You’ve probably seen the name Giovanni Graziano pop up next to Shepard Smith in a dozen tabloid headlines. Usually, the focus is on the age gap or the "scandal" of how they met. But if you actually look at the timeline, the reality is way more grounded than the gossip sites suggest.
Honesty is a rare commodity in cable news. Shepard Smith built a career on it, often acting as the lone voice of dissent at Fox News before his eventual jump to CNBC. It turns out his personal life followed a similar path—quiet, steady, and surprisingly normal.
Who is Giovanni Graziano?
Basically, Gio Graziano isn't just "the boyfriend." He’s a professional who spent years in the trenches of broadcast journalism. He graduated from Penn State in 2008 and quickly landed an internship at Fox 5 in DC. By 2009, he was a production assistant at Fox News.
This is where the wires often get crossed.
People love a juicy story about a powerful anchor dating a subordinate. While it’s true they met at work, they didn't just hide in the shadows for a decade. When things got serious around 2012, they did the professional thing: Graziano moved. He transferred to Fox Business Network to work as an associate producer on Varney & Co. specifically to avoid a conflict of interest.
He eventually left the network entirely. Since then, he’s been the steady presence by Smith’s side through some of the most turbulent years of the anchor’s career.
The Shepard Smith Giovanni Graziano Timeline: From Secret to Spotlight
For a long time, Shepard Smith was the most private guy in news. He was married to his college sweetheart, Virginia Donald, back in the late 80s, but that ended in 1993. For twenty years after that, his personal life was a vault.
Then came 2013.
Gawker—rest in peace to that chaos-agent of a website—basically tried to out him. They published stories about Smith and a "mysterious younger man" hanging out at Manhattan bars like Bathtub Gin. It was messy. It was invasive. And for a while, Smith just ignored it.
He didn't officially "come out" in a big, televised spectacle. Instead, he just started talking about his life like it was normal. Because, to him, it was.
In a 2017 speech at the University of Mississippi, he mentioned going home to "the man I’m in love with." No fanfare. No glitter. Just a statement of fact. A year later, he told Time Magazine that he and Gio live a "very normal life." They go to dinner. They go to games. They visit each other's families.
The Dog That Stole the Show
If you watched Smith’s final broadcast on Fox News in 2019, you heard him mention two names: Gio and Lucia.
Lucia is their dog.
It was a rare moment of vulnerability for a guy who spent 23 years delivering hard news. He told the audience he was looking forward to spending more time with them. It signaled that despite the high-pressure environment of cable news, his priority had shifted to the home he’d built with Graziano.
What Most People Get Wrong About Them
The biggest misconception is that their relationship was some sort of "taboo" secret kept from the brass at Fox. In reality, Smith has been pretty vocal about the support he received from the late Roger Ailes.
Now, Ailes is a complicated figure, to put it lightly. But Smith has consistently said that when a blackmailer tried to target him regarding his sexuality, Ailes stood by him.
- The Age Gap: Yes, there's a 23-year difference. Smith was born in 1964; Graziano in 1987.
- The Marriage Question: Are they married? In short: No.
- The Philosophy: Smith once told Market Realist that he doesn't feel the need for the government to be involved in his relationship. His vibe is very much "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."
They’ve been together since roughly 2012. In the world of celebrity relationships, a fourteen-year run is basically an eternity.
Life After the Cameras
When Shepard Smith’s CNBC show, The News with Shepard Smith, was canceled in late 2022, he didn't rush back into the spotlight. He’s been relatively quiet since.
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Honestly, it seems like he’s finally getting that "normal life" he talked about. Graziano has stayed out of the public eye too. You won't find them posting constant "couple goals" photos on Instagram or showing up at every red carpet in New York.
They seem content to just... exist.
It’s a bit of a letdown for the paparazzi, but it’s probably the best thing for their longevity as a couple. They survived the Gawker era, the Fox News internal politics, and a high-profile network jump.
Why Their Story Still Matters
In an industry built on ego and artifice, Giovanni Graziano and Shepard Smith represent something different. They represent the transition of the "closeted newsman" trope into something modern and mundane.
Smith didn't have to be a martyr for the cause. He just had to be a guy who loved another guy and happened to be really good at reading a teleprompter. Graziano didn't have to be a "trophy." He was a colleague who became a partner.
If you're looking for lessons from their journey, it's pretty simple:
- Professionalism counts. Moving departments to avoid a conflict of interest saved their relationship from being a human resources nightmare.
- Privacy is a choice. You don't owe the world every detail of your domestic life, even if you're on TV every night.
- Stability is quiet. The lack of headlines about them lately is actually the best sign that they’re doing just fine.
Keep an eye on Smith’s future projects—he’s too good a journalist to stay away forever—but expect Gio and Lucia to remain the anchor of his private world.