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Why This Fox & Friends Host’s Husband Filed For Divorce

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A six-year marriage between a “Fox & Friends” star and a former college quarterback ended in a Manhattan courtroom filing.

Ainsley Earhardt, the co-host who wakes up millions of viewers on “Fox & Friends” every weekday morning, confirmed on Tuesday, October 9, 2018, that she and her husband, William Proctor, had separated. One day later, Proctor filed for divorce in Manhattan Supreme Court, setting off a scramble of reporting over what actually broke up a marriage that began with a blind date and a wedding six years earlier.

• Earhardt confirmed the separation on October 9, 2018, through a Fox News spokesperson, citing “much prayer and careful consideration” and her focus on their two-year-old daughter, Hayden.
• Proctor, a former Clemson quarterback turned investment advisor, filed for divorce in Manhattan Supreme Court on October 10, 2018, with custody and finances listed as contested issues.
• A source close to Earhardt alleged Proctor cheated with one of her close friends and claimed she had evidence; Proctor flatly denied it to Page Six, saying, “There is not one ounce of truth to the allegations that I had an affair.”

The Public Disclosure of the Split

Earhardt and Proctor married in October 2012 after meeting on a blind date, the kind of origin story that made their split feel especially abrupt to viewers who’d watched her on-air for years. When the news broke, Earhardt didn’t do an emotional sit-down or a tweet thread — she went through a Fox News spokesperson, keeping her statement short and centered on her daughter rather than her marriage. Proctor moved fast in the other direction, filing divorce paperwork in Manhattan Supreme Court just a day after her statement went public, a filing that immediately flagged child custody and financial matters as contested.

The Affair Allegations and Proctor’s Denial

The most explosive detail came from a source close to Earhardt, who told outlets that Proctor had cheated with one of her closest friends and that Earhardt had proof. Proctor didn’t let that sit unanswered. He gave Page Six a direct, on-the-record rebuttal, insisting the cheating claim was fabricated.

“There is not one ounce of truth to the allegations that I had an affair.”

Proctor told Page Six he was devastated about what the split meant for his family’s future and asked the media to give them privacy — a request that, given the timing of the filing and the affair claims landing in the same news cycle, was always going to be a tough sell.

A Marriage Strained by the Grind of Morning TV

Beyond the affair allegations, people close to the couple pointed to something more mundane: the schedule. Earhardt’s job requires her up well before dawn for “Fox & Friends,” and insiders said her social and professional life had increasingly folded into her Fox News colleagues and work orbit, leaving less room for the marriage outside the building at 1211 Sixth Avenue. It’s a familiar strain for morning-show hosts — the same kind of pull that’s been cited in other high-profile TV splits, including Hoda Kotb’s split from Joel Schiffman years later.

The combination — allegations of infidelity on one side, a demanding, camera-ready career pulling at the marriage from the other — is a pattern that’s shown up in plenty of celebrity breakups, from Phaedra Parks’ divorce to countless others where public image and private strain collided at the same time.

With the Manhattan Supreme Court filing now on record and custody and finances flagged as contested, the next real marker to watch is whether Earhardt and Proctor settle those terms privately or let the case play out further in court — the kind of decision that, given a two-year-old daughter in the middle of it, neither side has much incentive to drag out longer than necessary.