Meet Kimberly Guilfoyle, the former Fox News star, prosecutor, and model who’s dating Donald Trump Jr. and gave a barn-burning speech at the RNC

• In the past year, Kimberly Guilfoyle, 51, has gone from a Fox News host to a regular fixture in first family appearances since she’s been dating Donald Trump Jr.
• Before leading raucous rallies for the 2018 midterms and being considered for a White House role, Guilfoyle’s background includes serving as an assistant district attorney, legal correspondent, and first lady of San Francisco.
• Here is an inside look at her rise from lawyer to TV star.
• Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Kimberly Guilfoyle, 51, first made a national name for herself on Fox News. The former lawyer started appearing as a legal analyst in 2004, and was a full-time host on the network from 2006.

President Donald Trump is a fan, and considered her for the role as White House communications director. Before that, she was once first lady of San Francisco when her first husband was mayor. He’s now the governor of California.

Frequently appearing on the Manhattan social scene over the last decade, Guilfoyle started dating Donald Trump Jr. amid his public divorce from his wife, Vanessa Trump.

Here is an inside look at the rise of Guilfoyle, from lawyer to Republican booster.

Guilfoyle was born in San Francisco on March 9, 1969. Her father had a career in construction, and raised Guilfoyle and her brother as a single dad after her mom died of leukemia when she was 11.

Sources: Mediaite, SF Gate, IMDB

Guilfoyle graduated Magna Cum Laude from UC Davis and received her law degree from the University of San Francisco. She interned for the San Francisco district attorney, and modeled for Macy's and Victoria's Secret while she was in law school.

Sources: SF Gate, New York Daily News

After graduating law school, Guilfoyle worked as a prosecutor in San Francisco before spending four years in Los Angeles as a deputy district attorney. She then returned home to San Francisco where she served as assistant district attorney for four years.

Source: SF Gate

In 2004, Guilfoyle moved to New York City to pursue a career on television. She hosted the program "Both Sides" on Court TV and served as a legal analyst for CNN.

Source: Fox News

Guilfoyle married Gavin Newsom in 2001. Two years later, he was elected mayor of San Francisco, and she became the city's first lady.

Source: SF Gate

But as their bi-coastal marriage became a strain and Guilfoyle focused on her television career, the couple filed for divorce in 2005. Newsom, a Democrat, served as lieutenant governor of California from 2011 until he was elected governor in 2018.

In 2006, Guilfoyle married Eric Villency in Barbados and later gave birth to a son. Villency, a former model, is CEO of an interior design firm in New York who sometimes appears as a guest on TV news programs like the "Today Show."

Sources: SFist, New York Post, HuffPost

Three years later, the couple separated and eventually divorced.

Guilfoyle joined Fox News in 2006 as a host of the weekend show "The Lineup".

Sources: Fox News, AdWeek

After the show was canceled, Guilfoyle remained with the network as a legal analyst and became a co-host of "The Five" in 2011.

Sources: Fox News, AdWeek

She served in the same position for several years. Guilfoyle has also appeared on "The O'Reilly Factor", "Hannity", and "Fox and Friends". In 2017, she signed a long-term extension with Fox News.

Sources: Fox News, AdWeek

Guilfoyle put down permanent New York roots in 2014, when she bought a $3.4 million, 2-bedroom apartment on the Upper West Side. It was filled with taxidermied animals, but she's since transformed the space. Jerry Seinfeld reportedly lives in the building, too.

Sources: The Real Deal, City Realty, Zillow, Daily Mail, The Real Deal

In 2015, Guilfoyle wrote a semi-autobiographical book called "Making the Case: How to Be your Own Best Advocate" on her experience as a prosecutor and encouraging others to always stand up for themselves.

Source: Forbes

When former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson accused former Fox News chief Roger Ailes of sexual harassment, Guilfoyle disputed the charges and came to her boss's defense.

Source: Business Insider

In December 2016, Trump was reportedly considering Guilfoyle to be his press secretary.

Source: Business Insider

In 2017, it was rumored that Guilfoyle was dating Anthony Scaramucci, the financier who served as Trump's White House communications director for 10 days.

Sources: New York Post, Business Insider

After Sean Spicer resigned in July, Guilfoyle said she was in conversations with Trump to succeed Spicer in the role. She was ultimately not selected for the job.

Source: Business Insider

In May, rumors swirled that Guilfoyle was dating Trump Jr., who is nine years her junior. Page Six reported that the TV personality and president's first-born had been dating for weeks, and that they'd been spotted out together in New York.

Source: Page Six

In June 2018, the couple made things Instagram official, both posting photos vacationing together in Montana and at a Poison concert.

http://instagr.am/p/BkbXheMnwWo

Sources: Business Insider

Guilfoyle left Fox News in July 2018.

Source: Business Insider

She joined Trump Jr. on the campaign trail and picked up the vice chairwoman role at America First Policies, a pro-Trump nonprofit.

Guilfoyle made frequent rally appearances by Trump's side in the months leading up to the 2018 midterms.

By Christmas, Guilfoyle was a regular fixture at Trump family appearances, even attending the 96th annual National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony seats away from President Donald and first lady Melania Trump.

In February 2019, Guilfoyle attended New York Fashion Week and posed with the president's ex-wife Marla Maples and her daughter Tiffany at the Taoray Wang show.

Source: New York Post

When a trailer dropped for "Bombshell," a movie dramatizing the fall of Roger Ailes and the shake-up of Fox News, Guilfoyle was featured via a look-alike played by Bree Condon.

Source: Business Insider

Guilfoyle weighed in on House Democrats' impeachment inquiry into the president with a joint Halloween costume depicting a "witch hunt."

Source: Instagram

Guilfoyle and Trump Jr. were back in the public eye doing press around the November 2019 publishing of his book, "Triggered: How the Left Thrives on Hate and Wants to Silence Us."

Sources: Business Insider, Amazon

The couple struck controversy when they joined ABC's "The View," where they clashed with host Meghan McCain before taking to Twitter to slam the media as a whole.

Source: Business Insider

Another appearance went haywire when the crowd at the University of California at Los Angeles heckled Trump and Guilfoyle for refusing to take questions before they left the stage.

Source: The Guardian

Guilfoyle remained a top figure in the Trump campaign in preparation for the 2020 Election. In January, Guilfoyle was named chair of Trump Victory, a fundraising committee.

After an April HuffPost report said Trump's campaign was paying Guilfoyle and Lara Trump $180,000 a year each, campaign manager Brad Parscale defended the significant others' roles with the re-election effort.

Source: Business Insider

Guilfoyle took center stage in August for a speech at the Republican National Convention, where she sparked headlines with her signature fiery speaking style and exaggerated claims about her background and the president's campaign.

Source: Business Insider

Business Insider's John Haltiwanger reported that Guilfoyle was a centerpiece of the convention's opening night, warning Trump's Democratic opponents "and the rest of the socialists will fundamentally change this nation" in a speech that set a dark tone for the RNC and Trump's campaign at large.

Source: Business Insider