Karoline Leavitt Opens Up About ‘Atypical’ Age-Gap Romance—and How Her Husband’s Lucrative Real Estate Career Boosted Her Own Success

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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has offered new insight into her “atypical love story” with her husband, Nicholas Riccio, while revealing how the success of his real estate empire has enabled him to support her career dreams.

Leavitt, 27, whose husband is 32 years her senior, made her debut in the White House press room on Jan. 28, immediately drawing attention with her confidence and composure when dealing with a barrage of questions from the world’s media.

However, with her political ascent also came increased scrutiny of the New Hampshire native’s personal life—specifically her relationship with her 59-year-old husband, whom she wed in 2024, before they welcomed their son, Niko, months later.

Now, in a candid interview with former Fox News host Megyn Kelly, Leavitt has hit back at critics of her age-gap marriage, while praising her husband for enabling her to pursue her own career, having already built up his own empire.

When asked by Kelly if she ever thought, “I can’t date him, he’s 59 and I’m 27,” Leavitt admitted that their age difference made her hesitate, before insisting that it is no longer a consideration in their marriage.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has admitted to having an “atypical” love story with her husband, Nicholas Riccio, who is 32 years her senior and whose real estate empire has helped him to support her career.(karolineleavitt/Instagram) While speaking with Megyn Kelly, Leavitt revealed that she had doubts when it came to the age gap and how it would affect her relationship—but insisted it is no longer a factor in her relationship.(@MegynKelly/YouTube)

“Yes, of course. I mean it’s a very atypical love story, but he’s incredible. He is my greatest supporter, he’s my best friend, and he’s my rock,” she explained.

The budding political heavyweight went on to praise her husband’s success in the real estate industry, noting that the multimillion-dollar property empire he had built before they met enabled him to support her as she chased her dreams.

“He’s built a very successful business himself, so now he’s fully supportive of me building my success in my career,” she said.

“He’s the father of my child, and he’s the best dad I could ever ask for. And he is so supportive, especially during a very chaotic period of life.”

Riccio, who experienced homelessness in his youth, managed to build himself an estimated net worth of around $6 million, which he was able to use to help fund his wife’s failed campaign for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Beyond that, Leavitt said, her husband’s property business also gave him the freedom to take care of things at home, enabling her to throw herself fully into her work in Washington, DC.

“I say, ‘I walked into your life and it’s been a circus ever since,’ but God bless him, because he’s fully on board,” she joked.

Leavitt, a Republican, revealed that they were introduced by a mutual friend while she was running for the U.S. House of Representatives in New Hampshire’s 1st District.

“I met my husband during my congressional campaign. A mutual friend of ours hosted an event at a restaurant that he owns up in New Hampshire and invited my husband. I was speaking. We met and we were acquainted as friends. And then we fell in love,” she recalled.

Leavitt and Riccio met in 2023, when she was running for the U.S. House of Representatives in New Hampshire’s 1st District.(karolineleavitt/Instagram) Leavitt noted that her husband’s booming real estate business allows him the freedom to take care of things at home, when she is focused on her work in DC. (karolineleavitt/Instagram) She praised his success, gushing about his property portfolio, which he started building after experiencing homelessness. (@MegynKelly/YouTube)

Leavitt—who worked in the previous Trump White House as a member of then-press secretary Kayleigh McEnany‘s team—has previously revealed that her husband is the “opposite” of her and is an “introvert.”

“He doesn’t have social media and he’s an introvert (complete opposite of me),” she explained in a post on her Instagram account.

“I respect his privacy on [Instagram]—but he’s my number one fan, the best dad, and just the best man I’ve ever met.”

However, the couple went Instagram-official in 2023, when Leavitt posted a flick of Riccio proposing to her, alongside the caption: “I get to marry the man of my dreams. I feel SO overwhelmingly BLESSED. Thank you God.”

They went on to welcome a son on July 10, 2024, with Leavitt calling it the “best moment of her life.”

“It’s true when they say there’s nothing comparable to the love you feel for your child,” she wrote on Instagram at the time.

“My heart has grown bigger than I ever imagined possible. Babies are the ultimate blessing and I’m bursting with gratitude for our beautiful, happy, healthy boy.”

Leavitt hails from a similar area of New Hampshire as her husband—who has become something of a local legend in the area, thanks to the work he has done to try to revitalize the poorest areas by buying up abandoned homes and renovating them.

Riccio was raised in New Hampshire by his parents, Anthony and Marilyn, who divorced when he was just a young child.

Her husband has “built a very successful business himself, so now he’s fully supportive of me building my success in my career,” she said.(karolineleavitt/Instagram) Just weeks before she stepped on the podium as the White House press secretary, Leavitt revealed she was looking forward to returning to the White House but admitted she was “nervous” about missing moments with her son.(karolineleavitt/Instagram)

He hopped between homes following their separation, until he ended up living on the streets at the age of 18.

“When I was 19 or 20, I would call my buddies to go over [to] their houses to watch a game just so I could take a shower,” he previously revealed to The Portsmouth Herald.

Riccio put himself through college by stocking shelves at a grocery store and borrowing money, eventually graduating from Plymouth State University.

It was then that his interest in real estate was first fueled.

The businessman—who often opted to sleep in his car when he couldn’t afford to pay rent—took a real estate course in 1990 and fell in love with the building world. He opted to turn his interests to New Hampshire’s Hampton Beach when he realized how many properties in the area were in desperate need of rejuvenation.

He recalled to the Sunday Herald in 2005 that he and his mother were out for a drive in Hampton Beach when they came across M Street, a long stretch of properties that had fallen into a state of severe disrepair over the years—leading to some of the structures being condemned.

Riccio knew almost immediately that he wanted to make the street his legacy—but without the funds to buy up the entire street straight away, he had to start small.

He pushed his finances and managed to pull together enough money to buy just one of the buildings. And thus began his real estate portfolio.

According to property records, there are currently 10 homes registered under his company’s LLC. Nine are in New Hampshire, and one is in West Virginia.

The homes were all built in the late 1900s and cost Riccio anywhere from $5,500 to $400,000 each.

In 2023, one of the New Hampshire properties made headlines when it erupted into flames. The cause of the fire was never determined; however, it was reported that the property suffered extreme water and fire damage.

According to Riccio’s company website, Nautical Beach Properties aims to help guests “enjoy” the sunshine and sparkling water nearby.

Riccio currently has several properties and rooms up for rent. A one-bedroom waterfront room will cost guests $139 per night, while a beach house will run them around $154 a night.