Lauren Sánchez and Jeff Bezos are Reportedly Engaged
Wedding bells are due for Lauren Sánchez and Jeff Bezos.
Both Page Six and People reported insider sources confirmed the engagement, which allegedly took place in the South of France. For months, there were rumors of a wedding date after Sánchez was spotted wearing a ring. The two have been inseparable since they started dating in 2018.
But there is much more to Lauren Sánchez than the man she is about to marry, which is why we rounded up 11 things you may not have known about Lauren Sánchez.
1. She is third generation Mexican-American
Jeff Bezos’s girlfriend was born Lauren Wendy Sánchez to a second-generation Mexican-American family in Albuquerque, New Mexico, making her third-generation.
2. She has three children
In 2001, Sánchez had a baby boy named Nikko with Afro-Latino former NFL tight end Tony Gonzalez. She later had two children, Evan and Ella, with her first husband, talent agency owner Patrick Whitesell.
3. She was the first Latina anchor for Los Angeles’s UPN 13 News
In 1999, Sánchez was hired to be Los Angeles’s Channel 13’s 11 o’clock anchor, making her the first ever Hispanic female to fill that role. Of this trailblazing accomplishment, she told The Hollywood Reporter: “I was just trying to make my way; I was just trying to get through,” she says of the milestone. “I never really thought about it until people started saying, ‘Wow, this is kind of a big deal.’” She has also anchored for “Extra” and as a morning anchor for “Good Day LA”.
4. She hosted (and was fired from) “So You Think You Can Dance”
According to Sánchez, she was fired from “So You Think You Can Dance” because she became pregnant with her second child. She filed a lawsuit against the show, but the charges were eventually dropped.
5. She is a helicopter pilot
Although she may have a resume full of reporting and hosting credits, Sánchez’s other passion is flying. “I want to be in a helicopter all the time,” she told The Hollywood Reporter. “…When I’m up there, I’m completely satisfied. I’m like, ‘This is where I need to be.’”
6. She and Bezos met through Sánchez’s former husband, Patrick Whitesell
Apparently, Sánchez and Bezos met in 2016 at an event hosted by Matt Damon. They developed a working relationship over the years and eventually fell in love.
7. She is dyslexic
Sánchez shared with The Hollywood Reporter that she has harbored a lot of shame about her learning disability. “They call them learning differences now, which is really sweet, but growing up I just thought I was stupid. My co-anchors knew I was dyslexic but not many more [did]. I felt like I had to hide it because it just wasn’t something that people talked about.”
8. She is a business owner
In 2016, Sánchez founded Black Ops aviation, an aerial film and production company. She has consulted on films such as “Dunkirk” and “Miss Bala“.
9. She’s also an actress
Sánchez has appeared in movies like “Fight Club” and “The Day After Tomorrow” playing, you guessed it, a reporter.
10. She’s an Emmy winner
While working anchoring UPN 13 News at KCOP-TV in 1999, Sánchez won an Emmy for her reporting.
11. She comes from humble beginnings
Jeff Bezos’s girlfriend may be in a relationship with the richest man in the world now, but her good fortune wasn’t always the case. According to her interview with The Hollywood Reporter, her family struggled to get by. “We came from nothing,” she said. “I used to sleep in the back of my grandmother’s car when she would go clean houses, and I’ve been fortunate enough to have a career.”
This story was originally published November 2021 and has been updated.
