enjoyed a helicopter trip together. PEOPLE’s source noted that “he’s whisked her off on his chopper for a vacation many times.”

They have been photographed during outings

Sean Hannity. ; Ainsley Earhardt.Roy Rochlin/Getty ; Gary Gershoff/Getty

Three years after the romance rumors initially surfaced, the Daily Mail obtained several photos of Hannity and Earhardt of what appeared to be dates.

The duo were photographed posing with corn on the cob at the 2022 Oyster Fest in Long Island. In another picture from January 2023, they were at a Waffle House in South Carolina.

Hannity and Earhardt announced their engagement in December 2024

Sean Hannity and Ainsley Earhardt attend Fox Nation’s 2024 Patriot Awards on December 05, 2024 in Greenvale, New York.Theo Wargo/Getty

Over Christmas week, Hannity proposed to Earhardt at a local church in Florida.

The couple told Fox News that they initially bonded over their shared religious beliefs and thought the church was “the perfect place” to get engaged.

According to the outlet, they have been dating long-distance between Florida, where Hannity lives, and New York, where Earhardt works.

The hosts also shared that they “still get along well” with their ex-spouses and that they “made them aware this was happening ahead of time.”

Hannity and Earhardt also received the blessing and support from their children: Hannity has two children, Patrick and Merri, with ex-wife Rhodes, and Earhardt has a daughter, Hayden, with ex-husband Proctor.