​​Who Is Political Commentator Megyn Kelly’s Husband? All About Author and Podcast Host Douglas Brunt

Megyn Kelly met her husband, Douglas Brunt, on a blind date in 2006.

The political commentator and the podcast host got engaged nearly 14 months after they were set up. They got married in March 2008 and went on to welcome three children: Edward Yates, Yardley Evans and Thatcher Bray.

During a March 2023 episode of The Megyn Kelly Show, Kelly shared that she was initially “confused” by her relationship with Brunt because he was unlike the men she had previously dated.

“He was different from what I thought I wanted. More reserved, less cocky. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it,” she said, adding that he was “kind,” “smart” and “strong.”

So who is Megyn Kelly’s husband? Here’s everything to know about Douglas Brunt.

He grew up in Pennsylvania and attended Duke University

Brunt was born on Aug. 25, 1971, in Philadelphia. Growing up in the city’s suburbs, he attended The Haverford School before studying at Duke University.

After receiving his undergraduate degree, he later enrolled at Georgetown University, where he earned his M.B.A.

He was formerly CEO of the internet security firm Authentium

After graduating from Georgetown, Brunt went on to work for a money market firm and was later hired as a consultant for Booz Allen Hamilton. Brunt also worked for a venture capital firm before joining the internet security firm Authentium, where he was president and CEO until 2011.

That year, he sold the company to Commtouch and stepped down from his position, per the New York Daily News.

He is a New York Times best-selling author

Brunt began writing during his time at Authentium, penning stories while commuting from New York to Florida, where the company was based. At the time, he was simply writing to “relax.” As time went on, Brunt became increasingly “disgruntled” dealing with a “dysfunctional board of directors and investors” and became interested in pursuing writing as a full-time profession.

“We were walking in the park, strolling our son, and Meg was observing, rightly, that I was snapping and short-tempered and not that happy. And it was related to work. So we talked about ways to change that,” Brunt said during a talk at Politics and Prose Bookstore in Washington, D.C.

He continued, “At that time, I had already been writing this draft of what became the first novel and not as a thing that I ever thought would be a career or anything I would pursue professionally. It was just really to relax on planes — I was writing instead of reading.”

“[Kelly] had read it by this time because it was a completed first draft that I was just sort of monkeying around with and she thought it was pretty good,” Brunt added. “So the conversation strayed from, you know, ‘Leave the company and go to that company’ or maybe just leave this kind of career behind altogether and make the leap all the way to try this writing thing out.”

After careful consideration, Brunt helped to sell the company before resigning, and he began working on his book. He got an agent, and after the sale went through, he landed a book deal.

Since then, Brunt has published three novels, including his New York Times best-seller, Ghosts of Manhattan. His first nonfiction book, The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel, was published in September 2023.

He hosts the podcast Dedicated with Doug Brunt

In 2022, Brunt launched his own podcast, Dedicated with Doug Brunt, on which he interviews best-selling authors. The idea for the podcast came about before he had even published his first novel — back when he was simply a fan of other authors.

“The main moment was finishing The Gold Coast by Nelson DeMille and putting that down and thinking, ‘What I wouldn’t give to sit down in a bar with this guy who I don’t know but just to get to know him,’ ” Brunt said on The Megyn Kelly Show.

He continued, “So that’s really what the show is — these great writers come in … and we have a drink. They choose their favorite drink, which we make on the set, and we get to know the person, which is an experience that you really can’t find anywhere else.”

Since the launch of the podcast, Brunt has talked to numerous award-winning authors, including DeMille, Lee Child, Jennifer Egan and Anna Quindlen.

They were set up on a blind date

Kelly and Brunt first met in 2006 when they were set up on a blind date in Washington, D.C. The pair met up at a tapas bar — but not before Kelly’s friends had scoped out the spot and made sure Brunt looked like a good match. After getting her pals’ approval, Kelly met him at the bar and Brunt won her over.

“He came across as sincere. While we were talking, he leaned forward, really listening to what I was saying. He’s also clever and has a great sense of humor,” Kelly later told The New York Times.

They married in 2008 and share three children

On March 1, 2008, Kelly and Brunt got married in a ceremony officiated by Kelly’s Fox News colleague Kelly Wright at Oheka Castle in Huntington, N.Y.,

A year later, the pair announced they were expecting their first child. They welcomed their son Edward Yates in September 2009 and have gone on to welcome two more kids: daughter Yardley Evans, born on April 14, 2011, and son Thatcher Bray, born on July 23, 2013.

Brunt feels very protective of Kelly because she’s in the spotlight

Brunt has said it’s difficult to see negative things about his wife in the press. After she moderated the first Republican debate in 2016 and faced verbal attacks from Donald Trump, Brunt said he felt they were “in the bunker together.”

“You see this person that you love getting attacked, and you want to protect them and help them, and we just sought each other’s counsel a lot,” Brunt told PEOPLE. “It was so relentless. So, you want to hit back, and ‘God, this is driving me nuts,’ but the smart thing, the right thing, is not to do anything.”