Lisa Wilkinson has made a surprising relationship revelation, disclosing that she was engaged to another man when she first met her husband, Peter FitzSimons. The 66-year-old broadcaster appeared on the Inherited podcast and shared details about her past relationship history.
A Shift in Life Plans
Wilkinson admitted that during her 20s, she was engaged to someone else and had resigned herself to a life without children. "I was engaged to someone right throughout my 20s and then we broke up. I had that realisation of, 'Oh, I will probably never have kids. Maybe I am just a career girl,'" she recounted. However, meeting FitzSimons changed everything. "Then I met Pete and it was weird... I fell in love and we were engaged within three months, married six months after that."
Instant Connection
The Wollongong-born presenter explained that their bond was so powerful that it altered her entire perspective on family. "Within days of meeting him, I had this realisation that I really want to have kids with this man," she said. Wilkinson first encountered FitzSimons through the Today show, shortly after her father Ray's death. His kind words about her father drew her to him. "He said to me while holding my hand, 'I'm so sorry to hear about your beautiful dad. I hope you're okay.' I looked away and was so embarrassed, I was about to burst into tears," she recalled. At that time, both were in other relationships. "That was 18 months before we [officially] met. He was living with someone else, I was engaged to another man, so it wasn't a case of, 'Oh, I like that person!' It was something else completely for both of us."
Marriage and Family
Wilkinson and FitzSimons married in 1992 and have three children: sons Jake, 31, and Louis, 29, and daughter Billi, 27. The couple tied the knot after only nine months of dating. In 2020, Wilkinson revealed that her late mother, Beryl, took 25 years to fully approve of the relationship. "My mum was not a believer in Pete. It took many years. She thought we got married too quickly," she told The Australian Women's Weekly. FitzSimons added humorously, "I think by the time of our 25th wedding anniversary she had really come to the conclusion that I was a stayer." Beryl passed away from cancer in 2018 at age 89.
Keys to a Successful Marriage
In 2017, Wilkinson shared advice on maintaining a strong marriage, emphasizing focusing on positive attributes. "You just work out the things you love about someone, you work out the things that absolutely give you the s**ts about someone... and you ignore those. You just have to," she told 9Honey. However, she admitted to occasional frustrations, such as when FitzSimons' signature red bandannas ruined her laundry.
