‘She said yes’: Anthony Albanese announces engagement to Jodie Haydon

Anthony Albanese and his partner Jodie Haydon are engaged to be married, after the Prime Minister proposed on Valentine’s Day at a fashionable Canberra Italian restaurant.

Anthony Albanese and his partner Jodie Haydon are engaged to be married, with the Prime Minister writing “she said yes” on social media this morning.

She said yes ❤️ pic.twitter.com/aU1Mk2WInH

— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) February 14, 2024

The couple met in 2020 at an event in Melbourne when the pair connected over their shared love of the South Sydney Rabbitohs NRL team, and their spark grew after they caught up over a beer and found out they “got on pretty well”.

A picture shared by Mr Albanese’s official X account, formerly known as Twitter, this morning shows him and Ms Haydon, with the bride-to-be wearing a diamond ring with a gold band.

It is understood Albanese designed the classic cushion cut diamond ring with yellow gold band for Ms Haydon and asked for her hand after a romantic Valentine’s Day dinner at fashionable Canberra restaurant Italian & Sons in the inner north suburb of Braddon on Wednesday.

Mr Albanese said he was blindsided when his 19-year marriage ended when his wife and former NSW deputy premier Carmel Tebutt asked for a divorce on News Year’s Day in 2019.

The former political power couple have an adult son, Nathan.

Ms Haydon, a strategic partnership manager for an industry super fund, revealed she wasn’t looking for a relationship at the time she met the Labor leader.

“I‘d reached a point in my life where I was enjoying being single,” she told the magazine.

She said it was only when Mr Albanese was involved in a life-threatening car crash did she realise the depth of her feelings.

Labor MPs have congratulated Mr Albanese and Ms Haydon after they announced their engagements, after what seems to be a Valentine’s Day proposal.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong wrote “Love is a beautiful thing. I’m so happy for you both” on X, after Mr Albanese broke the personal news this morning.

Home Affairs Minister Claire O’Neil wrote “congratulations” to the couple.

Anthony Albanese and Jodie Haydon arrive at the Press Gallery Midwinter Ball 2023. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Anthony Albanese and Jodie Haydon. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs Tim Watts also congratulated the couple, labelling the announcement “amazing news”.

Mr Albanese told Triple M radio a few days before his 2022 election victory that he felt “very lucky” to have met Ms Haydon, who he could share his personal life with as he balanced a “very complex job that involves a lot of pressure”.

“I’ve been very lucky to find someone to spend time with and to have a terrific relationship with,” he said.

Jodie Haydon and Anthony Albanese attend the Australian premiere of Hamilton at Lyric Theatre, Star City. Picture: WireImage.

Jodie Haydon and Anthony Albanese look on during the Men's Singles Final match at the Australian Open. Picture: Getty Images.

Mr Albanese said the breakdown of his two decade marriage at the start of 2019 had sent him on a soul-searching trip to Europe to “clear the air, determine what I wanted to do with my life, whether I was going to run again in the election in May”.

He said it had been very hard coping with the breakup in the “public eye”

“So it was very difficult for me personally,” he said.

“My wife Carmel made a decision that she wanted to move on with her life, it came as a surprise to me, I’ve spoken about that before.

“It was New Year’s Day. So clearly, it was a decision that had been made.

“Our son had reached 18, had graduated from school, and so she made that decision which I found difficult, but just had to accept that she, of course, had a right to do that. “So I didn’t quite understand it, so I had to accept it rather than understand it.”