On an episode of “The Katie Miller Podcast” released in December 2025, FBI director Kash Patel said that an engagement ring for Alexis Wilkins, his longtime girlfriend, was “definitely coming.”
Months later, Wilkins shared that the ring had arrived.
Patel, 46, and Wilkins, a 27-year-old conservative media personality, political commentator, and country singer, announced their engagement on Sunday after three years of dating.
Patel previously called Wilkins “a true patriot and the woman I’m proud to call my partner in life” in a November 2025 post on X.
Their relationship has made headlines for their 19-year age difference and use of government resources, such as Patel’s trips on government jets to Wilkins’ performances and Nashville residence.
An FBI spokesperson told Business Insider that the FBI has “explained publicly, numerous times,” that Patel complies with all Office of Management and Budget rules related to personal travel.
“The Government Accountability Office documented in 2013 that the FBI Director is a ‘required-use’ traveler under executive-branch policy because of security and communications needs. That requirement extends to personal travel,” the spokesperson said. “This policy long predates Director Patel: use of a government aircraft is not a special travel arrangement created for him.”
When reached by Business Insider, Wilkins directed questions to her representatives, who declined to comment.
Here’s what to know about Wilkins and her relationship with the FBI director.
Alexis Wilkins was born in Boston and grew up in Arkansas, but her family also spent time in England, Switzerland, and Los Angeles.
In a July 2025 interview on “The Megyn Kelly Show,” Wilkins said that Arkansas was “my favorite place that I lived” and “the place that I spent the most time growing up.”
She also had a brief career as a young actor while living in Los Angeles, appearing in two episodes of “Modern Family” in 2009 as well as other TV shows and films, including a small role in the 2011 Adam Sandler movie “Jack and Jill,” according to her IMDb profile.
She graduated from Belmont University, a private Christian university in Nashville, in 2020.
Wilkins earned a BBA in business administration and management from Belmont University.
Wilkins told Kelly on “The Megyn Kelly Show” that, in college, she received an “F” in a comparative politics class from a professor who “had it out for me” because of her conservative views, and that she successfully advocated for the grade to be changed.
“Getting the grade was just an indication that I was exemplifying that I wasn’t being indoctrinated,” she said.
A Belmont University spokesperson confirmed that Wilkins earned her degree in 2020, but said the school “cannot speak to any student’s specific grade or educational record,” citing the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.
“What we can affirm is that Belmont faculty are committed to delivering a rigorous, high-quality education in which grades are determined on a range of objective criteria, and our classrooms aim to provide a respectful environment where diverse viewpoints can constructively engage,” the university spokesperson said.
Wilkins said that her college experience led to her career in political advocacy and communications.
After college, Wilkins told Katie Miller’s podcast that she worked with various conservative organizations to “help speak with students and help them learn to advocate, not work for or not write papers that they disagree with in order to make a grade.”
Wilkins previously worked as a media personality, spokesperson, and writer at PragerU, according to her LinkedIn page.
She also began hosting “Between the Headlines,” a Rumble show where she discussed news items and conservative issues, in 2023. The latest episode was posted in January 2026.
In 2025, she worked as press secretary for Republican Rep. Abraham Hamadeh and as director of strategic communications at Women For Gun Rights, The New York Times reported.
Wilkins now serves as a board committee member at the National Rifle Association, a visiting fellow at the nonprofit public policy organization Independent Women, and does communications work for Real American Freestyle Wrestling. She also serves as an ambassador for Turning Point USA.
She has released music as a country artist.
Wilkins released three singles in 2020, a Christmas single in 2021, and two singles in 2022 before releasing her first six-song EP, “Grit,” in 2023, which debuted at No. 12 on the iTunes country album charts.
Wilkins told Miller on “The Katie Miller Podcast” that she wrote her first song when she was 6 years old and began touring after graduating from college. She also said that she is working on new music and has written love songs about Patel.
She met Patel, who is 19 years her senior, at a party at country singer John Rich’s Nashville home in late 2022.
Patel struck up a conversation with Wilkins by complimenting her jacket.
“When I met him, I just liked that he was so honest,” Wilkins said on “The Megyn Kelly Show.” “He’s exactly who he is, all the time. His character is incredible, his values are incredible.”
