When Ainsley Earhardt joined Fox News, she openly admitted she “did not know the first thing about politics.” Fast forward to today, and she’s not only the face of “Fox & Friends,” but also engaged to one of the network’s most powerful personalities, Sean Hannity—her third husband. Her transformation from a light-featured journalist to the queen of conservative morning television has been nothing short of remarkable. As critics questioned her credentials, Earhardt doubled down with charisma, devotion, and ambition that propelled her to the top. Now, her love life is making as many headlines as her show.

Curious how it all unfolded? You’ll want to read the full story—details are waiting.

Photo Illustration by Victoria Sunday/The Daily Beast/Getty Images

Ainsley Earhardt was not always the conservative media darling she is today on Fox & Friends.

The 48-year-old southerner, who got engaged at Christmas to fellow Fox News star Sean Hannity, once admitted she “did not know the first thing about politics” when she was first hired by Fox News in 2007.

That did not stop Earhardt from becoming the network’s morning queen, however, where she’s devoutly defended Donald Trump through controversy after controversy, and repeatedly praised his decision-making since she joined the hit weekday morning show in 2016.

An early opportunity

Earhardt grew up in the Carolinas, spending time as a child outside Charlotte and in Columbia. She graduated high school and from the University of South Carolina in the latter city, but landed a job in journalism before she walked across a graduation stage.

That gig was with WLTX in Columbia, South Carolina, where she was a star morning and noon anchor between 2000 and 2004. She was dispatched to New York City to report after the Sept. 11 attacks and her old CBS-affiliated station has since proudly documented her success on Fox News.

She told Columbia Metropolitan that she took voice lessons from a professor to tone down her southern accent “for marketability” while she attended USC. She maintains close ties to her home state and hopes to one day purchase a beach house there that each of her loved ones will have a key to, she has said. Also revealed in her 2017 magazine profile: She keeps a Bible on her nightstand and her favorite film is The Family Man (2000), starring Nicolas Cage.