Jill Rhodes is an American former journalist best known to the public as the former wife of Fox News host and radio personality Sean Hannity. Before her name became linked to one of the most prominent figures in conservative media, Rhodes had her own professional identity as a working journalist in Alabama. She has consistently kept a low public profile, and that has been especially true in the years since her divorce from Hannity became public.
| Full name | Jill Rhodes |
|---|---|
| Nationality | American |
| Profession | Former journalist, political columnist |
| Known for | Political columnist at The Huntsville Times; former wife of Sean Hannity |
| Former spouse | Sean Hannity (married 1993; divorced) |
| Children | Patrick Hannity, Merri Kelly Hannity |
Who Is Jill Rhodes?
Jill Rhodes built her early professional life in journalism, working as a political columnist for The Huntsville Times in Alabama. That role placed her squarely in the world of local political commentary and news reporting, and it represents the clearest independent fact known about her career.
Political columnists at regional newspapers like The Huntsville Times typically covered local and state government, elections, and policy matters. It was work that required both writing ability and an understanding of the political landscape — not the kind of background that typically draws national attention, but a legitimate professional foundation in its own right.
Some secondary reporting has suggested that Rhodes studied journalism at the University of Alabama, though that detail has not been confirmed by strong primary sources and should be treated as reported rather than established.
How Jill Rhodes Met Sean Hannity
Rhodes and Sean Hannity crossed paths in Huntsville, Alabama, where their professional worlds overlapped. At the time, Rhodes was working as a political columnist and Hannity was working in local radio. The two were both operating in the same city’s media environment, which brought them into contact.
Hannity had been working his way through local radio markets before eventually building the nationally syndicated career he became known for. In the early stages of that journey, Huntsville was one of his stops — and it is where his personal life took a significant turn.
The couple married in 1993. At that point, Hannity had not yet reached national prominence, and Rhodes was an established local journalist in her own right. Their marriage began in relatively ordinary professional circumstances, far removed from the spotlight that would later follow Hannity’s rise to national media fame.
Marriage, Separation, and Divorce
Jill Rhodes and Sean Hannity were married in 1993 and remained largely out of the public eye as a couple for the duration of their marriage. Hannity rarely discussed his personal life on air, and Rhodes had no public platform of her own during those years, which kept the details of their relationship out of the news.
The end of the marriage unfolded quietly as well. According to reporting by People, the couple had actually separated years before any public acknowledgment of a split. Their divorce was finalized before June 2020, and the separation itself had taken place well before that. In June 2020, Hannity publicly confirmed the divorce, but by that point the marriage had effectively been over for some time.
Neither Rhodes nor Hannity made extensive public statements about the reasons for the split. There was no dramatic public fallout and no widely reported conflict. The whole process was handled with the same degree of privacy that had characterized their relationship throughout its duration.
Jill Rhodes and Sean Hannity’s Children
Rhodes and Hannity have two children together. Their son, Sean Patrick Hannity — often referred to as Patrick Hannity — and their daughter, Merri Kelly Hannity, grew up largely shielded from public attention. Both parents made a consistent effort to keep their children out of the media, which was one of the few aspects of their private life that Hannity occasionally acknowledged publicly over the years.
Beyond their names and their connection to both parents, little has been made public about the children’s lives, which appears to be a deliberate choice by the family.
Life After the Divorce
Since the divorce became public in 2020, Jill Rhodes has not sought any public role or platform. She has not returned to journalism in any documented public capacity, and no reliable reporting places her in a current professional role. Her post-divorce life has been carried out away from media attention, consistent with the private approach she maintained throughout her marriage.
For readers looking for updates on what Rhodes is doing now, the honest answer is that credible public reporting simply does not document her current life in any detail. She has made a clear choice to stay out of the public sphere, and that choice has been largely respected by the press.
Profiles of people like Jill Rhodes — those who are connected to well-known public figures but who did not seek fame themselves — are covered regularly at First Business Mag, which provides factual background on the people behind prominent names.
What is clear is that Jill Rhodes’s story, to the extent it is publicly known, belongs mostly to an earlier chapter of her life. She was a working journalist in Alabama who married a man who went on to become one of the most-listened-to voices in American media. The marriage lasted for years, produced two children, and ended privately before being publicly confirmed. Beyond that, she has chosen to let her life remain her own.
