Who is Ann Lesley Smith, the woman marrying media mogul Rupert Murdoch?

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch is set to tie the knot for a fifth time. The 92-year-old told the New York Post, one of the publications in the media empire, that he has proposed to Ann Lesley Smith and will be marrying her over the summer. The 92-year-old told gossip columnist Cindy Adams that he met Ann in September while on a visit to his vineyard in Bel Air, California.

Murdoch said that he "dreaded falling in love" again since his previous four marriages went through very public divorces. However, this marriage, he admits, will be his "last".

Once news of Murdoch's engagement broke, everyone wanted to know more about his lady love who managed to convince him to get married yet again.

Ann Lesley Smith is a former police chaplain who used to be married to the late country music star Chester Smith. She is a journalist, besides once being a dental hygienist, model and singer. The 66-year-old lost her husband in 2008 who died of a heart attack at the age of 78. But before her marriage to Smith, Ann witnessed ups and downs in her love life, including an abusive marriage.

Her first marriage

Ann Lesley Smith was once married to John B. Huntington, an attorney and a member of one of California's most illustrious families that pioneered the railroad in the country. Her life changed and she went from being a dental hygienist to living with a family that was considered "royalty". Ann Lesley was just 28 when she married John, who was 47.

An Idaho State University graduate, she admitted to spending $65,000 a month on just clothes as Huntington's wife. "During the day my life was just so fun. John was into cars, and we had a stable full of every kind - exotic Ferraris and everything," Ann Lesley told The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN).

She was shopping, riding horses, doing philanthropic work and working as a model for top designers. But while things were fine during the day, John "became a different person" at night after drinking, she once said.

Talking of her relationship with John, Ann once told CBN that he often turned physically abusive towards her. Ann opened up about his drinking problems and how thatunleashed a rage inside him.

"He physically abused me, mentally abused me, emotionally," Ann told the publication.

The marriage ended up in a divorce, leaving Ann Lesley with new problems due to the prenup. She was homeless, living on welfare and even had thought of committing suicide. "I really wanted to commit suicide 'cause my life was just so bad," she said.

Ann's later life

Ann then started doing odd jobs and continued to work as a model. An event coordinator then noticed how she was struggling and told her that Jesus can help her. She started reading "The Four Spiritual Laws" and followed everything it advised.

She later started working as a volunteer police chaplain and ended up meeting her husband Chester Smith who was raised in a Christian household. He launched the first country music radio station of theModesto area in California in 1963. Ann Lesley then became a radio host and led a supposedly happy married life with Smith. The two also released an album together titled "Captured By Love".

After his death, Ann stayed in Modesto and currently lives on her ranch in northern California. Chester's obituary described Ann Lesley as his "loving wife". She had a career as a radio host and journalist in the San Francisco Bay Area. She even paid for her own airtime on iHeartRadio station Power Talk 1360.

Murdoch and Ann Lesley

Murdoch and Ann Lesley met last September at his Moraga vineyard in Bel Air, California. She calls the relationship "a gift from God".

"I'm a widow 14 years. Like Rupert, my husband was a businessman. Worked for local papers, developed radio and TV stations and helped promote Univision. So I speak Rupert's language. We share the same beliefs," she shared.

The two plan on getting married this year during the summer and Murdoch hopes this is his last. Murdoch, who is “one-fourth Irish", proposed to Ann Lesley on St. Patrick's Day in New York with an Asscher-cut diamond solitaire.

“In perspective, it’s not my first rodeo. Getting near 70 means being in the last half. I waited for the right time. Friends are happy for me.”

Even though the two haveonly now made their relationship public, speculations had been rife for some time that the two were dating. Murdoch was seen in Barbados with Ann Lesley in January.

Murdoch's first marriage was with flight attendant Patricia Booker in 1956 and they separated in 1967. He then married journalist Anna Maria Torv and was with her for over three decades before finally parting ways in 1999. The same year he married Chinese-born American entrepreneur Wendi Deng. The union lasted 14 years.

Murdoch's last partner was an American model and actress Jerry Hall, who he married in 2016. The couple divorced in August last year.

(With inputs from agencies)

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