For Gisele Fetterman, meeting John Fetterman felt like fate.
The couple first connected in 2007, when Gisele, then on a yoga retreat in Costa Rica, read about Fetterman’s work revitalizing Braddock, Pennsylvania, where he was mayor.
Intrigued, she reached out, curious to learn from someone serving a community similar to hers in Newark.
What started as a professional interest quickly turned personal.
Fetterman invited Gisele to visit Braddock on his birthday. She remembers the evening vividly: “There was wine and cheese.
John and I stayed on the couch after it was over, just talking. I fell asleep and never used my hotel reservation,” she wrote.
And in case anyone was wondering, she clarified, “There was no sex that night.”
The Senator Reflects on Their Unlikely Match
In her chapter of Unfettered, the new book by Senator Fetterman, Gisele shares the story in her own words — a choice the couple made because, as she says, “she can tell her story best.”
Fetterman takes over at times, expressing disbelief that Gisele fell for him.
“How on earth did a woman like you end up in Braddock with someone like me?” he asked.
Fetterman admits he’d never imagined marriage or children for himself.
Yet now, the couple has been together for 17 years and shares three children.
“I still don’t know and never will understand how you ended up with me,” he wrote.
“There are still moments when I think you are going to look at me and say, ‘I’m gone.’ So why are you still here?”
Marriage Tested by Politics and Health
The book also dives into the challenges that tested their bond.
Fetterman writes candidly about his 2022 U.S. Senate campaign, which was interrupted by a severe stroke.
Despite his victory over Republican nominee Dr. Mehmet Oz, he admits he struggled with depression afterward — a period that strained his marriage.
During his recovery at Walter Reed, he even panicked over a misread headline, convinced that Gisele had taken the kids to Brazil.
“It was only when she posted pictures of their trip that I realized they had actually been to Niagara Falls,” he recalls.
Why Gisele Stayed
Gisele explains her decision to remain in the marriage with warmth, humor, and honesty.
“We have three beautiful children together. You have a core of kindness.
You like Paul Rudd and Metallica and The Simpsons and Dumb and Dumber,” she writes.
She acknowledges that marriage isn’t always easy — “marriage is not a holiday” — and that it’s normal to irritate your spouse.
She also revisits a conversation with their eldest son, Karl, about divorce.
Fetterman answered an emphatic “no,” but Gisele gave a more measured response: “Maybe not the perfect answer, but the only answer I know
. It sometimes feels like a miracle we’re still standing. But here we are.”
Unfettered Hits Shelves
The couple’s story — a mix of love, vulnerability, and resilience — is now available in Unfettered, released Tuesday.
It offers readers a candid look at both Fetterman’s political journey and the private life that has sustained them through trials and triumphs alike.