Kash Patel is off the market, ladies.
The director of the FBI and his longtime girlfriend, country western singer Alexis Wilkins, announced their looming nuptials on social media over the weekend.
“Went and got the law involved,” Wilkins posted on Instagram, alongside a black-and-white photograph of the couple smiling and showing off Wilkins’ engagement ring.
Patel, who’s helmed the FBI since February 2025, and Wilkins, who is also a right-wing political commentator and Turning Point U.S.A. ambassador, have been romantically linked since early 2023, just months after a meet-cute that transpired at country singer John Rich’s Nashville house party.
“I walked up to her and I told her she had a nice jacket on and I think she turned around and walked away,” Patel said during an appearance on “The Katie Miller Podcast” last year.
“Not true,” Wilkins said, giggling. “He always tells the story like this. … I at no point walked away. It just didn’t hit me that my jacket was like the entry point of ‘Hey we should …’”
Patel acknowledged that maybe another approach would have landed him a first date sooner, and later in the interview hinted that a proposal was on the horizon. The media won’t dictate the speed at which his relationship moves, he added.
When Miller asked Patel if he loved being the director of the FBI, he said, “Yeah! It’s a great job. It’s worth the fight, and it would not be possible if you don’t have an incredibly strong partner. And I’m lucky to have Alexis.”
Patel’s relationship with Wilkins has been under the microscope in recent years. The FBI director has faced sharp criticism for assigning what Christopher O’Leary, a former senior executive in the FBI’s counterterrorism division, has called an unprecedented and inappropriate 24/7 security detail to Wilkins, composed of FBI SWAT agents.
The FBI escorted the bride-to-be to an appointment at a hair salon in Nashville, to a U.K. resort before a dinner at Windsor Castle, and to a conservative singing engagement in Dixon, Ill., among other errands and events, the New York Times reported in February. Patel also directed Wilkins’ security detail to escort one of her allegedly drunk friends home after a night out in Nashville, MS Now reported in December 2025. Patel has denied the claims.
Patel has said the security detail was necessary as Wilkins has received numerous death threats since entering the spotlight.
While comments congratulating the couple flooded Wilkins’ Instagram, comments on their podcast appearance sang a different tune, with one user saying, “Why is the FBI director on a podcast with his girlfriend?”
