Conservative journalist Robby Soave has posted a series of Instagram photos with his fiancé, Jie Jung Shih, weeks after announcing their engagement and following his split from his wife of nine years.
Soave, 37, who co-hosts The Hill’s morning show Rising and appears regularly on Fox News, captioned the images, “So ends another summer in DC!” The pictures show the couple smiling for selfies against sunset backdrops and sharing drinks on a date night; several followers responded with supportive comments praising the pair.
Soave announced his engagement to Shih in July on X, formerly Twitter, writing, “Some personal news from my Sicily trip earlier this month, in case anyone missed it: I got engaged!” He has said the proposal took place in Taormina, Sicily, with a Tiffany & Co. ring presented over candles and champagne. The couple celebrated Soave’s 37th birthday in August with dinner at Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen, according to his social posts.
Soave told Politico that he and Shih met at a bar on U Street in Washington, D.C., and described it as “love at first sight.” Shih is a student at Georgetown University School of Medicine and has been active in the local LGBTQ+ community; he was among med students who volunteered at last year’s Capital Pride Festival.
The posts come after a public and unexpected personal shift for Soave. He had been married to Caroline “Carrie” Soave for nine years; the pair were high school sweethearts whose relationship dated back to the early 2000s. Soave frequently posted about their life together, including a 2023 message marking their ninth anniversary in Positano, Italy, in which he praised his wife as “the most wonderful woman on earth.”
It is not clear when the couple separated; Soave has not posted with his former wife since late 2023. Following Soave’s engagement announcement, Carrie Soave told the Daily Mail that she is “healing” and focusing on a new life in Michigan. Her statement included, “I am not as well-known as my former-husband, but I don't need to be. I know exactly who I am and what I am and am not.”
Soave has a long record as a commentator and writer. He is a senior editor at the libertarian magazine Reason, has published books and was named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list in 2016. He is one of the longest-serving co-hosts on Rising, a political talk show with a large YouTube presence, and is a frequent guest on national television.
Social media reaction to the recent posts was generally positive: commenters called the couple “cute” and complimented their appearance and the photographs. Soave has not publicly detailed the timeline of his separation from his ex-wife beyond past social media posts and has given few interviews about his new relationship; his public statements have focused on the engagement and the circumstances of meeting Shih.
The new Instagram images mark the most visible public display of Soave’s relationship since the engagement announcement. As Soave and Shih move forward with wedding plans, the change marks a notable personal transition for a public figure who has long been associated with conservative commentary and a decades-long marriage that began in adolescence.