Fox News host Jesse Watters has found himself at the center of a controversy after an old video clip resurfaced, sparking criticism over his unconventional approach to romance. In the clip, Watters recounts a rather unusual tactic he employed to capture the attention of a colleague who would eventually become his wife.

The video, originally broadcast on Fox in 2022, features Watters, who is now 47, candidly admitting that he deliberately deflated the car tires of a then-25-year-old Fox staffer. His intention, as he explained, was to create an opportunity to offer her a ride home, thereby initiating a connection.

At the time of this incident, Watters was 39 years old and married to another woman, whom he had also met through work. The revelation has stirred a mix of reactions, considering the circumstances surrounding his then-marriage.

The woman involved in this tale is Emma DiGiovine, whom Watters eventually married in December 2019. During the clip, with a telling grin, he shared with his co-hosts, “When I was trying to get Emma to date me, the first thing I did was let the air out of her tires.” This anecdote has since been met with scrutiny, raising questions about the appropriateness of his actions.

‘When I was trying to get Emma to date me, first thing I did, let the air out of her tires,’ he said with a grin.

‘She couldn’t go anywhere, she needed a lift. I said, “Hey you need a lift?” She got right into the car.’

He has since claimed that the story he told wasn’t true and that it was actually all a joke. 

After his co-hosts expressed their shock in the original clip, Watters said that his now-wife was unaware of his move to this day.

Fox News host Jesse Watters (seen this month) has come under fire after a clip resurfaced of him discussing how the controversial way he first made a move on his now-wife 

In the video, Watters, now 47, admitted to deflating the car tires of a 25-year-old fellow Fox staffer so he could offer her a ride home. He and his wife are seen in 2023

He also appeared to justify his actions by stating that the pair are now married, insisting: ‘It has a happy ending.’

Another of his colleagues asked if he had taken the air out of other women’s cars in order to get them into his own, which the Fox host implied that he may well have done.

‘Is that the first time you did it, or did you use that before?’ Jeannine Pirro inquired.

‘It works like a charm!’ he bragged.

The clip was picked up by online news show The Young Turks at the time, and was slammed by the hosts, who branded his alleged dating trick as ‘predatory.’

‘Not only [was Watters story] insanely creepy and predatory, but Watters also played it off like it was a perfectly normal thing to do,’ the outraged hosts wrote in the video’s description. 

Political commentator Cenk Uygur added that Watters’ story made the Fox host seem like a ‘stalker.’

‘While she reported into you, you vandalized her car so she couldn’t get home,’ he said incredulously. ‘She would be trapped and need your assistance, so you could have a captive audience.’ 

Watters made the bizarre on-air admission in 2022 during a segment on The Five on Fox 

After his co-hosts expressed their shock over the story, Watters claimed that his wife (seen) was unaware of his devious plan to this day

It was 2018 when Watters was divorcing his first wife Noelle Watters, pictured, who is mother to his twin daughters

‘There are plenty of daughters who deal with predatory behavior from their bosses, that’s what Me Too started off as being about,’ host Ana Kasparian pointed out. ‘And I don’t know that the culture has really changed all that much.’

Earlier this week on The Five, Watters addressed his old comments and claimed that he never actually deflated Emma’s tires and that it was all a joke.

‘There’s a rumor about me that I started, that I let the air out of Emma’s tires in order to get with her. I never did that,’ he said. ‘It was a joke.’

Watters also met his first wife, Noelle Inguagiato, while working at Fox News. They welcomed twin daughters Sophie and Ellie in 2011.

The couple finalized their divorce in March 2019, with Watters wasting no time and tying the knot to DiGiovine later that year.

They went on to welcome two children: a son Jesse Jr. who was born in 2021 and a daughter Georgina born in 2023.