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No — Bill O’Reilly is not married today. The former Fox News host was married once, to public relations executive Maureen E. McPhilmy, from 1996 until their divorce in 2011. He has not remarried publicly since, and he keeps his private life almost completely out of view — which is exactly why the question “is Bill O’Reilly married?” keeps getting searched year after year.
Here is the full picture: who his wife was, how the marriage ran alongside the biggest career in cable news, why it ended, who his two children are, and what his relationship status is now. Below, the full story is laid out for anyone still asking is Bill O’Reilly married today.
Table of Contents
Quick Facts
| Current status | Not married (as of 2026; no public remarriage) |
| Ex-wife | Maureen E. McPhilmy — public relations executive |
| Married | November 2, 1996 — St. Brigid Parish, Westbury, New York |
| Divorced | September 1, 2011 (separated April 2010) |
| Children | Daughter Madeline (born 1998) and son Spencer (born 2003) |
| Born | September 10, 1949, New York City |
| Known for | The O’Reilly Factor (1996–2017), the top-rated show in cable news for many years |
Bill O’Reilly at a Glance: The Career Behind the Question
To understand the marriage, it helps to understand the career it had to survive. Bill O’Reilly was born on September 10, 1949, in New York City and raised in Levittown, Long Island, in a working-class Irish Catholic family. He studied history at Marist College, graduating in 1971, then spent two years teaching high school English and history in Miami before turning to journalism. His workload, by contrast, never left room for a public family life — one reason is Bill O’Reilly married is still a live search today.
He earned a master’s degree in broadcast journalism from Boston University in 1976 and worked his way through local newsrooms — Scranton, Dallas, Denver (where he won a local Emmy), Portland and New York — before network jobs at CBS News and ABC News. Hosting the syndicated programme Inside Edition from 1989 to 1995 made him a national name. He also completed a master’s degree in public administration at Harvard’s Kennedy School in 1996 — the same year his life changed completely. Through all of it, his home life stayed private, and the question is Bill O’Reilly married was rarely asked in public at all.
In October 1996, O’Reilly joined the brand-new Fox News Channel as host of The O’Reilly Factor. The show became the number-one programme in cable news and stayed there for years, making him one of the most powerful voices in American media. A nationally syndicated radio show followed from 2002 to 2009. For readers asking is Bill O’Reilly married, the key point is this: the peak of that fame — the years when he was on television five nights a week — is exactly the period his marriage covered.
Writing ran alongside broadcasting. His books — opinion titles first, then the bestselling memoir A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity in 2008 — regularly reached the top of the bestseller lists, and book tours added still more travel to a schedule already built around a nightly show. By the mid-2000s he was, by most measures, the most commercially successful broadcaster in cable news, with a reported salary to match. It was a public life of unusual intensity, sustained for two decades — and almost none of it included his family.
Who Was Bill O’Reilly’s Wife?
Bill O’Reilly’s wife was Maureen E. McPhilmy, a public relations executive who worked in television. The two met in 1992, when he was a well-known broadcaster and she was building her own career in TV publicity. Unlike her husband, McPhilmy never sought the spotlight, and even at the height of his fame she almost never appeared in the media. For anyone asking is Bill O’Reilly married during those years, she was the answer — the only wife he has ever had.
That privacy was deliberate on both sides. O’Reilly talked about politics, media and culture for a living, but he drew a firm line around his home, and McPhilmy stayed on the other side of it. Very little about her personal background has ever been made public, and what is known comes mostly from coverage of the marriage and, later, the divorce — not from anything she has promoted herself. That wall of privacy is exactly why is Bill O’Reilly married remained a guessing game for viewers.
Friends and profiles from the period describe a conventional arrangement for a broadcaster of his level: his career in Manhattan studios, hers in public relations, and a family home on Long Island kept firmly separate from the show. So when people search is Bill O’Reilly married, the honest starting point is that there was one wife, one marriage — and it belonged to his years at the very top of cable news.
The Wedding and Marriage Years
O’Reilly and McPhilmy married on November 2, 1996, at St. Brigid Parish in Westbury, New York, in the Long Island community where he had grown up and attended school as a boy. The timing was remarkable: The O’Reilly Factor had launched on Fox News just weeks earlier, on October 7, 1996. He began married life and the biggest job of his career in the same autumn, at the age of 47 — a late start to marriage by the standards of his generation, after two decades spent climbing through newsrooms across the country. In other words, the answer to is Bill O’Reilly married became yes at almost the exact moment his show took off.
The couple settled in Manhasset, an affluent suburb on Long Island’s North Shore. Their daughter, Madeline, was born in 1998, and their son, Spencer, followed in 2003. By then the Factor was dominating cable news ratings, and O’Reilly was one of the most recognised men in America — yet the family itself remained almost invisible in the press, by design.
That balance held for roughly a decade and a half. The marriage years, 1996 to 2010, were also his unbroken run at number one: bestselling books, the radio show, and a nightly audience of millions. Whatever pressures that schedule created stayed private until the marriage itself came apart. For all those years, then, is Bill O’Reilly married had a quiet, stable answer.
The Divorce
The couple separated on April 2, 2010, and their divorce was finalized on September 1, 2011, after nearly 15 years of marriage. The split was contested, and the two later went through a lengthy, widely reported custody case over their children. From that point on, the answer to is Bill O’Reilly married was on its way to changing for good.
During that case, McPhilmy made allegations about the marriage. O’Reilly, through his attorney, called the allegations “100% false” and declined to discuss details publicly, saying he wanted to protect the children. In 2016, a court declined his bid for sole custody of both children. Both parents continued to live on Long Island, and the children were raised in the same community where they had grown up.
