Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced his engagement to partner, Jodie Haydon.
WATCH: Albanese and his partner arrive at King Charles’ coronation.
Taking to Instagram the day after Valentine’s Day, Albanese shared a beaming photo with Jodie, her sparkling ring clearly on display.
“She said yes ❤️,” the politician captioned the photo.
Albanese was met with support in the comments, with Senator Penny Wong commenting: “Love is a beautiful thing. I’m so happy for you both!”
This isn’t the first time Albanese will be tying the knot.
The politician was blindsided when his wife of 19 years, Carmel Tebbutt, ended their 30-year relationship on New Year’s Day, 2019.
“I found it very tough,” the then Australian Labor Party leader told ABC Radio in 2022.
“I certainly will always remember New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day for that momentous event in my life.”
Almost four years later, the now Prime Minister shone new light on the emotionally turbulent time, telling journalist Jess Rowe on her podcast, The Jess Rowe Big Talk Show, that he “didn’t see it coming” when Carmel asked for a divorce.
“My marriage to Carmel was a fantastic relationship.”
“We still have a good relationship and we have of course a beautiful son who is 22. But that marriage ended on New Year’s Day in 2019. Carmel made a decision that she wanted a different direction in her life and I had to come to terms with that and respect that.”
The PM added that it was a “real shock” and some time alone overseas helped him come to terms with the end of his marriage.
“I had to come to not try to understand it but to accept it. And I just had to come to that position and, once I did that, I came back and focused on the election campaign. I had to decide whether I’d run again and what direction I’d take in my life.”
Anthony ‘Albo’ Albanese met Carmel in Young Labour during the late 1980s.
They share one son, Nathan, who had just finished his HSC exams at the time of his parents’ split, then moved to live with his dad in Marrickville, NSW.
For Anthony, considering a future without Carmel wasn’t easy.
“I needed to stop trying to understand it and just accept it and accept that it was a decision that had been made,” he told the ABC in 2022.
“You can tie yourself in knots trying to understand someone else’s decisions and thought processes.”
Figuring that his ex-wife was “moving on with her life in a different direction and (he) needed to do the same,” Albo soon made a trip to London and Portugal to process the breakup.
After a year of healing, the politician met his now-partner, Jodie, at an event in Melbourne, Victoria. While giving a speech, Albo asked if there were any South Sydney rugby league supporters in the audience.
“Up the Rabbitohs,” Jodie yelled in response, before making the first move.
“I slid into his (Twitter) DMs,” she said, according to news.com.au. “I knew that we both followed the same footy team, we both have a love for the Inner West and I think I said in that direct message: ‘Hey, we’re both single’.”
While neither was looking for a relationship to begin with, the pair clicked instantly.
“We had what I thought would just be a drink at Young Henrys in Newtown, and we got on really well. That’s how it started,” he told The Australian Women’s Weekly.
Jodie has worked in the superannuation industry for 20 years and is an advocate for women in the workplace. She grew up in the Central Coast NSW as the daughter of public school teachers. Politics was always a big part of the family.
“We would watch ABC News every night, Four Corners, The 7.30 Report,” she told news.com.au.
Jodie continued: “Politics was definitely a dinner-table conversation. If you care about education, you care about where you get health care, fairness, equality; you have to take an interest in politics.”
As passionate as ever about Albo’s campaign leading up to the election, Australia’s newest ‘First Lady’ remained his number one supporter throughout it all.
“She’ll be there on election night,” the politician told Karl Stefanovic during a 60 Minutes interview. “I’m absolutely certain.”
WATCH: Anthony Albanese’s personal messages to partner Jodie and son Nathan during his victory speech. Article continues after video.
Following the ALP victory as Albo thanked the nation for choosing him to be the next Prime Minister, he also shared his gratitude for Jodie and his son Nathan.
“Thank you for coming into my life and for sharing this journey,” he said.
In October 2023, Albo made the sweet admission that he felt “lucky” to have found love for a second time with Jodie, also revealing if an engagement was on the cards for the future.
“That is something between myself and my partner Jodie,” Albo joked in response to questions posed surrounding a potential wedding by 2DAYFM hosts Dave Hughes and Erin Molan.
“I’ve got to say this. I feel incredibly lucky to have met someone and have such a wonderful relationship and Jodie does an amazing job as well at some of the ‘spouse jobs’ that you have to do as the partner of the PM. You know, meeting people and doing all that,” he continued.
Rather than quit her job to throw herself into the role of ‘First Lady’, Jodie has also chosen to continue to do her day job and said she intends to stay away from political commentary.
“My job will be to focus on my day job and allow Anthony to focus on his,” she told News Corp.
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