Fox News senior White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich just announced a big life move: She is engaged to Republican Representative Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania following his proposal in a French lavender field, the journalist announced this week.
Heinrich, 36, announced the engagement on social media platform X, writing simply: “Fact check: true.”
The proposal took place at sunrise on June 29 in a lavender field in Valensole, a picturesque hilltop town in Provence, France. Fitzpatrick, 51, had planned the elaborate surprise based on Heinrich’s previously stated dream to visit the French Riviera.
“It’s a memory that will be seared into my brain for life. It felt like a fairy tale,” Heinrich told People magazine.
The Pennsylvania congressman drew inspiration from a Boston Globe interview Heinrich had given, where she revealed her long-held aspiration to take a trip to the French Riviera “to eat the baguettes, see the lavender fields, drink the wine and eat the butter.”
Fitzpatrick “paid attention,” and booked the France trip as a birthday present for Heinrich, telling her “I’m going to take you this summer to the South of France.”
The couple’s romantic getaway faced complications due to potential congressional business. With Fitzpatrick needing to return to Washington to vote on “The One Big Beautiful” bill, Heinrich suggested postponing the trip. However, Fitzpatrick insisted they proceed with the lavender field visit.
“He was like, ‘We are going. We’re going to the lavender fields. All I want is to see the lavender fields at sunrise,'” Heinrich recounted. “All the time I’ve known this man, he has never been desperate to see a field of flowers at dawn. So I had a feeling that [a proposal] was the goal.”
After arriving in Nice, the couple left at 1:30 a.m. on June 29 and drove more than two hours to Valensole to arrive before dawn. During the proposal, Fitzpatrick told Heinrich to walk into the field while he took pictures, at which point a photographer emerged from the lavender rows and a drone appeared overhead to capture the moment.
Fitzpatrick presented Heinrich with a brilliant-cut round diamond solitaire on a six-prong platinum setting with a yellow gold band, selected from Heinrich’s longtime family jeweler in Portland, Maine.
“He didn’t ask for any help from me or anyone I know. So I was really surprised he got it spot-on. What I could have asked for, dreamed up myself, he did without even asking,” Heinrich said.
“It was so breathtaking,” she added of the setting. “The smell was just so fragrant. It’s a memory that will be seared into my brain for life. It’s hard to even put into words just how gorgeous it really was. It felt like a fairy tale.”
Take a look —
Fact check: true 🥰❤️https://t.co/D2PofWg2kL Fox News' Jacqui Henrich Engaged to Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (Exclusive)
— Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) July 8, 2025
The couple celebrated with espresso before visiting St. Tropez and Cannes in under 48 hours before Fitzpatrick needed to return from France back to Washington.
“In less than 48 hours, we saw all of the cities we wanted to see during the whole 10 days we were supposed to be there,” Heinrich said. “It was honestly so memorable. I’ll never forget it.”
Fitzpatrick had sought Heinrich’s father’s blessing before the proposal, flying to New Hampshire to ask for permission.
“My dad teared up on the phone,” Heinrich said, while Fitzpatrick’s parents, who are in their 90s, were “so overjoyed.”
Heinrich joined Fox News in September 2018 and also serves as co-host of The FOX News Rundown podcast. Fitzpatrick is a former FBI special agent and federal prosecutor who was reelected to his fifth congressional term in 2024.
Heinrich described her fiancé as “the most principled, thoughtful and brilliant person I know.”
“I love his brain,” she continued. “I love the way he approaches problem-solving and solving complex issues. He’s strong and a man of faith, who brings me closer to God. He’s sweet and gentle and kind — all of the easy qualities in a person that just make him a joy to be around and life brighter.”
The engagement comes despite previous tensions between Heinrich and President Donald Trump. In March, Trump criticized Heinrich on Truth Social, saying he had “watched Jacqui Heinrich from Fox over the weekend and I thought she was absolutely terrible.”
“She should be working for CNN, not Fox. Not surprisingly, I later found out that she’s a fan of the White House Correspondents Association!” Trump added.
Heinrich had previously criticized the White House’s decision in February to take over the press pool from the White House Correspondents Association, a position supported by longtime Fox News political commentator Brit Hume.