E-Paper
Pam Bondi's romantic life: Who is boyfriend John Wakefield, exes Garret Barnes and Scott Fitzgerald
From two marriages to a long-term relationship with John Wakefield, here’s a closer look at the personal life of Pam Bondi amid renewed public interest.
The personal life of Attorney General Pam Bondi has come under fresh scrutiny following her firing by U.S. President Donald Trump, with attention shifting to her boyfriend, John Wakefield.
Bondi has been in a long-term relationship with Wakefield since at least 2017. He is a private equity executive and founding partner of a real estate-focused investment firm, with a background in banking and international business.
Bondi had already been married twice, both marriages ending in divorce.
Read more: Pam Bondi firing row: Ex-AG ‘begged’ Trump to not oust her before Iran speech
Who is John Wakefield?
Newsweek reported that Wakefield is a founding principal of the private equity firm Varner Wakefield Equity Partners, which specializes in real estate investments throughout the United States.
According to his LinkedIn page, he was a banker for several years before starting Varner Wakefield in 2015. He also served as vice president of corporate business development and strategy at Lykes Bros. Inc. before he started his own firm.
Wakefield graduated from the College of Charleston with a bachelor's degree in English in 1994 and from the Thunderbird School of Global Management with a degree in international business in 1998.
The couple first appeared publicly together at a concert in 2017 and have since shared glimpses of their relationship through social media posts and public appearances. Wakefield also attended Bondi’s swearing-in ceremony, standing beside her with the Bible, where U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly referred to him as her “very handsome husband.”
On October 22 of last year, they shared their most recent photo together, which was shot at a Tampa Bay Buccaneers game. The two are pictured in August 2022 in Ireland in another photo that Bondi posted to Instagram.
Read more: Why Trump fired Pam Bondi as Attorney General - Explained
Past relationships: Two marriages and a broken engagement
At the age of 24, Bondi married Garret Barnes for the first time in 1990. The union lasted for 22 months. Her second marriage to Scott Fitzgerald in 1996 ended in divorce in 2002.
She later got engaged to Greg Henderson in 2012, with reports at the time suggesting plans for a destination wedding, following a report by The Palm Beach Post that the couple and several officials travelled to the Cayman Islands for their wedding. However, the engagement was eventually called off, and the relationship ended before marriage.
Bondi’s relationship history has often been described by multiple reports, including People, as low-profile, with limited public disclosure of the reasons behind her breakups.
