Anthony Albanese's life outside of parliament.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced his engagement to partner Jodie Haydon.

Sharing the news on his socials on Thursday, Albanese posted a selfie of him and Jodie with the engagement ring alongside the caption, "She said yes".

The proposal occurred on Valentine's Day.

She said yes ❤️ pic.twitter.com/aU1Mk2WInH

— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) February 14, 2024

Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong reacted to the news saying: "Love is a beautiful thing. I’m so happy for you both!"

Albanese and his fiancé met at a dinner function in 2020, bonding over a shared love for the South Sydney Rabbitohs football team.

"She got in touch with me, sending a message saying: 'We have a lot in common. I like the Rabbitohs, we live in the same area, I support Labor and we're both single!'" he told Mamamia previously.

Watch: Anthony Albanese and Jodie Haydon meeting American President Joe Biden. Post continues below.

Albanese's life outside of politics is interesting, to say the least. 

Speaking to Mamamia's No Filter podcast, Albanese chatted with Mia Freedman about his private childhood, the influence of being raised by a strong, single mother and the search for his father.

Anthony Albanese's childhood. 

As a teen, Albanese sat down with his mother for dinner.

It was just the two of them, as it always had been. Albanese's father had died in a car crash before he was born.

Or at least, that's what he thought until that dinner. His mother told him his father was most likely alive and living in Italy.

She had met him overseas and fallen pregnant: that part of the story he'd known his whole life was true, but Albanese's father was engaged to an Italian woman and had stayed with her. He'd never come to Australia.

Albanese's mother Maryanne raised him alone in public housing in Sydney's inner west while on an invalid pension.

Maryanne fell pregnant in her late 20s after the trip of a lifetime overseas. She was single and Catholic, which left her with very few options. So she came up with a story: she had met, fallen in love, and married a man in Italy who had then died in a tragic car accident before her son was born. 

"The term illegitimate or bastard are pretty brutal terms. It was more 'honourable' for her to be considered a widow, rather than a single mum at this time," Albanese said on No Filter.

But on one fateful night, Maryanne decided to tell her son Albanese the truth. 

"She later said it was so difficult for my mum to tell me her story, because she felt as though there was some shame in what had occurred. It took a lot of courage."

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A post shared by Anthony Albanese (@albomp)

Anthony Albanese's quest to find his father.

Initially, Albanese says his focus was on his mum's wellbeing, rather than the potential of finding his father. 

"I was a pretty tough little 14-year-old, so my response to her was: 'I don't care, I've got you and you're all I need'."

"She was very loving. She gave up so much for me. And like a lot of women at the time, she really lived her aspirations through me: trying to give me a better shot at life than she had," Albanese said of his mum.

Maryanne passed in 2002. She was only 65 years old.

"Once she died, I felt like I could tell people my story and start to search for my father without feeling like I was dishonouring her contribution," said Albanese.

By this time, Albanese had been married to his then-wife Carmel, and the couple had a son, Nathan. 

Nathan, then four or five years old, went with his father to visit Maryanne's gravesite. While at the site, Nathan said to Albanese, "Where's your dad?"

It stuck with Albanese: "I felt I couldn't lie to Nathan. It wasn't fair on him. As I got older, I felt I needed closure."

When looking for his father, all that Albanese had to go off was one photo from a ship his dad had previously worked on. 

While in Commonwealth Parliamentary Offices, Albanese was about to chair a dinner of the Australian Transport Council when he received a phone call.

"It's a moment I'll never forget. Sherry said 'we've found him', and it took my breath away because I didn't think that would happen," Albanese wrote in an article for Mamamia in 2017.

Listen to Mamamia's No Filter podcast: The private life of Anthony Albanese. Post continues after audio.

At the age of 46, Albanese travelled to Italy and, with the help of the Australian Embassy in Rome, where he met his father Carlo and his half-brother and half-sister.

"He walked in and opened his arms to me and we embraced," Albanese said. "It was quite – it was incredibly generous of him, I think, and it was a very poignant moment. There were tears and we talked for a few hours."

His father's family, and wife of multiple decades, were welcoming of Albanese. 

"They were worried initially. But they were incredibly generous. They realised, it is what it is: life is complex. Italians get that!"

Albanese continued to visit Italy and said his final goodbye to his ill father, who died in 2014. 

"I was very pleased that I was able to have that final engagement with him. He was lucid and he told me – the last conversation we had was that he was glad that we had found each other."

Anthony Albanese's family life.

Albanese and ex-NSW deputy premier Carmel Tebutt were together for 30 years, before separating on New Year's Day 2019. The pair share 23-year-old son Nathan together. 

"I was devastated when that relationship ended, and it took me a while to recover. I didn't see it coming."

Albanese credited his work life for keeping him occupied mentally. As to how Albanese managed the dating world post-divorce: "carefully" he said with a laugh on No Filter. 

At home, Albanese has his son Nathan, now-fiancé Jodie and his beloved dog Toto.

Labor Leader Anthony Albanese, Jodie Haydon and Nathan Albanese celebrate victory during the Labor Party election night, 2022. Image: Getty. Speaking to Adelaide Now about Toto, Albanese said: "When I’ve been away for a bit – in parliament or out on the road – there's nothing quite like getting back and opening the front door. In that moment of wild joy, Toto is poetry in commotion."

He continued: "There's a beautiful, open-hearted honesty about dogs that brings out the best in us, and any person who spends time in the company of a dog is all the better for it. Toto is loving, loyal and she's great company."

This article was published on December 13, 2021 and has since been updated.

Feature Image: Instagram/ @albomp.