Ainsley Earhardt is a prominent figure in the American media space, known for being a co-host of Fox & Friends, a popular morning news show on Fox News Channel.
She also authorizes several books, including a memoir and three children’s books.
Earhardt is a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump and a vocal advocate of conservative values. She has a loyal fan base who admire her charm, beauty, and faith.
Profile
- Full name: Ainsley Hayden Earhardt
- Date of birth: September 20, 1976
- Age: 47 years old
- Gender: Female
- Place of birth: Spartanburg, South Carolina, U.S.
- Nationality: American
- Profession: Television host, author
- Height: 5 ft 6 in (168 cm)
- Parents: Lewie Wayne Earhardt (father), Dale Earhardt (mother)
- Siblings: Elise Earhardt (sister), Trenton Graham Earhardt (brother)
- Spouse: Kevin McKinney (m. 2005; div. 2009), Will Proctor (m. 2012; div. 2019)
- Children: Hayden Dubose Proctor (daughter)
- Relationship status: Dating Sean Hannity (reportedly)
- Net worth: $8 million
Early Life & Education
Ainsley Earhardt, currently 47, was born on September 20, 1976, in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
She is the eldest of three children of Lewie Wayne Earhardt, a school teacher, and Dale Earhardt, a homemaker. She has a younger sister, Elise, and a younger brother, Trenton.
Earhardt grew up in a Christian household and attended Sharon Elementary School.
She later moved to Columbia, South Carolina, with her family and attended Spring Valley High School, where she was a student council president and a varsity cheerleader. She graduated from high school in 1995.
Earhardt then enrolled at Florida State University, majoring in biology and joined the Alpha Delta Pi sorority. She also worked as a reporter for FSU’s TV station, WFSU-TV.
She transferred to the University of South Carolina in 1997 and switched her major to journalism.
She graduated from USC in 1999 with a Bachelor of Arts in journalism.
She was also a member of the USC’s dance team, the Carolina Coquettes, and won the Caroliniana Creed Award for character and leadership.
Personal Life
Earhardt has been married and divorced twice. Her first marriage was to Kevin McKinney, a former Clemson University quarterback whom she met in college.
They got married in 2005 and divorced in 2009, reportedly due to McKinney’s infidelity. Earhardt married Will Proctor, a former professional football player, in 2012.
They welcomed their daughter, Hayden Dubose Proctor, in 2015. However, their marriage also ended in 2019 amid allegations of Proctor’s affair with one of Earhardt’s friends.
Earhardt has since been linked to Sean Hannity, a fellow Fox News host and a close friend of President Trump. The two have reportedly been dating since 2019 but have not confirmed their relationship publicly.
Earhardt is a devout Christian and a member of the Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City. She has said that her faith is the most important thing in her life and that she prays daily.
She is also a philanthropist and a supporter of various charities, such as Folds of Honor, which provides scholarships to the children of fallen soldiers, and Samaritan’s Purse, which provides humanitarian aid to needy people.
Career
Earhardt began her career as a reporter for WLTX-News 19, a local CBS station in Columbia, South Carolina, in 2000. She covered various topics, such as politics, health, and entertainment, and won the Best Personality of the Year award from Columbia Metropolitan Magazine.
She also hosted a segment called “Ainsley’s Angels,” which featured stories of people who overcame adversity.
She worked at WLTX-News 19 until 2004, when she moved to San Antonio, Texas, to join KENS-TV as an anchor and reporter.
She covered the 2004 presidential election, the 2005 Texas Legislature, and the 2005 train derailment in Graniteville, South Carolina.
In 2007, Earhardt moved to New York City to join Fox News Channel as a correspondent. She initially worked as a general assignment reporter and a fill-in anchor for various shows, such as Fox & Friends, America’s Newsroom, and Hannity.
She also hosted a segment called “Ainsley Across America,” which featured interviews with Americans from different walks of life.
In 2016, she was promoted to co-host of Fox & Friends alongside Steve Doocy and Brian Kilmeade. Fox & Friends is one of the most-watched morning news shows in the U.S., with an average of 1.5 million daily viewers.
The show is known for its conservative slant and its favorable coverage of President Trump, who often calls in or tweets about the show.
Earhardt has interviewed Trump and Vice President Mike Pence several times and has expressed her support for their policies and actions.
She has also interviewed prominent figures, such as former President George W. Bush, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and former First Lady Laura Bush.
In addition to her role as a co-host of Fox & Friends, Earhardt is also the author of four books.
She wrote her first book, Take Heart, My Child: A Mother’s Dream, in 2016, a collection of inspirational quotes and poems for children.
She followed it with two more children’s books, Through Your Eyes: My Child’s Gift to Me in 2017 and The Light Within Me: An Inspirational Memoir in 2018, a memoir of her personal and professional journey.
Her latest book, The Smart Girl’s Guide to Self-Care, was released in 2020 as a self-help book for women.
Controversy
Earhardt has faced controversy and criticism for her comments and actions on and off the air. Some of the most notable ones are:
In 2014, she said that the U.S. should bomb Islamic State targets in Iraq and Syria regardless of civilian casualties, saying, “You’re not going to have perfection. You’re going to kill people. You’re going to kill innocent people. And it’s not just us. It’s other countries as well. But you have to do what you have to do.”
In 2016, she defended President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement, saying, “Even if we reduce our carbon footprint to zero, it’s not going to make a difference in the world’s temperature.”
In 2017, she questioned the credibility of former FBI Director James Comey, who was investigating Trump’s campaign’s ties to Russia, saying, “How do we know what’s in his memos? We haven’t seen them. And is he writing these memos to protect himself down the road? Is he covering his tail?”
In 2018, she mocked the #MeToo movement, which aims to expose and prevent sexual harassment and assault, saying, “I don’t want it to get so out of control that men can’t even talk to women, and that women are afraid of men, and that men are afraid of women. That’s not the way God intended us to be.”
In 2019, she sparked outrage when she wore a green scarf with a pattern that resembled the Arabic script for “Allah” on Fox & Friends. Many viewers accused her of being insensitive and disrespectful to Muslims, especially after she discussed the New Zealand mosque shootings that killed 50 people. Earhardt later apologized and said she did not realize the meaning of the scarf.
Social Media
- Instagram handle: @aearhardt
- Twitter handle: @ainsleyearhardt
Books
- Take Heart, My Child: A Mother’s Dream
- I’m So Glad You Were Born: Celebrating Who You Are
- Through Your Eyes: My Child’s Gift to Me
- The Light Within Me: An Inspirational Memoir
Net Worth
Earhardt has an estimated net worth of $8 million.
She earns an annual salary of $2 million from Fox News Channel, making her one of the highest-paid hosts on the network. She also makes money from her book sales and endorsements.
