In 2020, then-Labor MP Anthony Albanese wasn’t looking for a relationship when he invited Jodie Haydon out for a drink. Five years later, he is preparing to become the first PM to get married while in office. Here’s everything we know about Australia’s wedding of the year.
When will the PM get married?
The Prime Minister and his fiancée Jodie Haydon are planning to tie the knot in the second half of 2025. “We’re thinking second half of this year,” Jodie told The Weekly earlier this year. “Second half of this year, possibly outdoors, and it’ll be small and intimate. With our family and loved ones.”
They always wanted to wait until after the election. The wedding means too much to both of them to have it tangled up in politics and publicity.
What are the wedding plans?
The PM said his nuptials will be “small. Just pretty personal.” It can’t be a Catholic church wedding because of Anthony’s divorce.
“We’re doing it in front of family and loved ones,” Jodie added. “It’s going something that we’re looking forward to, and I think marriage is an important and symbolic way to reaffirm our commitment with each other.”
How did Anthony Albanese meet his fiancée, Jodie Haydon?
The couple met in 2020 at an event in Melbourne where Anthony had been speaking. He’d asked whether there were any South Sydney rugby league supporters in the audience. “Jodie yelled out, ‘Up the Rabbitohs’,” he previously recalled with a wide grin.
Later, he introduced himself and learned that they not only had a football team in common, but that Jodie lived in his electorate. “We had what I thought would just be a drink at Young Henry’s in Newtown, and we got on really well. That’s how it started,” he said.
How did Anthony Albanese propose?
First, he discussed it with his son Nathan. “I thought it was important that he was made aware. I respect him, and I have a good relationship with his mother. But it could be difficult. I didn’t want him to find out afterwards. So I talked with him and asked him to think about it.”
Nathan was all for it. “Nathan was supportive and wants me to be happy, and Nathan and Jodie have a really nice relationship as well,” the Prime Minister shared with The Weekly.
“I thought one option was New Year’s Eve or the beginning of the year. And then I ended up settling on Valentine’s Day because we were going to be in Canberra and together. So I blocked that out and then put some thought into the actual proposal. Also, the ring took a while to design, so it had to be all ready.
As PM, was it difficult to keep the engagement a secret?
“The only people who knew were my son, Nathan, and the designer of the ring, Nicola Cerrrone, and their daughter, because they’re a family business. An amazing jeweller in Leichhardt, and he’s been a friend of mine for a long period of time,” Anthony said.
When he went to speak with the jeweller, he made his security cars park around the corner.
“The difficulty, of course … was not to put it in the diary. My executive assistant was very shocked by the fact that it could be done without her knowing. So I literally just told Nathan and my security people and the jeweller.”
Stay tuned for more news on Albo’s wedding. We will update with more news as it comes out!
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