Lauren Sánchez had a star-studded love life long before she got engaged to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos in 2023. She was previously married to entertainment mogul Patrick Whitesell from 2005 to 2019, and together, they have two children. Sánchez also has a son, who grew up to be gorgeous, from her past relationship with NFL legend Tony Gonzalez. She and the football tight end dated during his time with the Kansas City Chiefs back in the early aughts. They welcomed their son, Nikko Gonzalez, in 2001, but their relationship fizzled out shortly after Nikko was born.
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Since then, the pair has remained on good terms as they continue to raise Nikko together. In 2023, Sánchez discussed their co-parenting relationship in an interview with the The Wall Street Journal about her and Bezos’ blended family. “Tony and his wife Tobie are my best friends,” she gushed. “It wasn’t always that way. There was friction [at the beginning]. But Tony and Tobie were at Thanksgiving with us [this year], and we’re really good friends.”
After splitting from Sánchez, Tony married his wife, TV personality October “Tobie” Gonzalez, in 2007, with whom he has welcomed three more children. According to Sánchez, it was roughly five years before she and Tony established the kind of co-parenting bond they have today, of which she is proud. “I’m not saying that being best friends with your ex is the end-all be-all. But you do need to be able to communicate,” she told WSJ. “My son looks at me, and he’s like, ‘I’m the luckiest boy in the world because I can have Thanksgiving with both my parents and they don’t have to be married.'”
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Sanchez and Gonzalez remain close
For Tony Gonzalez’s 49th birthday in 2025, Lauren Sánchez took to Instagram to celebrate her ex-boyfriend, sharing a throwback snap of the NFL star with their son, Nikko Gonzalez. “HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ONE OF THE BEST DADS EVER!!!” she captioned the photo, according to a previous report by the Daily Mail. The former Fox News anchor also uploaded photos of herself with Tony, his wife, and Jeff Bezos during Nikko’s college graduation in 2024. “Nikko I am so proud of you! Congratulations to Class of 2024,” Sánchez wrote. “I couldn’t help but get emotional. We love you!”
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After Sánchez and Bezos went public in 2019, Tony expressed his support for the pair during a sit-down interview with Extra’s Billy Bush. “I’m happy for them,” he said. “I stay out of their personal lives, but it’s been great.” Of his co-parenting arrangement with Sánchez, he added, “It’s great. … Obviously, we share Nikko. He’s going to college next year, I’m going to miss him.”
After 17 seasons in the NFL, Tony announced his retirement from football in 2013 to focus on life outside the field. He has since traded his cleats for the microphone, becoming a sports analyst for CBS and Fox Sports and trying his hand at acting. You might recognize Tony as Special Agent Tony Francis on “NCIS” or in BET’s “Long Slow Exhale.” “I was just done,” the Chiefs legend confessed on “Arrowhead Addict” podcast in 2021. “Football is tough. … It is a mental and physical drain on yourself and your family, and it’s worth it — I’m not complaining about it. But it just ran its course for me.”
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