The wider dispute ran for years and spilled into other arenas, including a reported disagreement over his church annulment of the marriage, which McPhilmy objected to. O’Reilly consistently declined to litigate any of it in the media. Whatever the legal arguments, the practical outcome was settled early and never changed: the marriage was over in 2011, both children grew up on Long Island, and their father remained, in the formal sense, unmarried.
Divorce coverage is often the only window the public ever gets into a broadcaster’s private life, and this case was no exception. Even so, the documented facts are simple: one marriage, begun in 1996, legally ended in 2011 — and anyone asking is Bill O’Reilly married today is asking about the years since that decree.
His Children
O’Reilly and McPhilmy have two children: a daughter, Madeline, born in 1998, and a son, Spencer, born in 2003. Both were raised in Manhasset, on Long Island, where each parent continued to live after the divorce, so the children kept their schools, friends and community around them.
Madeline is now in her late twenties and Spencer in his early twenties. Like their mother, both keep private lives and rarely appear in the media; neither has pursued a public career. O’Reilly himself has consistently refused to discuss them in detail, treating their privacy as non-negotiable even when interviewers ask. Both have kept that privacy as adults, and neither has ever spoken publicly about the divorce or about is Bill O’Reilly married.
That protectiveness shaped the divorce coverage too. During the custody proceedings the children were minors — a daughter in her teens and a son of about twelve when the final ruling came — and O’Reilly’s stated reason for refusing to answer allegations in public was that his children would one day read whatever he said. It is one of the few explanations of his private life he has ever offered, and he has stuck to it ever since.
His Life and Work After Fox News
O’Reilly’s time at Fox News ended in April 2017, after reports about settlements connected to harassment claims drew wide controversy. He denied wrongdoing, but the network parted ways with its biggest star, closing the 21-year run of The O’Reilly Factor.
Since then he has built his own platform instead: the No Spin News programme and podcast under his own name, speaking tours, and above all his books. His “Killing” series of history books, co-authored with Martin Dugard — beginning with Killing Lincoln — has sold millions of copies and regularly tops bestseller lists. Professionally, the post-Fox years have been busy and, by publishing standards, very successful. And through all of those busy years, the answer to is Bill O’Reilly married never changed.
Personally, they have been quiet. He remains based on Long Island, no new public relationship has ever been confirmed, and coverage of his private life has all but disappeared — one more reason the question is Bill O’Reilly married never quite goes away: there is simply no public evidence of anyone new.
Why People Keep Asking About His Marriage
Searches for his relationship status spike whenever O’Reilly returns to the news — a new book release, a television appearance, or a round of commentary about American politics. New readers discover a broadcaster who was once unavoidable, notice how completely he separates his work from his home life, and go looking for the basics: a wife, a wedding, a family.
The answer they find is a time capsule. His marriage belongs to a specific era — the rise of Fox News, the years when cable news became a cultural force — and it ended more than a decade ago. Unlike many public figures, he has never presented a partner to the public since, never confirmed a relationship, and never suggested a second marriage is coming. For searchers, that combination of enormous fame and total privacy is exactly what keeps the question alive. Readers bring the same curiosity to other famous marriages of that era — see our profile of Bill Clinton for the family story behind another much-searched public life.
Did Bill O’Reilly Remarry?
No. Since the 2011 divorce, O’Reilly has not remarried, and no public relationship has been confirmed. As of 2026, every reliable answer to is Bill O’Reilly married is the same: he is not married, and he appears entirely focused — publicly, at least — on his programme, his podcast and his books.
McPhilmy, by contrast, did marry again. After the divorce she wed Jeffrey Gross, a Nassau County police detective. She has otherwise kept the same low profile she maintained throughout her first marriage, and she and O’Reilly have stayed out of each other’s headlines for years. Her remarriage changed nothing for him: is Bill O’Reilly married still has the same answer today.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Bill O’Reilly married now?
No. Bill O’Reilly is not currently married. His only marriage, to Maureen McPhilmy, ended in divorce in 2011, and he has not remarried publicly.
Who is Bill O’Reilly’s ex-wife?
His ex-wife is Maureen E. McPhilmy, a public relations executive. They married on November 2, 1996, in Westbury, New York, and divorced on September 1, 2011. She later remarried detective Jeffrey Gross.
How many children does Bill O’Reilly have?
He has two children with McPhilmy: daughter Madeline (born 1998) and son Spencer (born 2003).
How long was Bill O’Reilly married?
Almost 15 years — from November 2, 1996, until the divorce was finalized on September 1, 2011. The couple had separated in April 2010.
Why did Bill O’Reilly and Maureen McPhilmy divorce?
The couple separated in April 2010 and divorced in September 2011. The divorce and a later custody case were contested and covered by the press; O’Reilly has publicly denied allegations made during the case and does not discuss the details.
Who is Maureen McPhilmy married to now?
After her divorce from O’Reilly, Maureen McPhilmy married Jeffrey Gross, a Nassau County police detective.
Is Bill O’Reilly in a relationship now?
No relationship has been publicly confirmed. Since his 2011 divorce, O’Reilly has kept his personal life private, and as of 2026 there is no verified reporting of a partner.
Where does Bill O’Reilly live now?
He lives on Long Island, New York, in the same area where his children were raised. He has lived in the Manhasset area for many years.
Conclusion
So, is Bill O’Reilly married? Not anymore. One marriage, to Maureen McPhilmy, ran from 1996 to 2011 and produced two children; since then, the broadcaster has kept his focus — publicly, at least — on his show, his books and his famously guarded private life. Until he says otherwise, that is the complete and accurate answer.
