‘The Project’ Host Hamish Macdonald’s Ring Fuels Wedding Rumours
Image: The Project hist Hamish Macdonald and with his partner Jacob Fitzroy (right).
Out gay broadcaster Hamish Macdonald came out in 2019, when he acknowledged his boyfriend Jacob Fitzroy in public. Now, a wedding ring on Hamish’s finger has fuelled rumours that the 40-year-old host of The Project may have secretly tied the knot.
Hamish who stepped down as host of ABC’s Q&A in July before returning to The Project, has not publicly confirmed the rumours. He has kept his personal life private after he quit social media in 2020. That, however, didn’t stop the tabloids from fanning the rumours.
Put A Ring On It
The Daily Mail reported that Hamish was spotted wearing a ring on his wedding finger during the December 5 episode of The Project. He has continued to wear the ring on television. The report said that though Hamish did not draw attention to the ring, viewers were “speculating that he may have finally sealed the deal with his partner”.
One of the growing number of out Australian journalists and TV personalities, Hamish had first introduced the world to his boyfriend in 2019, when he arrived hand in hand with Jacob at the GQ Gentlemen’s Ball in Melbourne.
The couple shared a kiss in a photo booth inside the venue and later posted the photo on social media. Jacob is a strategic advisor in Jacobs’ Climate Resilience.
In an interview with GQ, Hamish said that the couple never anticipated such a positive response to the coming out. “The response was overwhelming, but also very surprising and lovely. To wake up the next day and see literally thousands of messages from all over the world was at first a shock but ultimately a beautiful thing,” he told GQ.
Coming Out
Last year, Hamish and Jacob were snapped by paparazzi indulging in some PDA at Coogee Beach in Sydney.
Q&A host Hamish MacDonald packs kisses his boyfriend Jacob Fitzroy at Coogee Beach: On Wednesday, the 39-year-old Q&A host was spotted packing on the PDA with his boyfriend, Jacob Fitzroy, at Coogee Beach in Sydney https://t.co/kX6rEkMi2n pic.twitter.com/MfNRuA646I
— RushReads (@RushReads) December 23, 2020
Hamish told host Courtney Act during an interview telecast at Mardi Gras this year that the public response was “a bit of a surprise”.
He choked up when he spoke about Jacob on The Project. “He’s my best friend and I just feel tremendously lucky to share our lives together. He’s… I got a bit emotional. He’s really the best person I know. He makes life pretty fun. I didn’t know such happiness was possible,” Hamish had said.
Q&A Backlash
Hamish’s relationship with social media has however not been as happy. The broadcaster quit from all social media platforms in 2020.
In an interview with Stellar Magazine in January, he spoke about the public backlash he had copped over his Q&A hosting duties.
“If you’re someone who sits in the middle of those exchanges in your day job, you end up copping it from every direction. I’ve never had more abuse for the interviews I’ve conducted than I had last year,” Hamish had said.
“And the abuse has come from left-wing people who don’t like you asking difficult questions of Dan Andrews, and it’s come from people on the right who don’t like you asking difficult questions of the federal government. I’ve definitely learnt you can’t please everyone,” he had added.
In July, he announced his return to The Project, saying he was “over the moon to be returning to 10 and thrilled about the opportunity to make great local and international content with this dynamic group of producers and presenters… It is also a total joy to be heading back to the desk with Lisa, Tommy and the people I love so much.”
As for the wedding rumours, we will wait for Hamish and Jacob to announce it in their own time!