They began dating in January 2023. When Patel was sworn in as director of the FBI in February 2025, Wilkins held the Bhagavad Gita.
Wilkins filed defamation lawsuits against conservative influencers and podcasters who falsely implied that she was an Israeli spy.
Wilkins is seeking $5 million in damages from Kyle Seraphin, former FBI special agent and host of “The Kyle Seraphin Show.” Though he did not refer to Wilkins by name during an August 2025 episode of his show, Seraphin said that Patel had a girlfriend “half his age” and described her as a “honeypot” and a “former Mossad agent.”
In a court filing, Wilkins’ legal team wrote that Seraphin “has maliciously lied about Alexis Wilkins, falsely asserting that she — an American-born country singer — is an agent of a foreign government, assigned to manipulate and compromise the Director of the FBI.”
Seraphin’s legal team filed to dismiss the case, arguing that his statements were “sarcastic, humorous, and hyperbolic” and protected free speech. A judge later denied the motion to dismiss, and the suit is still pending.
Seraphin did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
Wilkins sought $5 million in damages from former Republican Senate candidate Sam Parker and conservative influencer Elijah Schaffer in similar suits. A judge dismissed Wilkins’ case against Parker in August, ruling that the Utah court lacked jurisdiction over him, while Schaffer retracted his claims and apologized to Wilkins in September.
Wilkins also debunked the conspiracy theory on Miller’s podcast.
“Not really sure how we got there,” Wilkins said. “I’ve never been to Israel. I would love to go. The stamp isn’t even on my passport. I’m just as confused as everyone else is.”
Their relationship has come under scrutiny amid reports that Patel used government resources to fly to Wilkins’ shows and to escort her at events.
Public flight schedules showed that Patel had traveled on a government jet to watch Wilkins sing the national anthem at a wrestling match at Pennsylvania State University on October 25, 2025, and that he had taken other trips to Nashville, where Wilkins lives, to visit her.
The New York Times also reported in February that in an unusual use of tactical forces, Patel had directed SWAT teams to serve as personal security for Wilkins at her concerts and public appearances, as well as to accompany her to hair appointments and other errands.
On “The Katie Miller Podcast,” Patel called reports that he was abusing government resources “outright falsehoods,” saying that he travels on the FBI plane because FBI directors are not allowed to fly commercial, and that he reimburses the government for personal travel in compliance with federal law.
“If I was actually abusing it, I would go see every one of her shows,” Patel said. “I think I get to like 15%.”
On the podcast, the couple also discussed the need for security due to death threats they have both received.
“Career investigators make the calls,” Patel said of Wilkins’ security. “They call the balls and strikes. They do the threat assessments, and they decide if and when she needs protection.”
When reached for comment, FBI spokesperson Ben Williamson referred Business Insider to the agency’s previous statements related to Patel’s travel and Wilkins’ security.
Williamson previously called criticisms of Patel’s travel “disingenuous and dumb” in an October 2025 post on X. He wrote that the FBI director reimburses personal travel in compliance with the Office of Management and Budget rules, is required to fly on government planes to maintain access to secure communications, and that Patel “has significantly limited personal travel — but he’s allowed to take personal time on occasion to see family, friends, or his longtime girlfriend.”
Regarding Wilkins’ security, Williamson told Business Insider that the FBI director “does not make the determination about protective detail.”
“Those considerations are made at the Department of Justice, which reviewed and approved,” he said. “Attorney General Blanche is already on record about this.”
Another FBI spokesperson referred Business Insider to the agency’s previous statement detailing the “hundreds of credible violent threats” that Wilkins receives.
On Monday, Wilkins announced her engagement to Patel.
“Went and got the law involved,” Wilkins captioned a photo of herself wearing an engagement ring with Patel that she shared on social media.
Patel reposted Wilkins’ photo on X, adding a heart and ring emoji.
In the comments of her Instagram post, congratulations rolled in from Trump associates, including Kimberly Guilfoyle, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and Tulsi Gabbard.
Read the original article on Business Insider
The post Meet Alexis Wilkins, the country singer and political commentator engaged to FBI director Kash Patel appeared first on Business Insider.
